“Ugh. As much as I hate to admit it, you're right.” Venus sighed. Then she fluttered her fingers absently at Athena and Hera. “Go on, don't worry about this. I'll conjure some satyrs to take care of it.”
“Satyrs?” Hera said. “Aren't they rather messy?”
“Of courseânothing makes a mess like a rutting satyr, which is why they're so good at clean-ups. They're used to it.”
Hera and Athena gave Venus twin looks of confusion.
“You don't think
I
clean up after all those orgies, do you?” Venus shook her head in disgust. “I'm their goddess, not their mother.”
Athena snorted.
“Let's leave this to Love, shall we?” Hera guided Athena from the room before the goddesses could start bickering again. “Have the little beasts clean quicklyâthis shouldn't take long,” she called back over her shoulder.
“Why is it that Love always gets stuck with the mess?” Venus muttered.
“Could it be because love can be so messy?” Eleithyia asked with a sweet, innocent smile.
“Darling, you're obviously new to this whole priestess thing, so I won't blast you into nonexistence for calling me messy.”
Eleithyia gasped and looked like she was going to burst into tears.
Venus sighed. “Not to worry. That was just a little divine humor. Let's get the satyrs to work, shall we?” The goddess glanced down at the two bodies that awaited souls. “And while I'm thinking about it I better come up with some new clothes for these two. All that blood will never come out. . . .” She continued to mutter to herself as she conjured an entire herd of industrious satyrs and began putting the temple to order.
Hera materialized within the innermost chamber of Agamemnon's voluminous tents. Except for the young, hairless boy who was oiling the king's dark, perfectly curled hair, they were alone.
“The Goddess Hera!” The boy shrieked and dropped instantly to the ground, pressing his face to the richly carpeted floor. Agamemnon merely bowedâand not low enough for Hera's taste. She pointedly ignored the king and touched the back of the boy's blond head.
“Arise, child. I wish to speak with your king alone, but know that you go with my blessing.” Hera waited until the boy left the room before turning her attention to Agamemnon. She took her time studying him, knowing that it annoyed him to keep his head bowed before her. She noted how he'd swathed himself in gold and had to force herself not to grimace with distaste. Did the man think he was a god?
If so, he was vastly mistaken.
“Arise, Agamemnon. I come with glad news,” Hera finally said.
“Great Goddess, do you bring a message from the mighty Zeus?”
Hera's eyes flashed with anger and her voice sizzled with power so tangible it brushed, crackling, against the arrogant mortal's skin. “I am not a messenger for my husband!”
This time Agamemnon's bow was low and obsequious and much more appropriate. “Forgive me! I did not mean to offend the Queen of the Gods.”
Hera curled one lip delicately. “Mores the pity you don't mean offense because it comes so naturally to you. Heed my warning, Greek king, your arrogance will be your doom.” Happily, she saw him pale. “But, no matter.” She waved her hand graciously, motioning for him to rise. “The news I bring has to do with your empty bed.” Although Hera remembered the slender, hairless boy and wondered just how empty the king's bed had been.
“Indeed, Goddess, my war prize was returned to appease the golden twins. Though I meant no disrespect by claiming Khryseis, it seems her father disapproved.”
“Khryseis was no good for you. A king should have a worthy prize. Only Briseis is beautiful enough for one such as you.” Silently Hera promised herself that she would look up poor Briseis after this whole debacle was finished and grant the girl a boon to make up for sharing this blustering fool's bed.
“Briseis! She is lovely, but she belongs to Achilles.” The king's expression turned sly. “Although I hear all that beauty is wasted on him. Achilles frightens maidens.”
Ah,
Hera thought,
then the rumors about Achilles are true.
“Exactly why Briseis would do better with you.”
Agamemnon stroked his thick beard contemplatively. “True . . . true . . . but still, Achillesâ”
“Does Achilles or Agamemnon rule here?” Hera interrupted.
“I rule the Greeks!”
“Then claim the war prize that most suits you,” Hera said.
