Movement and noises echoing from the chambers just beyond the door awoke me the following morning. As I opened my eyes, it took me a while to finally reacquaint with my surrounds and remember the events of the previous day. Still on my back, having not moved since I closed my eyes the evening before, I turned my head as I felt movement in the bed beside me. Cenchreis had already risen and was making her way to the door.

A soft knock echoed oddly through the chamber in the early hours. The door opened slowly, and the youngest of the girls that I had watched dancing the night before bounced in, a disheveled mess of grins and giggles.

Cenchreis’s smile broadened and was more genuine than any of the expressions I had seen cross her face thus far. She knelt and opened her arms to embrace the lively bundle of curls. “Myrrha,” the queen cooed as the girl leapt into her arms. “Good morning, Mother,” the girl squeaked joyfully. Her attention quickly refocused on me standing next to her mother, and she wriggled from her mother’s enfolded arms to pounce in front of me. Her short little legs offered me the polite but enthusiastically awkward bob of a young girl. “I’m Myrrha.”

I offered her a graceful bob of my own, smiling broadly at the infectious grin on the girl’s face. “Hello, Myrrha.” I knelt to meet her eye to eye. “My name is Aphrodite.”

“You’re pretty,” she remarked candidly. “Thank you,” I answered, “but I’m nowhere near as beautiful as you.” Myrrha beamed and bobbed her pudgy little knees again. “Thank you.” She turned back to her mother. “I like her. Can she stay?”

Cenchreis laughed, glancing first at me quickly and then back at Myrrha. “I hope so. I like her too.”

The queen’s ladies entered the room, and I sat on the edge of her bed watching them dress the queen, silently wondering why it took so much effort. Myrrha crawled up onto the bed with much effort and wriggled her way over to sit next to me, very nearly on my lap.

“Why do you think my mother cannot dress herself?” she mused quietly, and I had to stifle a laugh. “I don’t even need my maid to help me anymore.”

I smiled at her. “I don’t think she needs the help. I think her friends just help her because they like her.”

Her little lips formed a thin line. “My sisters never help me. Do you think that means they don’t like me?”

“What? Of course not!” I exclaimed as quietly as I could. “Why would you think that?” “Cause my mother took the place of their mother,” she said simply, eyes still staring at the women dressing the queen. “They talk about it a lot.”

I started to respond, but the queen interrupted us, thankfully. “What are you two whispering about?” Finally dressed and coated in the glistening white makeup I eventually became accustomed to seeing, she walked over to her daughter and scooped her into a hug.

“Nothing,” she grinned, falling easily into her mother’s embrace. Cenchreis whispered something softly in her daughter’s ear, and I watched the young girl’s face seem to light up as she nodded excitedly. 

The queen turned to me. “Aphrodite, this may be a lot to ask of you, but would you perhaps be willing to spend the morning with Myrrha? My ladies and I have some errands at the Courtyard of the Gods, and, since I haven’t yet introduced you to my husband, I’m afraid I’m hesitant that you accompany us anywhere.”

Before I had the change to reply, Berenice knelt down and whispered in the queen’s ear, but not so softly that I couldn’t hear; in fact, I felt she intended for me to hear her every word. “Are you sure it’s wise to trust the princess with her? We just met her.” She smiled at me awkwardly, but I felt an aura of animosity exuding from her. I wondered what I’d done to offend her so. The other women seemed to feel perfectly comfortable with my presence. Cenchreis waved her away, mouthing the word “nonsense” after her.

I nodded gladly, feeling much more comfortable with the child than the young queen. “I’d be delighted.”

Both mother and daughter beamed. “She’s certainly taken an immediate liking to you!” the queen exclaimed as the young girl tackled me onto the bed with a hug. I smiled so broadly I think the corners of my lips touched my ears.

As her ladies prepared for their outing, Cenchreis pulled me aside. “If you are discovered and your origins questioned, you are a noble woman who survived a shipwreck at sea; Sophia’s exhaustive explanation is as good as any. Make no indication that you are uncertain of your origins.”

Her pleading was so urgent and so desperate that it frightened me, and my skin tightened at the chill which surged through me. Until now, this strange new world I had been thrust into held no danger or threat, save perhaps Hephaestus’s strange way of greeting me. At the thought of him, my spine shivered pleasantly. I wanted to ask the queen to elaborate, but the anguish in her tone necessitated that I ensure her faith that I would keep to the shadows.

“Your Majesty, my only desire is to please you with hopes that I have found a home in your service,” I answered with complete sincerity.

Her lips broadened into a radiant smile. “I intend to make that happen. I only pray to the Gods that Cinyras will ask few questions.” Her smile weakened a bit. “The less he knows about you, the safer you are.”

I couldn’t imagine how the king’s taking notice of me would put me in any sort of peril, so I offered a simple smile. “Nothing would please me more than serving you from the shadows.”

Cenchreis squeezed my hand with hers and turned to her daughter with a stern look. “You know what is expected of you.”

The child nodded eagerly as her mother scooped her up into a hug and kissed her cheek. “I’ll behave. I promise.” She wriggled free and ran to my side, grabbing my hand. I couldn’t prevent the smile that grew across my face.

As the queen’s party departed, I leaned over and asked the child, “What is the Courtyard of the Gods?”

The whites of her eyes glowed against her olive skin. “You don’t know?” I made sure to make a pitiful face and shook my head sadly. “It’s where the Gods can hear our prayers.” I thought back to the night before. “But I thought the Gods lived on Mount Olympus?” Myrrha rolled her eyes. “Well, that’s where they live, silly, but we can’t go there to talk to them. So we go to the temples.” She searched my face wisely. “You really don’t know?”

Again, I shook my head. “I’m afraid I know very little about the Gods.” The child smiled broadly. “Well, then I’ll teach you!” Thus, Myrrha and I passed the day with her giving me lessons on the Olympians her mother’s party had left to apparently worship in some capacity. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the young child’s ability to recite the family tree, beginning with Rhea and Kronos through their children and their children’s children coupled with each god or goddess’s responsibility. I made every effort to commit it to memory, but it was exhausting. Every once in a while, the young child would pause and ask if I knew a particular story or not, but eventually she quit asking once she realized my answer was always to the contrary. It was early afternoon by the time the queen’s party returned.

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