Page 50 of Arrogance
How could I have not known Orion was submerged in the water?
Why did I agree to Apollo’s terms and succumb to this competition?
A never-ending circle of thoughts and questions like these continued to spiral in my head along with constant blame and guilt.
But after I reviewed the scene again, my last question stuck to me. It was Apollo who suggested we have this archery contest. It was he who led us here to the western side of Delos, coincidentally. Furthermore, Apollo was the one who selected Orion’s head as a target, believing it to be a rock emerged from the lake.
Did Apollo know that Orion was in the lake all along? Did he mean for me to be the one to kill him? I closed my eyes and shook my head to dispel these unforgivable thoughts.
No. Apollo would never do such a thing to me. He would never want me to suffer like this. My brother was never that cruel. But the string of events that led up to Orion’s death and Apollo’s hand in it led me to now feel as though Apollo was partially culpable in all of this.
That’s all it was, though. Just a horrible accident that no one foresaw. Apollo had to be innocent in all of this, despite the countless coincidences that were stacked against him. I had to keep telling myself this over and over again, because the more times I recounted the series of events in my head, the more I began to doubt my brother’s virtuousness.
Chapter 25
Adonis
As if the Greeks and their gods could not throw enough events and competitions in a given year, there was now a discus throw tournament to be held in Athens. Aphrodite was unable to come to the games due to other obligations. So, I decided to attend alone. Both of us knew Apollo would be expected to participate, which I could tell struck a chord within Aphrodite. As hard as she tried to hide her worriedness, I was able to instantly tell she was bothered about me being in the same place as Apollo without her.
“You have nothing to fear, my love. What I felt for Apollo is in the past. What’s lost is lost. I am able to handle myself around him now,” I informed her.
“I know. I trust you, Adonis. My only fear is that without my aide, what if Apollo, Artemis, or someone they are aligned with uses the opportunity to harm you? You won’t have my powers and protection to help you. I wouldn’t put it past either of those noxious twins to plot your demise knowing they can easily get away with it,” she seethed.
“I can protect myself, Aphrodite. You have nothing to fret. Do not view me as being so weak. I am more than capable of handling myself. And besides, there will be many other gods and goddesses present at the event. Apollo likely won’t even know I’m in attendance,” I said, to alleviate her fears.
But it seemed my persuasion was not winning her over. “You say that, but even as you do, you truly don’t believe the words yourself. No matter how large a crowd may be, everyone knows when Adonis is present.” Aphrodite stepped closer to me, placing her hands on my shoulders. “You are the most beautiful man in the world. Whether it be an audience of ten or ten-thousand, all heads turn when you are around.”
Yes. Aphrodite did have a strong argument here. Even I was not oblivious to the many eyes that often wandered to me. I had gotten used to it my whole life. I was the object of all men's and women’s lustful thoughts. Being so accustomed to getting such sexual attention on a daily occurrence, it rarely even daunted on me in the very least anymore. “Remember the promise you made me? You said you would never treat me the way Persephone does. Suffocating me and keeping me under lock and key like a royal pet.”
The mention of Persephone made Aphrodite scowl. I knew my comment disgruntled her greatly, but at the same time, it’s what she needed to hear. Aphrodite despised the very existence of the Queen of the Underworld. She would not stand for being remarkably compared to Persephone in any regard. Therefore, I knew this might be the ideal logic I could use to sway her opinion.
Soon, Aphrodite threw her arms in the air, much to my satisfaction. “Very well. You can go to the tournament, but please do your best to lie low as much as possible,” she requested.
I beamed widely once I was given her permission. “You have my word, my love.”
To be honest, I had no interest in the discus throw and the games themselves. My intrigue lied with seeing how Apollo was fairing since our affair ended. It had now been months since we last saw each other at Artemis’ annual archery competition, in which I left the arena, heated and enraged by the silence he had given me.
Rumor had it that Apollo had already long moved on from me. He had captured the attention of a Spartan prince named Hyacinth. The two were said to have been practically inseparable for the past month or so. Needless to say, I did expect to find them hand in hand at the event today.
As I entered the limestone pillared Athenian stadium, I chose to enter the private area specifically reserved for gods and goddesses only. However, my relationship and allegiance to Aphrodite would likely allow my entrance without any other god or goddess to question it. Sure enough, I was able to take a seat in the section without any cause for complaint, much to my relief.
When I settled in my seat, I scanned the crowd carefully as well as the competitors that were down on the field. Sure enough, Apollo was among them with an extremely handsome young man by his side. The man had stunning copper hair, with silky bronze skin that even I was able to admire from this distant vantage point. Based on the descriptions I’ve heard from people, I knew that this was undoubtedly Hyacinth, his new lover.
A feeling of aggravation overcame me. It was one thing to hear about Apollo seeing another man, but it was another to actually witness and experience it first-hand. Had it not been for our reckless behavior at Delphi, that could have been me down there besides Apollo, supporting him.
A wave of jealousy further crashed into me once I saw Apollo place his hand around Hyacinth’s lower back, pulling him in for a passionate kiss before releasing him. Hyacinth then returned to the stands with the rest of the audience on the opposite side of the stadium, away from me.
I was usually one to never be insecure, but now I was finding myself being resentful. A surge of rage engorged my thoughts. I didn’t want Apollo to be with anyone but me. I knew this would never likely happen, but I was determined to somehow make it come to fruition. At least when it came to this Hyacinth, a mortal prince, being in Apollo’s presence, I wanted him out of the picture altogether.
How dare Apollo think that he could move on so quickly from me? Did he really believe he could just leave me behind in the dirt and quickly progress into a relationship with a younger man?
I could tell Aphrodite’s influence was getting the best of me now, for I wished I could somehow get my revenge on Apollo and his naïve little puppet, Hyacinth. Right now, I was fuming on the inside and needed something to desperately take the edge off. So, I rose from my seat and proceeded into a small open area behind the stands where gods and goddesses stood to mingle and imbibe on wine. Grabbing a goblet of wine myself, I quickly gulped down its entire content before picking up another to this time slowly enjoy and consume.
As I spun back around, I noticed a god standing in front of me, blocking my path. His hair was as black as onyx, with moth-like wings extending from the back of his shoulder blades.
“Zephyrus.” I lightly dipped my head down to him with a bow out of respect. Zephyrus was the God of the west wind. A kind and gentle man, to say the least. Rather charming too, I might add.
He repeated the actions back to me, although it was not expected of him to do so. “Adonis. A pleasure to find you here. Where is Aphrodite?” he inquired.