Agamemnon met the goddess's gaze. “May I do so with your blessing?”
“Of course. And to help soothe Achilles' well-known rage, I shall arrange for a bedmate to be sent to him. This new war bride will be unlike other women. You should know that she has my very special blessing.”
“I bow to your will, Great Goddess,” Agamemnon said.
“Excellent. Then send your men for Briseis immediately.” While Agamemnon bowed, Hera clapped her hands and disappeared in a rush of glittering blue smoke.
Thetis curtseyed respectfully to Athena. Then, hastily conjuring ambrosia and cushioned chairs made of mother of pearl, she motioned for the gray-eyed goddess to sit.
“Rest yourself, Athena. To what do I owe thisâ” Her words broke when she realized that the goddess was blood-spattered and hard-eyed. “By Poseidon's trident! What has happened?”
Athena waved a dismissive hand at the bloodstains, which instantly disappeared. “It is all because of the tedium of the Trojan War. We have decided it must end.”
Thetis's beautiful face drained of its alluring peach color. “My son is fated to die in the Trojan War. If it is coming to an end, then so is his life.”
“That is what I'm here to speak with you about. We have an idea that may prove mutually beneficial to all of us. We believe the Trojan War can be ended without your son's death.”
“Anything, Goddess. I will do anything to save my son,” Thetis said, recovering some of her color. Then she added, “Who is we?”
“Hera, Venus and me.”
Thetis's blue eyes widened. “Three such powerful goddesses joined with one purpose!”
“Well, it isn't always an easy alliance, but we three do have one thing very much in commonâwe are well and truly sick of this war.”
“Four,” Thetis said firmly. “We
four
are allied by this purpose, if there is some way my son can be spared.”
“Tell me, Thetis, is your son still pleased with the choice he made to end his life too soon?” Athena asked.
Thetis chewed her full bottom lip while she considered. “Achilles won't speak of it directly, but I know him well. Over the past years he has become increasingly unhappy. Did you know he hasn't taken a lover in almost a decade?”
Athena's eyes widened. “Truly?”
Thetis nodded. “It's the berserker rage that overtakes himâ women are frightened of him because of it. My son would never force himself on a woman, so he lives out the short time that remains to him alone except for his Myrmidons, and even they are becoming leery of him. I can feel my son's sorrow and I believe he keeps moving toward his fate only because the life he's living brings him nothing but loneliness.”
“So this war-prize bride who lives in his tent, she is not his lover?”
“Briseis is a beautiful young woman who is as frightened of my son as all of the rest of them have been, even though he has only treated her with kindness,” Thetis said.
Athena's smooth brow wrinkled in thought. “But if he's kind to her, you would think that she would eventually accept him.”
“You have never seen the berserker rage possess him, have you?” Thetis asked quietly.
“No.”
Thetis shuddered. “It is a thing terrible to behold. He is no longer my Achilles when it comes upon him. He becomes a monster, a beast, a physical manifestation of pure rage set only on violence.”
“But the bedroom is not the battlefield.”
“Any strong emotion can bring on the berserker,” Thetis said. She shook her head sadly. “There is no mortal woman who would be willing to look beyond the rage and see the man, especially now that he has become so battle scarred.”
“Battle scarred?” Athena tried to think when was the last time she had actually seen Achilles, and decided it hadn't been since he was a boy on this very beach. “But he was beautiful.”
“He used to be, but his victories in battle after battle have come with a price. He is not invulnerable, you know,” Thetis said defensively. “He is mortal. It is only when his rage is awakened that the berserker claims him.” The sea goddess wiped away a tear that had slipped down her cheek. “Sometimes it takes a lot for his rage to be awakened, and his body shows the remnants of a young life filled with blood and death.” Thetis dropped to her knees before Athena. “I beseech you, Athena, as I did the day this horror was placed upon him, help my son break free of his terrible fate.”
Athena took Thetis's hand, pulling her gently to her feet. “I may be able to finally answer that prayer. Can you get Achilles to withdraw from the fighting, even for just a little while?”
“Without a reason?”
