Arcadian Nights Read online

  “You think your mother fears you more than she loves you?” Ares loved her openly, but he rarely showed affection to his mother, though Eris knew what a high pedestal he kept her on.

  “Yes.”

  She couldn’t read him. His guard was up again, and his eyes told her nothing. “Why?”

  “Just a feeling. It’s why she protects me. She doesn’t want me to get too angry.”

  “If you say so. I don’t pretend to understand Hera.”

  “Be careful, Eris. Hermes is well loved.”

  “I won’t hurt him.”

  He walked over to her and held her chin up so she looked into his black eyes. “Don’t hurt yourself either.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You’ve got it wrong.”

  “There’s something beneath your veneer too, my girl. Maybe someday I won’t be the only one to see it.”

  She pulled his hand away and kissed his cheek quickly. “Get out of here. Big brother has saved the day, and I’m fine.”

  “We’ll see what happens.” He smiled and disappeared.

  Eris sighed. If she’d had the energy, she would have told him off a little more for his implication. She wanted a roll in the hay, not a husband or even a lover. She wouldn’t make a fool of herself the way Ares had with Aphrodite. She hadn’t meant for Aphrodite to be hurt in all this, but maybe it was for the best. The Fates had told her any strife she created would eventually come to good. She hoped they hadn’t done so only to win her faithful service. All of Olympus would go from hating her to eternally laughing at her, and she knew in her heart which one was worse.

  * * * *

  Hermes entered Zeus’ bedroom and waited. The king of the gods knew he was there and would pay attention to him when he was ready. He emerged from the bathroom wearing black dress pants and a dark blue button down shirt.

  “Ah. Just in time.” He began looking through the pile of ties on the dresser.

  “Going somewhere?” Hermes asked.

  “I have a date.”

  Hermes paused. “Hera feels like a night out in the mortal world?”

  Zeus laughed. “I have no idea what she’s up to tonight. I have a date with a very hot and very horny stewardess.”

  Hermes couldn’t help wondering what this would do to Hera’s influence with Zeus. He knew the god wouldn’t be very willing to help him otherwise.

  “I see.”

  Zeus looked up. “And I see you still haven’t bedded Eris. It’s hard to tell, but you do seem just slightly tenser.”

  “What did you want me for?”

  “Look, why not go for it? She’s amazing. Very inventive.”

  “I don’t want to talk about this.”

  Zeus laughed again. “I think I hit a nerve.”

  “No, but I don’t want to discuss her at all. I especially don’t want to hear details of that nature.”

  “Why? You gonna get jealous? I’m sure she’d do anything you wanted if you’d go ahead and give in.”

  Hermes slammed his hand down on the table. “Do you mind? Honestly, I know you think this is very funny, but it isn’t.”

  Zeus appeared genuinely shocked. “I didn’t realize it was quite this serious.”

  Hermes was not afraid of Zeus, but he knew he had acted rashly and it scared him a little. What would Zeus do? He hadn’t meant to sound so angry, but he couldn’t help it. Eris had obviously had her share of lovers, but he didn’t think that made it okay for any of them to go around flaunting their stories. He wasn’t sure why he cared, but with each passing day he found himself feeling more defensive of her.

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.”

  “Forget it. I’ve just never seen you angry before.”

  “Yes, you have.”

  Zeus tilted his head, as if searching his memory. “No, I haven’t. I’ve seen you slightly happy and that’s about it. Maybe a tad annoyed once or twice.”

  Hermes sighed. “Just give me the message. I want to go home.”

  “Forget it.”

  “What? Look, I’m fine, just give it to me.”

  “I had ulterior motives.”

  Hermes knew what was coming. “What?”

  “I was going to send a message to Eris and invite her to dinner. She’d say no because she thinks I’m boring, but that’s fine. I was only doing it to get you over there.”

  Hermes almost smiled. Zeus was definitely not the most dynamic or complex deity by far, but his power and charisma subdued most. It was interesting to find that Eris openly thought him boring, especially after she had both slept with him and been punished by him. It said something for her taste that she would think and say what she wanted about him without caring what consequences might come. “Well, I’ll be leaving then.”

  “I still think you should bed her, but we said we’d help and we will.”

  Hermes shook his head. “I’m starting to think I need to handle this myself.” He walked out of the bedroom, wondering how exactly to start doing just that.

  * * * *

  “Selfish, vulgar bitch! Of all the nerve! Oh, and that asshole! How dare he! How dare he!”

  Hermes had arrived home to find Aphrodite in his kitchen making a large pink drink with, he felt sure, more than the required amount of alcohol. Now they were in his living room, and she had been raving for ten minutes.

  “You didn’t have to go over there.”

  “I wanted to help you!” she spat.

  “And you’re the one who got hurt. It’s unfair.”

  In a less harsh tone, she said, “It’s not your fault.”

  “And what Ares did is not her fault. He was already angry with you, and she’s never had him fight her battles for her.”

  Aphrodite looked puzzled. “How do you know that?”

  “What?”

  “How do you know that?” she repeated more slowly.

