Aphrodite's Flame

41.

The way the light falls in Olympia. As lovely as the last couple of weeks were, as harshly does the present shine on me. With my hand in his, our fingers knit tightly together, we walk through the court gardens on our way to the palace where the God of Gods resides.

They look at us, they whisper about us - we know what they're saying. They're saying he has to hold on tight or I will escape. I hold on tighter, not risking to be let go. Hephaestus is right. Even if I would openly declare my love for him, they would not believe it. Poor pretty Aphrodite, who had to marry the limp animal that lives in the mountain. They forget who he is, what he has done for them. They call him the ugliest and the weakest, but they don't know his strength, his power.

We are led to the grand Hall of Titans, where Zeus is sitting on his gold throne. Since I'm married to Heath, I see his craft and handiwork everywhere. The place is drowning in it. It ignites pride in him. I know why he is never downcast, I know why they can't get to him. He sees himself everywhere, in everything.

Zeus looks bored when we enter. Surprisingly, some of the others are here as well. Of course, Hera, Leto's twins, Athena who would never miss a day like this, Dionysus who must be bored out of his mind and Hermes who brought us here. And Ares - beautiful rough Ares, God of Blood.

'There you are, finally,' the bored old man in the golden chair mutters. He gets up and clasps his hands together. For a second his silver eyes study me with a rare kind of want. The kind only a man knows that can get his hands on anything but that. Hephaestus bows his head, while I keep staring at Zeus, defying that want.

'Glad to see the newlyweds have consummated the wedding,' he growls, erupting whispers from all sides. I can feel Ares' calculating eyes on me, not undressing me, but wondering.

'Is there something you wanted me for?' Hephaestus asks in a neutral voice. I don't like the grin that pulls Zeus' lips back.

'Ah, yes, well - someone - not me - played a trick on the mortals.'

'Storytime!' Apollo exclaims before caressing the snares of his lute. With a quirked brow Zeus looks in his direction, but his shoulders slump.

'Fiiiine,' he complies airily, 'since we've been waiting for eons already, you can tell the story.' My grip on Hephaestus' hand tightens.

'There once lived a king on Crete. He had two sons who always fought for their father's favour. They always went out of their way to show who was stronger, smarter, more handsome. The one became the best warrior, the other married the most beautiful princess, Pasiphäe. The oldest, Minos, eventually became king. He thought the dispute would be settled there and then - his brother could never win kingship! But then his brother thought of something to show he was the better man. He bowed to Minos and accepted his defeat. This act of submission angered Minos so much, that he called out to Poseidon, the king of the very waters that surround Crete. He prayed that Poseidon would send him a snow-white bull, the most beautiful the world had ever seen, as a sign of the god's favour. Poseidon sent the bull to Crete and asked that king Minos would sacrifice it in his honour. Minos received the bull, but thought it was so beautiful, he could not sacrifice it. No one in the world had a bull as white as this one, it was a sure way to assert his kingship and dominance. Once he offered a boring old lamb to Poseidon, the wrong had been done. This king Minos was so used to getting his ways, he underestimated the battle with a king-God. Poseidon does not play. He enchanted the bull and made Pasiphäe fall in love with its beauty. The queen had her masterful architects build a hollow cow so she could deceive and seduce the bull.'

'I'm sorry, did all this really happen?' Ares interrupts.

'Yes,' Zeus says with eyes gleaming with humor. 'Go on, Apollo. Tell them how that enormous bull fucked that damn mortal queen.' Apollo, a little uneasy about the request, opens and closes his mouth.

'No. But the bull did impregnate Queen Pasiphäe. Weeks later she gave birth to something called the Minotaur, a creature half man, half bull. She loved the creature, despite its ugliness, and nursed it. However, the beast-man grew and grew and grew and as it became more and more ferocious, they decided they had to do something about it. They had the mortal Daedalus construct a labyrinth, which is almost finished.'

'If the labyrinth is already finished, what do you want from me?' Hephaestus asks, growing tired of the story.

'The beast-man is now residing in the dungeons of Minos' castle. They tried the foods of Man and the foods of Bull, but it has a taste for something else entirely. As it grew it became apparent the beast-man eats humans. In order to lead the monster out they need chains. Those chains can only be made by you. They need to contain the beast in the heart of the labyrinth.'

'Why him?!' I cry out to the silver haired god. 'Let the humans find another way to deal with their own consequences.' Zeus shrugs.

'They sacrificed something valuable to me. Of course, I am a god who listens to those dear humans.'

'It's fine,' Hephaestus tells me. 'I'll make the shackles and chains.'

'Oh, and before I forget,' Zeus adds with a nasty smile, 'please also chain it and bring it out.'

'NO!' I scream. 'You made the promise, you chain the beast!' Hephaestus squeezes my hand.

'It's alright, Aphrodite. I deal with this on a daily basis. You remember what I told you the other day, okay? I always come prepared.' Honestly, there is hardly any reason for us to be scared and Hephaestus looks annoyed rather than scared - but this beast could possibly tear him apart. I smile hardly visible and he cups my face with his hands.

The courtiers start whispering again and as his flame slowly dims, I take his hand in mine and kiss the back of it, smiling at him and him alone.