A Wayward Arrow

Chapter Eleven: Aphrodite and the First Trial

By the time Psyche made it to the temple of Aphrodite, she was exhausted. It had taken her days to reach the temple, but now that she was here she knew she had to call upon the goddess of beauty and hope that she would listen to her pleas to see Eros. As she came upon the temple, it towered before her with a grand statue of the goddess. Psyche looked over the statue. Wondering how so many people could compare her to the lovely woman depicted in stone, but she didn't linger there. She had much to do and felt her time was running short.

As she came upon the alter she'd light a few of the candles and the incense and threw herself down onto her knees before the alter. She began to pray. Desperately over and over for the goddess to come forward and hear her pleas of desperation for an audience with the goddess. Every desperate word was nearly cried out in her hushed whispered tone that barely echoed like a quiet mouse along the pillars of the goddess's temple.

"Please, Beloved Aphrodite. Hear my prayer and come to me. I desperately seek your aid."

She would pray like this for hours but no one would come. It was as if her prayer was falling on deaf ears and that no one was hearing her pleas. No gods answered, Aphrodite did not show up. She kept praying. Each plea was more desperate than the last until she was crying. Her tears streaming down her face and dripping to the marbled floor below her as she lowered down to prostration. Eventually, in her exhaustion, she would fall asleep and her praying stopped.

She was woken harshly by a jab of a foot into her arm which drew her upright into a seated position upon her knees. There was a woman standing before her. Beautiful and powerful in her stance as she stood before her with one hand upon her tilted hip as she looked down upon Psyche with a bit of a sneer. As if the very sight of the girl disgusted her more than anything else in this world.

"My temple isn't a place to sleep, girl, for this is not a place of charity. I'm sure there's plenty of poor houses that you could go if you're looking for a respite."

"Oh... mighty Goddess, I-" Psyche threw herself down into her bow, prostrating herself once again before the goddess, "I did not mean to fall asleep, I am just so tired from my travels. Please forgive me."

"You were quite loud for hours. Crying in my temple, what is it?"

"I am Psyche-"

"I know exactly who you are and what you did to Eros. You think I don't know why you came here? You wish to speak to my son, and I tell you that will not be happening. I will not allow you to see him and he doesn't want to see you. Your entire marriage was a sham from the beginning and now you're back on the mortal realm. You should just forget about whatever transpired between the two of you and leave him alone."

"But I can't, please. I am pregnant with his child."

This very confession drew a hard look upon the face of Aphrodite, who drew a step back from the woman on the ground before her. Pregnant? There was a long sigh from her. One that seemed to be of a long thought that she didn't want to finish. If she was pregnant, then the child was half god and Zeus would not be happy about it.

"It would be best if you got rid of the child, then. This world is not meant for halflings. Never truly welcomed to Olympus and never fully welcomed amongst men as equal. The child you bare will have an ill-fated life. Get rid of it as soon as you can to save it the trouble of finding out how cruel the world really is to beings such as them."

"No, how could you say such things? No, I can't. This child could be a hero of the people. This child could be something great. It is not up to me to decide whether they live or die solely because of being half-god. Please, I need to speak to Eros. You must let me speak to him. I will do anything. I will become your servant if it means I can enter your house and have such a chance."