The Coming of Aphrodite Pt. 01

'My lady,' she said. 'I do not wish to cast aspersions on your husband...'

'Oh, cast away!' said Zoravelina. 'That man is an utter piece of shit!'

Hypergamy looked at the other woman and a tear ran down her cheek.

'I am so relieved to hear you say that,' she said.

Hypergamy burst out crying and Zoravelina found herself throwing her arms around the other woman and hugging her. Yiorgos came out with a circular tray laden with a jug and two cups and stood in silent bewilderment. Zoravelina waved an arm without breaking the hug.

'Get some wine, you fool!' she cried. 'We need wine!'

With a nod of the head, the manservant turned on his heel and disappeared back inside the house.

*

The sun was dipping in the sky, turning the clouds light shades of orange and pink. The air was warm and on this balmy evening, three men wearing the togas of the wealthy elite, accompanied by one armed bodyguard, were walking to the property surrounding the big white house with the red-tiled roof. Leading the way--and the conversation--was Syphon, a man with tanned skin and dark hair of tight curls who walked with a vigorous stride. He had a warrior's physique and liked to spar every morning with one of his bodyguards, although he did this less frequently since his election to a government post. He also had to keep his eye on his business as a grain merchant, which was why his two associates would be joining him for a working supper.

When they arrived, the guard opened the gate and the bodyguard stayed to talk with him as the three men went down the pathway towards the house. Yiorgos greeted his master at the door and Syphon told him they would be supping in the andron - the salon for the men. From the moment his voice echoed in the house, there was the sound of running feet from the other wing.

'Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!'

Syphon shrugged off his toga and bent down as his children ran to him, scooping up one in each arm. Their sandalled feet kicked in the air as he lifted them up and gave each a kiss on their cheek. His two colleagues smiled and allowed Yiorgos to lead them away.

'You little rascals!' said Syphon. 'Why aren't you in bed?'

'We're talking to a princess!' said Callista.

'Yeah!' said Castor. 'And she says I'm handsome!'

'Oh, does she now?'

'But she's beautiful, Daddy!' said Callista. 'You should see her! She's the most beautiful woman in the world!'

'Really?'

'Yes! And she's got a letter from the king!'

Syphon lost his smile.

'I beg your pardon?'

'She's got a letter from the king! But it's not our king! It's another king.'

'From far away,' said Castor.

'Yeah,' said Callista. 'Somewhere called Bibble or Bobble...'

'Byblos?' said her father.

'Yes, that's it! Do you know it?'

Syphon put his children down, the skin of his neck reddening. Yiorgos had picked up his toga and Sophia had also appeared. Both waited patiently for instructions.

'Yiorgos, bring some wine for my guests,' said Syphon. 'And tell them I'll be with them shortly.'

'Yes, sir.'

'And Sophia... put the children to bed, would you?'

'No, Daddy!' cried Callista. 'I want to--'

Syphon walked through the house as the screaming started behind him. In the city of Iolcos, the houses of the wealthy had separate rooms for men and women, but of course a man can go where he pleases in his own home. Syphon approached the gynaikon where he could hear the sound of women's voices and he marched straight in.

Zoravelina and a woman dressed in green were reclining on couches, a silver jug of wine on a small table before them. When he entered the room, the woman in green put her goblet on the table and rose to her feet. His wife, by contrast, pointedly stayed where she was, even knocking back her wine as he stood and stared at the woman. His daughter had not been exaggerating. The woman before him was glorious, tall and slender, with black hair and green eyes that seemed to penetrate his soul. He felt like Paris of Troy seeing Helen for the first time.

'Yeah...' said Zoravelina. 'Just as I expected.'

Her stinging contempt seemed to break the spell and Syphon glared at her.

'What is the meaning of this?' he demanded.

'This woman came to me for protection,' said Zoravelina, pushing herself unsteadily to her feet. 'What does it say about your reputation that a woman arriving in Iolcos knows on the first day that you are a man she needs protection from?'

'I've never seen this woman before!'

'Well, that was obvious from the way you were gaping at her like a moonstruck cow!'

'You're drunk.'

'And you're a bastard!'

