Aphrodite's Flame

33.

I'm standing before the large windows in my room, staring into the distance. Spring is nearing and Adonis has to leave the realm of the living soon. Although I am at peace where I am now, he still holds a special place in my heart. I fully intend to look him up when it is his time again. I wonder about Hephaestus' thoughts on that.

'I feel like messing things up,' he says, appearing in my doorway. He stretches his arms over his head and taps the wooden frame.

'What do you mean?' I ask my husband. I'm still trying to get used to that fact. It changed nothing and everything at the same time.

'You know Pygmalion, right? That mortal prince with the golden hands? The one that makes excellent statues. His talent is pretty impressive, actually.' I look at the God who is also a patron of the arts.

'Heard of him, but I never paid attention.' His dark eyes start to gleam.

'Come on, then. You will love this.' I cock my head to the side.

'What are we going to do?'

'Well - if I tell you now, it's not a surprise anymore, is it?' I follow him, although I really don't like surprises. We go into one of the rooms. It holds a mirror pool very much like the one we have Up on Olympus.

'Is that him?' I ask, looking at a handsome man who is walking around his workshop. He seems sad.

'That is him.' Hephaestus turns serious as he looks at the sculptor. 'That damn fool has never loved anyone.' He looks up at me with a mischievous smile back on his face.

'I dare you to get him in love.' I start laughing.

'You think I snap my fingers and someone falls in love?' He nods his head and I start laughing again. So Hephaestus too thinks I'm a goddess of Love and not of War or Fight.

'Tell me about him.'

'Okay, but don't judge him too quickly.' I quirk a brow as he continues, 'he has sworn off the female sex as he only ever saw women commit sins. His mother was an adulterer and his niece a murderess. He saw the whores on Cyprus and the greedy ones at court. They kind of ruined him. Look!' My eye moves back to the pathetic prince of Cyprus as he walks up to a beautiful statue of a woman carved from one piece of ivory and looks at her for a minute too long. Although I detest him, I also pity him.

Fine. He wants to see the goddess of Love in action? He wants to see my powers?

'You're on.' Gleefully he rubs his hands. We watch Pygmalion for a bit. A woman for a man who hates women? Maybe a man? I watch him for the entire day and although it is assumed he hates women, it's not like he is attracted to men. He might as well hate them too.

Before the sun sinks into the ocean that surrounds us, I look up at Hephaestus who has been studying me the entire time I've been studying Pygmalion.

'Like what you see?' I tease him.

'I like seeing you work.'

'Let's go, I know what to do.' And I know exactly when to do it.

***

The following day a feast is held in the name of Aphrodite, goddess of Love. Hephaestus and I watch them from a safe distance as they put down flowers and offer a goat.

'You knew this, didn't you?' Hephaestus says. I laugh.

'Of course I did.' I know every holiday in my name, I know every altar from homes to temples. I know who skimps on the offering and I know who gives me all they have.

In the afternoon the mortals of Cyprus put down flowers or jewels as they ask me for their greatest desire. When Pygmalion comes up to statue-me, he says,

'Aphrodite, powerful goddess of Beauty and Love. I pray to thee, my heart's desire is only to know... a woman like my ivory sculpture.' I nod and look at the offering he put down on the top step to the temple. It is a tiny statue depicting me with a flower crown. It shows me in a more vulnerable state, a more humane state than any of the other statues of me in the western world.

I hate it.

Who would ever grant a stupid mortal a wish like that, unless that goddess has a wager with her husband. So, I grant his only wish. Part because he truly wants it, part because I cannot lose the wager. Love is the one thing I am good at.

When Pygmalion comes home, the ivory statue he worked so hard on is standing on a pedestal. He always walks straight toward her. Although I haven't watched him for days on end, I have seen enough to know this much.

Hephaestus is standing next to me when Pygmalion kisses the ivory woman goodnight. My husband huffs in disdain, although he is the man that built golden women to get something he lacked. The sculpture comes to life the second Pygmalion's lips touch her and Hephaestus looks at me.

'Really?' he says drily. I turn to face him and smile. It's not exactly the outcome he thought about now?

'She is his heart's desire,' I snap. 'No other female attracted his eye the way she did.'

'Isn't that cheating?' I turn to him, finding him close to me. I put my hands on his chest and move them to his shoulders, massaging the flesh under his linen tunic. I can see the smallest hint of a tattoo, spreading over one side of his chest toward the shoulder. His flame flares up a little and I smile. It's good to see I don't leave him entirely cold and uninterested.

'Is it?' I ask him in a honey suckled voice, leaning in to him. Instead of complying, like Ares always did, Hephaestus smiles. He raises his hand and his rough thumb caresses my bottom lip as the rest of his hand cups my cheek.

'What is your heart's desire?' he asks me. His dark gaze studies me and I feel like he already knows. I feel like he can see my soul light up at the question and he can see my answer before I've given it a thought. If anyone is cheating at this game, it's him. It's always been him.