Page 29 of Arrogance
Her eyes widened with shock, when she recognized who I was. I’m sure she was wishing the bear was still in front of her instead of now having to face me. A look of horror struck her face, which led me to believe she knew exactly why I was here in the wilderness with her. “Aphrodite, please let me go. I cannot be married and have children. It would be against my will.”
“And why isyourwill so important?” I asked her. “Why should I allow you to live on this island and remain a virgin against all things I stand for?”
Polyphonte shook her head. “Because it is my belief. I should be able to do what I please with my body. And if that means not sharing it with a man, then I have that right!”
“I would watch your tone with me, Polyphonte!” I threatened. “You are in no predicament to raise your voice to me.”
But the stubborn bitch ignored me. She went on a tirade against her better judgment. “You do not scare me, Goddess. For I no longer pray and worship you anymore. My loyalty belongs to another. Artemis will always be a far more vigorous and powerful goddess than you will ever be.”
I could no longer control my anger. Clearly, Polyphonte was adamant and never going to give in to my demands. She would be sorry for being disobedient and spewing such vile, unforgiveable nonsense to me. The whites in my eyes were aglow. They transformed into a lustrous bronze. I held my hand out to her, ready to punish Polyphonte for her treachery towards me.
A golden aura encapsulated her. And once I cast my spell on her, it dissipated. ThenewPolyphonte’s demeanor completely changed. She stood up and spun around in circles several times, as if she was in search of something. “My love… where did he go?” she panicked.
I pointed in the direction of the nearby forest. “He just fled over there. If you’re quick, you will be able to catch him.”
“Thank you, Goddess! Thank you!” And with that, Polyphonte sprinted into the forest after the now calmed bear that nearly mauled her.
An impish grin crept up on my face. I had driven the despicable varmint mad. She now lusted after the bear and soon enough, she would make love to it. That would teach Polyphonte and everyone else a lesson of the kind of wrath they would have to endure if they ever provoked me.
After my visit to Amathus, I returned to Adonis. I only had one more week with him before he would have to return to the Underworld for the next several months, under the watchful eye of that trollop, Persephone. I found him alone on the beach, staring off into the sunset.
“How was your day, my love?” I approached him from behind and gracefully sat down, lounging in the sand beside him.
“Uneventful. The only major thing that happened was Apollo appeared,” Adonis nonchalantly stated.
Well, that was completelyeventful. A surge of jealousy erupted within me, but I managed to control it and not let Adonis know I was feeling such a way. “And what did Apollo have to say? Did anything come of his visit?”
I studied Adonis carefully, scrutinizing his every movement and action, using his body language and facial expressions to my advantage in being able to tell how he felt and if he would be lying to me or not.
“Nothing, really. Like I said, it was pretty uneventful. He congratulated me on being the first mortal to ever win in Artemis’ archery competition. Then he went on to share more details about how he killed Python and the terms of his servitude,” Adonis revealed.
Lies. All lies.
Did Adonis take me for a fool? Enmity swelled within me over not only Apollo confronting him in my absence but also for having this sort of influence over Adonis, where he could so easily lie to me.
I knew much more happened between the two. Adonis already admitted to me the physical attraction he possessed for the god. I was also well aware of Adonis’ charm. A charm that even captured the attention of Apollo at the archery tournament.
Of course, there was also the fact that Apollo was calculated in this most recent visit with Adonis. He strategically waited until I was out of the picture before he made his presence known to Adonis. The two had to have shared a moment of intimacy. There was no denying it. Yet here Adonis was being dishonest with me over the entire thing.
But I knew it was best for me to pretend to believe him. I could not risk showing my vengeful side in front of Adonis. If I were to be angry towards him, he would easily run off into Apollo’s arms, or even worse, Persephone’s, since he was heading to the Underworld soon, to be with her.
“Yes. That does sound fairly uneventful,” I deceitfully concurred with him. “But come, make love to me. For I need to be pleasured by you as much as possible. I’m not sure how I’ll ever manage being without you for another four months.”
Adonis rolled himself on top of me with a sly smirk on his face, nibbling on my neck. “I have a feeling you’ll manage just fine, Goddess of love.”
Adonis and I continued to make love up until the day of his departure for the Underworld. It pained me to no end to know he was in the company of that perfidious Persephone for the next few months. It would be a miserable time for me as it always was, but I would find ways to keep myself occupied. There were my typical goddess duties that needed to be taken care of for my people, and I had many other lovers I could use and toy with to distract my time.
I recollected the time I had argued with Persephone and Zeus over keeping Adonis all to myself. Even though I came out on top in that dispute with keeping Adonis with me for two-thirds of the year, I still had to give him up for another third of the time. This was unfathomable to me. I should have had full custody of him. Persephone somehow managed to dig her rotten nails into Adonis and keep him from me, even for a short while. If only I could get my revenge on Persephone and Zeus for causing me this much anguish. However, I was incapable of doing such a thing. Purposefully causing harm to the King of the Gods and the Queen of the Underworld would surely land me in Tartarus for who knows how many years. Perhaps even an eternity.
But there was someone I could potentially ruin. And that was Calliope, the floozy muse that gave Zeus her counsel and led him to decide to have Adonis spend one-third of the year with me, another with Persephone, and the remaining third with whosoever Adonis desired. Had it not been for her doltish advice she had given Zeus, I would not have to go through this turmoil for the next few months.
She needed to pay for what she did to me and that time was now. As much as I wanted to punish Calliope directly, I knew that may not be wise. Doing so could anger Zeus. So, the next best way to distraught her would be to go after a loved one of hers. And I had just the person in mind. Her precious son, Orpheus. It was no secret that Orpheus loved other men, and I knew he admired and had frequent sexual affairs with Dionysus. The two had been lovers for quite some time.
It was time to cause some drama for them. I called upon Eros to assist with the plan I had in mind. “Yes, mother?” he greeted me with, when he arrived at my palace on Mount Olympus. His thick, white feathery wings flapped as he remained hovering in place.
“I need a favor. I need you to strike one of your arrows on the mortal, Orpheus,” I stated.
“Oh? But he is already in love now, is he not?” Eros questioned me.