Zoravelina tried to glare back at him, but she was having trouble focusing. Syphon shook his head in disgust.

'Were you like this in front of the children?' he said.

'Don't you get all high and mighty with me! If those kids knew what a--'

'That's enough!'

Syphon stepped backwards to the doorway and shouted for Yiorgos. Meanwhile, Zoravelina was swaying and the woman in green stepped forward to steady her, taking the goblet from her hand. The drunk woman put both hands on her shoulders and looked her blearily in the eyes.

'If he touches you... you tell me,' she said. 'Promise?'

'I promise.'

'And I promise you... I will cut his balls off.'

'By the gods...' said Syphon under his breath.

Yiorgos appeared. He looked distressed at the situation. Syphon gave a great sigh and looked at the manservant.

'Would you see my wife to bed,' he said.

'Oh, goody,' said Zoravelina. 'Can he tell me a story?'

'You're embarrassing yourself, woman.'

'No... if anyone is... um...'

She blinked and seemed about to fall. Yiorgos and the woman in green both stepped forward to catch her, then Yiorgos slowly led her away. But in the doorway, she stopped and turned to look at her husband. She spoke and, this time, there was no slurring of words.

'There should be a special torment in Tartarus for a man like you,' she said.

'There is,' said Syphon. 'It's called Marriage.'

*

When Hypergamy saw Zoravelina being led away, she realised how little she had been paying attention to her. The two children had been kneeling on the floor before her and she had been telling them about Aegyptus - tales of gods with animal heads, great stone pyramids older than time, and a sphinx so huge, it could swallow an elephant. ('What's an elephant?' Castor had asked and her answer had stretched his mouth open almost to breaking point.) Their mother had sat in the background, just quietly drinking and pouring wine and drinking. It was only when she had stood up from the couch that Hypergamy realised how drunk she was.

Now Hypergamy was alone in a room with the man she had been trying to avoid. She stood still and silent, as though by doing so she could escape his notice. And, for a few moments, it seemed to work. The man passed her as he went to the small table without a glance in her direction. He picked up the long-handled wine jug and casually looked inside, then checked the other two cups. The only wine left was in Hypergamy's goblet. He straightened up, swirled the wine and finished it in one gulp. Only then did he turn to look at her, goblet in hand.

'I take it you're the new arrival from Byblos?' he said.

'Yes, sir.'

'And who told you to show up at my house?'

'I was told you were the person I had to see.'

'Don't get smart with me.'

'I apologise if I've offended you, sir.'

Syphon glared at the woman, his eyes narrowed.

'What's your name?' he said.

'Hypergamy, sir.'

'And are you a princess, Hypergamy?'

'No.'

'Then why did you tell my children you were?'

'Because I didn't want to explain what a concubine was.'

Syphon smiled. He went up to the woman and looked down at her.

'So, you're a whore,' he said.

'I'm the opposite of a whore.'

'How do you figure that?'

'A whore is a woman who gets paid for sleeping with multiple men,' said Hypergamy. 'A concubine is a woman who sleeps with one man, the king. If another man so much as touches her hair, that man's head would decorate the city gates and the woman is burned alive. I would call that a significant difference.'

Hypergamy looked the man in the eye as he digested what she had just said. Eventually, he gave a small nod.

'All right,' he said. 'I concede the point. Please... sit.'

Syphon stepped back and gestured with the goblet towards the couch she had been reclining on. Hypergamy sat down with her back straight and her knees together. The man sat on his wife's couch, leaning back with one leg stretched out on the floor.

'So tell me,' he said. 'Why do you want to see King Pelias?'

'I am Greek by birth,' said Hypergamy. 'But when I was about your son's age, my parents were killed by pirates and I was captured and sold as a slave. To make a long story short, I ended up as King Eshmun's twelfth concubine and after a year's service, he saw fit to give me my freedom.'

'Why?'

'He had fallen in love with me and that put my life in danger.'

Syphon sat up, both feet on the floor.

'Queen Cabiria?' he said.

'You know something of that region?'

'It's my job to know.'

Syphon looked into the empty goblet as though reading his future in the bottom of it. He put it on the table and leaned on his elbows, his chin on his hands. When he spoke, his voice was quiet, reflective.

