My attacker pulled me backward into a nearby room and kicked the heavy door closed. I had never been approached in such a manner, and it frightened me. I had no knowledge of what to expect from such an assault, but imagined aggressive behavior such as this wouldn’t result in something I found pleasant. I twisted my head enough that I managed to free my upper lip from the man’s hold over my mouth bit down hard on his finger.

“Ow!” he cried out, but he sounded more surprised than angry. I scrambled for the door, but the hand that I hadn’t bitten, the one that had been behind my neck, braced the door. I whirled around, the fabric swirling around my legs.

In the brief struggle, the hood of his cloak had fallen away, and my attacker’s identify was revealed. To my surprise, it was the man who had rescued me from the rock on the beach.

I crossed my arms, my fear abating somewhat simply because I recognized him. “Was your intent to save me earlier just so you could assault me now?”

He laughed, shaking the hand I had bitten out in front of him as if that motion would release the pain from it.

“I’m sorry; I’m really terrible at this,” he answered, though it wasn’t really an answer at all. “We can’t be seen together, but...” He looked around the room uncomfortably. “I just wanted to know you were alright.”

“I was until you assaulted me moments ago.” 

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. “I suppose I could have chosen a better approach.” I nodded, and he laughed lightly. “The queenmentioned you weren’t from around here.”

“I saw you talking to her earlier, and you both turned to look at me.” 

He raised a single eyebrow this time. “I did notice you watching me, you know.” 

“Only when you spoke to the queen,” I lied. 

“So how did you end up stranded and naked on a rock in the ocean?” he asked smiling, and I knew in an instant he hadn’t forgotten the form hidden beneath the folds of my chiton. He crossed his arms and lead against the door.

I tossed my hands in the air. “I honestly don’t know.” I looked into his now jade eyes to see if he believed me. “I have no memory before waking up there.” I rubbed my lips together. “Thank you, by the way, for bringing me to shore.”

He smiled. “You’re welcome. You have no idea who you are?” His brow creased for a moment.

I shook my head. “No. Some of the queen’s ladies implied that I might have experienced some sort of trauma preventing me from remembering anything before that moment. But I don’t think that’s true. I don’t think there is anything to remember. I know it must sound ridiculous.”

He exhaled in a sort of laugh. “No, but it’s a shame you don’t know your identity. I imagine a woman as beautiful as you has someone desperately searching for her.” The lighting was dim in this unused room, but I could see his neck redden beneath his garment. He cleared his throat.

I smiled and suddenly felt the need to change the subject for his sake. “How did you end up in the company of the queen?” It was the first thing that popped into my mind. I sat casually on the edge of a table in the room.

“I travelled with a merchant here,” he answered, walking away from the door. “His ship bringing him to Paphos was damaged in a storm, and he managed to run ashore near the village where I live. I thought that might have been what happened to you,” he added, staring off into the distance. He shook his head, and then looked back at me. “He desperately needed someone to repair the vessel, so I offered my services, and I was asked to join his crew in the event of another challenge with the vessel.”

“You build ships then?” I asked. “Or at least repair them?” 

“Among many things. I build a lot of things. I’m pretty good with my hands.”

“I would imagine so, if you can rebuild a ship.” 

He smiled proudly. “The merchant promised he’d return me to my village on his way home. We’ve been here a while. In my time here, the king has asked me to do some work on some of his own ships. I’d been returning from the port when I happened upon you and the queen’s party.” He looked up at me with his head tiled. One corner of his mouth rose and formed a small crevice on his cheek, which caused an odd jolt to race through my abdomen. “I’m certainly glad I did.”

I blushed at his gaze. “As am I! Your village is not near Cyprus then?” 

“No,” he answered, shaking his head. “It’s rather remote, across the sea.” He attempted to describe its location further, but then smiled at my vacant expression. “You probably have no idea where that is, do you?” I sucked on my lips and raised both my eyebrows as I shook my head. “Well,” he continued. “We don’t even have a name for it. It stays a bit invisible that way.”

I was puzzled. “You don’t want visitors?” 

“We try to keep to ourselves. Most of us would rather be left alone.” 

“Oh.” I was unsure as to how I should respond. 

“The queen says she and her ladies have decided to call you Aphrodite.” 

I nodded. “It’s a name, and I have none. It seems as good as any.” 

“I think it’s beautiful,” the man commented. “I’ve never known anyone to have that name before.”

I shifted my weight. “What are you called?” 

“Oh! I didn’t realize I hadn’t told you. My name is Hephaestus.” 

“Hephaestus? I’ve never known anyone to have that name before.” I shot him a sideways coy glance and smiled.

He laughed at my copying his words. I realized that I enjoyed his laughter a lot. “Why can’t we be seen together?” I inquired.

He crossed his arms. “It’s not proper for an unmarried man and woman to be alone together, let alone a guest and one of the queen’s attendants.”

“Why?” I pressed. “And I am not one of the queen’s attendants, not yet anyway.” 