Athena considered for a moment, then asked, “Achilles is less impetuous than he was as a boy, but is he still as proud?”
“Sadly, I believe he is.”
Athena smiled one of her rare smiles. “Then I can give you a reason for Achilles to withdraw. Listen carefully. . . .”
CHAPTER FOUR
"I like the lovely wine color of these robes, don't you? They complement her dark hair well.” Venus arranged the silken drape of the stola that swathed Polyxena's unnaturally still body.
“Anything that brings you pleasure brings me pleasure, Goddess,” said a nearby satyr.
“Yes, darling, I know. That's why I wasn't asking you. Now run along and finish wiping the last of that blood off the floor.” Venus patted the creature's cheek to take the sting from her words. “Eleithyia, I was asking you.”
“Oh, yes, Goddess. I think the color is beautiful.”
“Then why are you frowning?”
“Well, it's quite, um, unusual that you've arrayed the maidservant in such finery, too.”
Venus smoothed the creamy silk tunic so that the maidservant's blush colored stola wasn't wrinkled. Then she frowned at the little priestess. “Child, it is true that this is a servant's body, but the soul that is going to reside there is definitely
not
a servant. It's going to be a big enough shock for poor Jacqueline to wake up in a strange body and find out she has to play the part of maid to her best friend.”
“You are, of course, the Goddess. I bow to your intelligence and wisdom andâ”
Venus waved away her compliments. “Bow later. Right now just tell me that the fabric is perfect.”
“The fabric is perfect.”
“Oh, Venus, the satyrs have done a wonderful job setting my temple aright!” Hera bustled in beaming at the randy woodland creatures and making them wriggle with glee.
“I told you they were marvelous,” Venus said, blowing kisses at the beasts closest to her.
“I am surprised that they did such a good job getting out all the blood and gore,” Athena said, materializing not far from Hera.
“And
them
.” Venus gestured grandly in the direction of the two newly cleaned and clothed bodies. “Don't you think they look lovely, too?”
“The mortals look beautiful, as does my temple. Thank you, Venus, for a job well done,” Hera said.
“They are beautiful, though little but empty shells without souls,” Athena said.
Venus ignored the Goddess of War. “All went well with Agamemnon?” she asked Hera.
The Queen of the Gods curled her lip in distaste. “My opinion of that insufferable man hasn't changed one bit. I do feel terribly sorry for poor Briseis.”
“Which means he's going to take her from Achilles?” Athena said.
“Yes.”
“Good. Thetis will take care of nudging her son into withdrawing from the battle. She'll make it a point of pride. Apparently Achilles has matured from the impulsive teenager who chose glory and battle and he is not thrilled with the fate he chose for himself, but he's still typically prideful. Thetis assured me there will be no problem getting him to withdraw, at least for a short time,” Athena said. “Now all that's left is for your mortal to work her magic and continue to keep Achilles out of the fray long enough for the Trojans to claim victory and then this whole mess will be ended.”
“Don't worry about my mortal. She'll do just fine.”
“Really? Does she speak ancient Greek?” Athena asked pointedly.
Venus hesitated only briefly and said, “She will after I do a little . . .” The Goddess of Love waggled her fingers, causing glitter to form in the air.
Athena snorted.
“Venus, perhaps you could put the souls into the bodies and we could get this business underway?” Hera said.
“Oh, yes! Of course. Satyrs.” Venus clapped her hands commandingly together. “Return to Olympus. I'll send some Nyseideian nymphs to thank you for aiding me.” The hoofed creatures cheered as they disappeared. “All right. Stand back. Give me room to work.” The Goddess of Love smoothed her long blond hair and then raised her hands, palms up. “I call the mortal spirits I recently made freeâKatrina and Jacqueline, I command you come to me!”
Two glowing orbs popped into the air and floated to rest on Venus's open palms.
“First I gift you with the language you must know, so that as soon as you're here you'll be ready to go. So now is the time to begin the task I ask of youâ ensoul these bodies that you may complete the job Love would have you do!”