  He didn’t have an answer for her. “It’s true. I don’t know how I know it.”

  She shook her head. “This keeps getting more complicated.”

  “Just leave it. I’m going to handle this myself.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  She sighed. “I’m still mad at her though. I’m furious at Ares.”

  “I can understand that. I don’t understand what she said that made you so angry. I admit I don’t trust what she said either, but why did it make you angry?”

  Aphrodite wouldn’t look at him. He could tell she was hiding something, but he knew she had her own reasons. She’d tell him eventually if she wanted to.

  “Okay, you don’t have to tell me.”

  “It’s not that. It’s private though.”

  “About Ares?”

  “About me. I’ll tell you someday.”

  Even though she was very good at acting like she didn’t care what others thought, he knew how sensitive she could be. “Okay. Do you feel better? I don’t know what else to do.”

  “It’s fine. I just needed to blow some steam off.” She looked out the window. “I’ll cool off eventually.”

  “I know. I’m just concerned.”

  She countered by saying, “And I’m concerned about you. I will do something if she hurts you. Please be careful.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure she wants something we don’t know about yet, but she doesn’t want to hurt me. She’s too smart for that.”

  Aphrodite shook her head. “Something’s happening. I don’t like it.”

  Hermes agreed with her, but he wasn’t about to admit it. He also didn’t want to admit his feelings about the spell had him confused. He was mad at Eris, but what had she really done? Her little spell had seemed horrible before, but now he’d learned to deal with it, it seemed childish. Why should he be angry over something so petty? Everyone had laughed at first. Maybe it was funny.

  He shook his head. His thoughts kept taking strange paths, and all of them led him to Eris’ arms. He needed a plan because he couldn’t keep living like this. The lust and eroti
c visions he’d been having had settled into something else. He found himself worrying about her, defending her, and even wondering what a relationship with her would be like. He wanted this spell broken before anything else unexpected happened.

  * * * *

  Hermes felt silly, but he also thought his experiment would pay off in the end. He could have made himself invisible anytime he wanted, but the only way to make sure Eris had no idea she was being watched was to use the Helm of Darkness. Hades had readily leant it to Hermes without question.

  Eris sat on her back porch typing on her laptop. Her two cats had curled up on the chair across from her. He hadn’t thought to ask if they would be able to sense him, but if they did he could leave. He didn’t plan to stay too long anyway.

  Eris had always had an inclination for poetry, one thing that made her very different from her brother. Hermes knew she’d been published under many names over the centuries. Her work seemed to change often, as though each century put her in a different mood. He assumed she was working on more poetry given the way she was typing a few words, going back, and pausing so often.

  The black cat got up and stretched. He jumped into her lap and meowed. Hermes expected her to toss him down or shoo him away, but instead she kissed him on the head and began stroking his sides.

  “You want attention, baby? Oh, you’re so spoiled.”

  Hermes looked down. He felt as if he was intruding on a personal moment. He wasn’t though. He was standing in the woods and watching her sit outside. Anyone who came near the house could see her. He wasn’t watching her in her bedroom or anything.

  He tried to push that thought away. Based on Zeus’ comments and some of the jokes Ares sometimes made, Eris was as much of a force in the bedroom as she was anywhere else. He liked strong women, but he preferred to be in control when it came to sex. Aphrodite had certainly enjoyed it, though she had often commented that he needed to let go of some of that control if he really wanted to connect with someone. He’d felt at the time she’d just wanted a fun way to control him, but since then he’d come to see she’d genuinely been trying to give him some constructive criticism. He knew what she meant now. It didn’t matter who was on top so much as that both people were willing to be on the bottom. Or something like that. He knew she’d meant more than that, but he couldn’t help thinking of it in terms of sex. And though he’d never admit it, especially to Aphrodite, he’d spent several days envisioning Eris on top of him. Something about her was intriguing him, both sexually and personally.

  He’d always had this need for everything in his life to be logical. She seemed like a puzzle. Aphrodite was more complex than most believed, but in the end she wasn’t that hard to understand. Eris seemed like a genuine mystery to him whereas Aphrodite’s mystery was more illusion and charm than anything. He felt that he could sleep with Eris for as many months as he’d slept with Aphrodite and still not understand her. He was starting to think that was what intrigued him. She didn’t want to enchant him or anything like that. She’d done this to him because he’d insulted her. She might sleep with him and discard him or she might reject him. He still couldn’t be sure. If she slept with him, it would be something to hold over him. If she rejected him, it would be just as insulting. He’d started to doubt she wanted something more. That gave him hope it could all be ended once they had some kind of confrontation.

  He hesitated though. He wasn’t as suspicious as everyone else, but was he now less suspicious? He was known for being fair and evenhanded but had the spell changed him? Aphrodite seemed concerned, even if no one else was. Perhaps thinking about Eris so often had helped him get past the stigma that always preceded her. If that were so, he might be seeing her more for who she really was.

  He looked back across the lawn. She had closed the laptop and leaned back in her chair. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were still petting her cat, who had propped himself up on her chest to stare up at her happily. She certainly seemed more relaxed than anyone might expect the goddess of strife to be.