He raised an eyebrow again. “You will be soon enough.” He shook his head. “Anyway, people will assume that we were doing something improper.”

“What would people assume about us?” I wondered aloud. “Why would it matter what they thought?” It felt like we were having two conversations at once.

Hephaestus’s face reddened with my question, but he smiled and winked. “You really don’t know?” he asked, and I shook my head. “You are quite possibly the most fascinating woman I’ve ever met.”

I wasn’t sure what he meant by those words. “I don’t think I’m all that fascinating,” I offered in response, at which Hephaestus laughed again. His eyes danced more in the dim candlelight. “I think I just have a lot to learn.”

His smile grew larger. “I would like to be the one to teach you,” he said softly at almost a whisper.

I smiled back. “I think I would like that.” 

We stood smiling at each other before Hephaestus gestured at the door. “I’m afraid I’ve likely detained you longer than I ought to have,” he finally spoke, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. “I’m sure the queen will be wondering why it took you so long to return.”  Hephaestus moved in close to me, and I realized that he towered over my smaller form. I looked up to see his face, and he was smiling down at mine. “You never did answer my question.”

My cheeks grew warm. “I’m alright, thanks to you.”

He leaned in toward me, and my heart began to beat rapidly as I could feel the warmth of his body so close to mine. He reached around me and opened the door he’d drug me through earlier. “Goodnight, Aphrodite.”

I hesitated as I exited the room. I hadn’t known which path would lead me to my intended destination when I began my travels, and I still didn’t after having been assaulted.

Hephaestus immediately sensed my concern. “You’ll want to go that direction,” he said, pointing. “The hall will end. Take a left and an immediate right past the courtyard. From that point the queen’s chambers will be recognizable.”

I looked up at his smiling face once more and turned behind me to walk into the hallway. As I gathered my bearings to return to the queen’s chamber, I turned back over my shoulder with a wide grin. “Thank you. Goodnight, Hephaestus.”

I walked as quickly and quietly as I could through the hallways of the palace, my cheeks still warmed by my body’s reaction to being so near to Hephaestus. As I neared the end of the corridor, I glanced back down the direction from which I’d come.

Hephaestus still stood there, arms crossed and smiling, watching me disappear into the night.

When I finally entered the queen’s chambers, most of the candles had nearly burned to their bases, and all was quiet. I walked on the tips of my toes in an attempt to be silent as I observed the elaborately decorated room. I had entered a small receiving area which had two doors opposite one another leading into separate chambers. Cenchreis had told me her room would be on the left; the room to the right was for her ladies.

I had assumed at least one of the ladies would be awake and in the receiving room, but I had entered an empty chamber and I felt as if my steps were more pronounced in the silence. Now finding myself unexpectedly alone, I wasn’t sure what I should do. I assumed I was expected to reside with Korinna, Berenice, and Sophia, but I was not comfortable simply walking into their room uninvited or unannounced. Something about the behavior of the three women unnerved me, though it wasn’t as if I disliked them. I felt like an outsider who had fallen into the graces of a queen undeservedly.

I started when the door behind me from which I had just entered the chamber opened, and I gasped. The cloaked figure that entered gasped when I did before emitting a relieved breath and a hushed feminine laugh.

“Aphrodite! You startled me!” Cenchreis removed the hood of her cloak; her hair was no longer as neat as it had been during the banquet. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be moving about at this hour.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied. “I only just returned, and I wasn’t aware of the time.” 

She smiled, “Only just returning? What kept you?” “I’m afraid my unfamiliarity with the layout of the palace detained me.” Cenchreis wrinkled her noise. “I should have insisted one of my ladies remain with you. Please accept my apology.”

“You owe me no apology! You’ve welcomed me into your home when I have none.” In the dim moonlight, I could see her smiling. “I’m happy to do so. Have you still no memory of anything before you appeared on our shores?”

“None, I’m afraid,” I responded. “The banquet was lovely.” She nodded. “It was. Still, I find them all so exhausting.” “Are there so many?” Cenchreis nodded. “My husband is proud of his kingdom and is always anxious to show off his wealth. And his daughters. And his wife,” she added almost as an afterthought.

“Are all the women who danced tonight his daughters, then?” I asked incredulously, having been reminded of their number. “There are so many! And the eldest among them, she appears so similar to you!” I bit my tongue as the words rolled thoughtlessly off my tongue.

The queen let out a small puff of laughter. “She is a year older, in fact.” She studied my puzzled expression, and then elaborated. “I am not her mother. The king has had other wives before me.”

“Does he have them still?”

“No, Cypriot culture dictates one man and one woman in union, though some other cultures differ with that regard.” She removed her cloak. The chiton she now wore was much thinner and less decorative than the one she’d worn to the banquet. It was so thin I could nearly see through it.

“I do plan to speak to the king that I have a new lady,” Cenchreis spoke kindly. “That is, if you would like to stay.”