'How long were you a slave?' he said.

'I don't know exactly,' said Hypergamy. 'I spent most of my childhood in camel trains in Aegyptus, travelling from one camp to another. One loses track of time in the desert. But I would guess maybe sixteen years?'

'Ye gods...'

Syphon shook his head and frowned. Then he straightened up and looked at her.

'Listen, I have people waiting for me,' he said. 'But I assume my wife has offered you a room?'

'She has, yes.'

'Good. You can stay here for the time being. If you need anything, just ask Yiorgos.'

'Thank you, sir.'

'You don't have to call me that. You're a free woman now.'

He gave her a smile. Hypergamy did not smile back.

'With respect, sir,' she said. 'Until King Pelias accepts me as a citizen of Iolcos, I am still effectively a slave.'

'It's a formality.'

'So you'll get me an audience?'

'Of course. I'll talk to him tomorrow.'

Syphon looked at the woman with a friendly smile, as though daring her to doubt his word. Hypergamy looked back, knowing he would take offence at anything other than a complete show of trust, yet feeling her insides twist themselves into knots. Her eyelids flickered as she made a calculation, then she gave him a smile.

'Syphon,' she said. 'I would be so grateful.'

She waited to see if he would say 'How grateful?' but either he was sincere in his intentions or he was too smart to fall for such a trap. Instead, he slapped his legs, rose to his feet and headed for the doorway. But when he got there, he stopped and turned around.

'By the way,' he said. 'Welcome to Iolcos!'

***

***

Chapter 2

The Seduction

IN THE SMALL dark office lined with shelves of scrolls, the port master poured a light pink wine into two goblets. Syphon had sent word a couple of weeks earlier for Hypergamy's chest to be sent to his house, but now the woman was here in person to offer payment for the storage. The port master wouldn't hear of it, preferring for her to keep her promise. So she sat in the chair facing his desk, graciously accepted a goblet of wine, and began to tell him about everything that was happening.

Hypergamy had been given a servant's bedroom, which was in the same wing as the children's bedrooms. It was small and the bed was narrow, but the vacant guest bedroom was close to the master bedroom and Zoravelina didn't trust her husband not to sneak into Hypergamy's room in the dead of night. The port master pulled a face, as though he knew that situation only too well, and turned the conversation to her audience with the king. Hypergamy gave an ironic laugh.

'What audience with the king?' she said.

'Don't you at least have an appointment?'

'Nope.'

'The possibility of an appointment?'

'Syphon tells me he's doing everything he can, but that I must understand that the affairs of state will always take precedence over individual matters.'

'How does he know the letter is not about an affair of state?'

'I think he's guessing that the contents of the letter are not politically important.'

'Is he right?'

'Unfortunately, yes.'

The port master stared at his guest as she calmly took a sip of wine. He wet his lips before speaking.

'So, basically,' he said, 'nothing is going to happen until you sleep with him?'

'That would be my guess,' said Hypergamy.

'My dear... I am so sorry.'

'Don't be.'

Hypergamy looked at him, wine in hand.

'I am living in a beautiful house,' she said. 'I have a hostess who, when she's not drinking, is showing me around the city. I'm spending time with two delightful children. And the man in question is hardly ever home.'

She finished her drink and sighed.

'So you see,' she said, 'I'm not all that worried about being held hostage by a man until I sleep with him. I'm more worried about the day when he realises that by not sleeping with him, I'm living a pretty good life at his expense!'

*

Hypergamy was given another lift back to the house and she spent a pleasant afternoon with Zoravelina and the children. Supper that evening was equally agreeable, but after the children had gone to bed and Syphon still wasn't home, Zoravelina began to drink. She talked endlessly about her husband--the bad things he did, the nice things he didn't do--and every time Hypergamy tried to change the subject, Zoravelina dragged it right back. Hypergamy began to realise that her hostess took a kind of pride in how miserable her marriage was, and she was not going to be distracted from it.