  He’d said he was going to handle this himself. Now was the time to prove that. He emerged from the woods and took off Hades’ helmet. Eris didn’t look up as he walked closer. When he stepped onto the stones of the patio, she opened her eyes.

  She smiled up at him. “You managed to stay away far longer than I thought you would.”

  “So I surprised you?”

  She nodded. “I suppose you did. Can I assume you’re here to make my evening very memorable?”

  He cleared his throat. “Can we talk about this?”

  She gestured to an open chair. “Whatever you want to talk about.”

  He sat down, trying to choose his words carefully. “Do you actually want to have sex with me?” It didn’t seem the best way to start out, but he needed to know the answer to know how to proceed.

  “Of course I do. Why would you think I didn’t?”

  “Maybe you just wanted to make me suffer. Make me want you then reject me.”

  “Aphrodite says you’re suffering now.”

  “That word might be a little strong.”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know. You were very angry at first, both at me and at everyone who finds my little spell so funny.”

  “I was. And I still am.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “To talk about this.”

  “Okay then. Yes, I want you. It’s no secret. You’re very attractive, if a little stuffy, and Aphrodite has bragged about your prowess in bed to no end, as I’m sure you know.”

  “So why not try to seduce me another way?”

  “You aren’t very seducible, sweetheart. You pissed me off, and it kind of turned me on. The idea occurred to me, and it seemed like it might be fun.”

  “You wouldn’t have cared if it made me hate you?”

  “Everyone hates me. Why should you matter?”

  Hermes couldn’t tell what she was actually feeling. Was this how people felt talking to him? “I think you resent it.”

  “Do you?” She smiled.

  “Yes, I do. You said you wanted to make me feel something. Well, I feel sorry for you.”

  Her expression hardened. “Really? So you wanna fuck me and make it all better? I’ll feel good about myself once I’ve been bedded by someone as good as you?”

  He had not expected that reaction at all. “No. You put the lust spell on me. I didn’t come here to sleep with you. Why are you so angry?”

  She looked away. “You’re just like Zeus. He said as long as I was in his bed I could have anything I wanted and do anything I wanted. That changed after one of my schemes involved his wife though, didn’t it?”

  Hermes held his hands up. “Slow down. I am not trying to sleep with you, and I am not saying you would gain anything.”

  “You said you feel sorry for me. I don’t want a pity fuck, and I will never again sleep with a man to gain power.”

  “So you’re angry at Zeus?”

  She glared at him. “No.”

  “Then what?” Her anger was both worrying him and turning him on.

  “You’re reversing things on me, aren’t you? It always happens. That is what I’m angry about. Fucking Zeus was fun. It was my choice. I meant you’re like all the other Olympians.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You don’t get it. My cause must be hopeless.”

  “Tell me what you mean.”

  “You believe in the work of the Fates, more so than any other Olympian. You still don’t get it though. Don’t you see that I have been judged for centuries for doing the work of the Fates?”

  Hermes stared at her for a moment. He thought he understood, but he wasn’t completely sure. Based on what she was saying, her mind was going in two or three different directions, making connections he had a hard time following. “I do believe the Trojan War was fated to happen, yes. Is that what you mean?”

  “Keep going,” she said as she stood up and walked over to him. “What else
?”

  What else? What was she talking about? “I’m not sure I follow you. We should blame the Fates and not you?”

  “Why blame anyone?” She stroked his cheek with her finger. “Ares is not blamed for every war. Some are glorious. Athena is the goddess of heroic endeavor and strategic warfare. No one thinks she’s evil. She is honored. Despite the deaths they cause, despite the suffering, so many wars set men free. Why be angry about them?”

  “I don’t think anyone cares about the Trojan War anymore.”

  She put her hands on the arm of his chair and leaned into his face. “Then why am I still punished? Do you know poetry? Do you know what Hesiod said about me?”

  He shook his head. Her nearness was getting to him. His now hard cock ached for her, and he wanted nothing more than to reach for her and kiss her. But she didn’t seem to be in the mood for that. She seemed to have forgotten her spell because she had something to prove.

  “He said I am kind to men, kinder than other deities. He said I make the lazy men work because they are jealous. I push men forward in their ambitions because they want to be better than others. I give them something to do. I give them purpose. Strife does have its uses. If you never have to fight for anything, what do you have to live for, to strive for?”

  “You’re right. I can see how that’s true.” He found it hard to speak above a whisper. “I imagine you’re very useful to the Fates.”

  “They promised all the discord I sow will come to good. No matter how far in the future, good will come.”

  “You want that?”

  “Why not? Does anyone believe Ares wants the world to endlessly be at war?”

  Hermes shook his head. “You don’t have to prove anything to me.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Eris, I want you. I can’t stay here and keep talking like this.”

  “You want me? Then take me.” She climbed into his lap. She wore nothing under her skirt. “I can feel how hard you are.”

  “I don’t want to, not like this. I don’t use women to sate my lust.”

  She laughed and ran her fingers through his dark hair. “Then you are alone among the gods, my dear. Perhaps that is why I want you.”