I smiled broadly. “I would be honored,” I answered. “I have nowhere else to be, and I’m grateful for your kindness.” I pursed my lips. “What happened to the kings other wives? Were there many?”

Cenchreis looked at her feet, and in a moment I regretted causing her obvious discomfort. “There have been three before me. Two died. One...well, I don’t really know what happened to her.”

She very clearly did not want to dwell on this subject. “I’m sorry,” I stammered. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

She looked up at me. “Oh, you didn’t,” she answered, but I could still feel her struggling emotions hanging on the air. “It may seem as if I have nothing to do but parade around and smile, but being the king’s wife is more difficult than I knew.” Her eyes darkened a bit.

“You must be exhausted,” I said to change the subject, and I turned toward the ladies’ chamber. “Perhaps I should leave you in peace, unless you need anything from me?”

She bit the inside of her lower lip. “Don’t disturb them. Come stay in my chamber this night. Tomorrow, amid the festivities of the day, we will prepare you a place in their room.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me into her own chamber.

The bed was enormous, and when the queen sat on it, she sank deep into its middle. She instructed me to do the same, and I melted into its depths as well.

“I’m afraid I’m spoiling you this night; I regret my ladies aren’t afforded quite the same luxury.”

My eyes were already closed, memorizing the way this felt. I turned to face her. “At least your rest does not seem difficult.” I smiled.

She returned it. “No, when I do lie in my own bed, rest greets me fondly.” Cenchreis rotated so that she lay on her side, “I’m sorry you have no memory of anything before you awakened on the rock?”

I turned to face her. “I wish I did,” I answered truthfully. “I wish I knew who I was.” “Even if you know your past, sometimes you still need your present and your future to shape who you are and who you will become,” she answered wisely, with a yawn. I felt as if she spoke a bit about herself in that statement.

“How did you meet your husband?” I asked, not wishing to dwell on my empty past. “I was a gift to him from Zeus.” “A wife as a gift?” I questioned. “Is that so common that a man may give away his daughter?”

She laughed. “To my knowledge, the Lord Zeus is not my father, though men do give their daughters as wives with a bride price quite often.”

“And the women, they just accept this?” I asked incredulously. “You accepted this?”

“In most cases, there is no choice to accept or not,” she replied with little emotion in her words. “In my case, my alternative was to remain an unmarried slave girl in the temple of Zeus. Being a queen seemed a much better life.”

“Who is this Zeus, if not your father?” 

Her eyes widened. “You do not know of Lord Zeus, King of the Gods?” 

“No,” I replied honestly. “Should I?” 

She sighed. “I suppose if you have no memory...” Her thoughts trailed. “Still, you seemed to have awakened to our world so quickly I assumed you would know.” She shifted onto her stomach, but she still faced me. “Zeus is the king our gods, ruler of everything. He controls the skies, the weather, and he rules on Mount Olympus in Greece with the other Olympians. He is descended from our creators.”

I squeezed my eyebrows together. “He doesn’t seem like someone one would want as a ruler if he has a habit of enslaving women and giving them away as if they are property.”

Cenchreis sucked in a sharp breath. “You should not talk that way! He has eyes and ears everywhere!”

She hesitated to speak further, but I pressed her. “You mentioned there are others who reside with him?”

“Yes, there’s Hera, his wife and sister...” she began. “He married his sister?” I interrupted. “Is that common?” “Not as much in these more civilized times,” she answered, laughing. “But when the Olympians began their rule, the children of Rhea and Kronos only had one another.”

My mind swirled. “The Olympians are not human like we are then? How old are they?” “They appear as humans to us, most of the time,” she answered. “I don’t know how old they are in truth; we’ve worshiped them for centuries for sparing us the evil Kronos would have brought upon humanity.”

“Most of the time? You’ve seen them?” I pestered her with questions like an eager child. 

“Lord Zeus many times, in his temple and here,” the queen answered proudly. “My husband, King Cinyras, is favored by him above most mortals. And his son Ares accompanies him from time to time.”

“So Zeus does have children?” 

“Many. Some are Olympian; most are not.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

She yawned. “Ares was born to him through Hera and is immortal as are his parents. But Zeus has been known to find affection in the arms of mortal women who have born him human children over the course of time. I suppose eternity would be dull in the arms of only one woman.” She paused to ponder on her statement.

“Immortal?”

“They cannot die,” she answered. “It is why they have been around for so long.” 

“Longer than men?”

 “Much longer,” Cenchreis said nodding. “A man’s life is a mere blink in comparison to the eternity of an immortal.”

I rolled back over on to my back and stared at the ceiling. “I imagine such longevity would be exhausting.”

I was answered by the long, slow, and deep breaths of the queen beside me. I turned my head to face her; her eyes were closed, and she had finally been overcome by the exhaustion of the long day.

Her methodic breathing soon lulled me into my own peaceful slumber, and my breath slowed as well until my own eyes closed. I drifted off into a dark dreamless sleep.

Next Chapter: CHAPTER 5