It was getting late when Hypergamy helped the lady upstairs to the guest bedroom which was now her bedroom. The master of the house still wasn't home and Zoravelina sat half-naked on the bed, rambling on about how he would disappear for days at a time while Hypergamy hunted for her nightdress. Eventually, she was ready for bed and Hypergamy tucked her in. She picked up the lamp with the flame at its spout and stepped back to leave.

But as she stood by the bed, looking down at the mumbling woman, Hypergamy realised that she didn't want to go. She put the lamp on the small bedside table, sat on the bed and began to stroke the woman's blond hair, lightly scratching her scalp with her fingertips.

'Hmm...' mumbled Zoravelina. 'That feels nice...'

'Do you like that?'

'Yes...'

'Zoravelina...'

'Hmm?'

'You're very beautiful, you know.'

'Hmm...'

'And sad and unhappy... and spoiled and entitled...'

'Hmm...'

Hypergamy looked at the woman's face as she ran her fingers through her hair. The woman's lips were moist and slightly open and Hypergamy looked away, taking a deep breath as the sides of her fingers enjoyed the softness of the hair. Zoravelina's eyes were closed and her mumbling came to a halt. After a while, Hypergamy stopped stroking and rested her hand on the woman's head. Her breathing was even. She had fallen asleep.

Hypergamy sighed. She leaned forwards, kissed the other woman on the forehead, then picked up the oil lamp and quietly left the room.

*

Hypergamy was an early riser. The air was cool in the morning and the house was quiet and still. There was a section of garden with orange trees and hibiscus and Hypergamy liked to walk there alone, like a nymph in a miniature forest. Hidden in that garden was the statue of a woman, naked except for the cloth of a toga that draped over one shoulder and reached down to her shin. The figure was smaller than life-size, but as the plinth was high enough for the woman to look down upon passers-by, Hypergamy felt like this was Aphrodite come to protect her. A morning and evening prayer became part of her routine, a time for her to reflect and ask the Goddess for her wisdom and guidance.

On the morning following the night she had put Zoravelina to bed, Hypergamy said her morning prayers and then lingered in the garden. She could sometimes hear the echo of clashing swords from across the grounds as Syphon sparred with his bodyguard, but not this morning. He hadn't come home all night. The house was now waking up, with servants going about their business and the guard at the gate being relieved by another. When it was time, Hypergamy returned to the house and had breakfast with the children and their nurse. Their tutor arrived and they were taken off to rooms where they would spend the next hours at their lessons.

It was late in the morning when Hypergamy went out to the atrium and saw Zoravelina. The sun had risen over the house and the lady was sitting on the one stone bench that was still in the shade. She was bent forwards, her head resting on fingertips that were rubbing circles into her temples. There was a clay cup beside her and a servant girl stood a discreet distance away, holding a tray with a water jug. As the bench was essentially a stone slab, Hypergamy went to sit on the other side of it, next to and slightly behind the ailing woman. She put a hand on her curving back.

'Good morning,' said Hypergamy softly.

'Oh, it's you.'

'How are you feeling?'

'Embarrassed. Mortified.'

'Please don't be. Not on my account.'

Zoravelina groaned and screwed her eyes even tighter shut. Her fingertips continued to press circles into the sides of her head. Hypergamy glanced down at the cup by her side and saw less than a mouthful of water inside.

'Zoravelina,' she said. 'May I ask the girl to pour you some more water?'

'Just ask her yourself.'

'It's not my place to do that.'

'Hypergamy, you're my guest,' said Zoravelina. 'I'll tell Yiorgos that you're to be listened to by the servants, same as me. Just don't do it in front of my husband. He likes to think he's in charge.'

She said all this without opening her eyes. Hypergamy bit her lip as she regarded her, then she beckoned to the servant girl. The girl stepped forwards, holding the tray in both hands and having difficulty keeping it level. She was young, maybe sixteen.

'What's your name?' said Hypergamy.

'It's Luna, ma'am.'

'Well, Luna, I'll take that,' said Hypergamy, reaching for the jug. 'And I want you to prepare some hot water for a bath.'

The girl hesitated and looked at her mistress. Despite having her eyes screwed shut, Zoravelina gave a nod and a wave of the hand. The girl rushed off while Hypergamy poured water into the cup and held it out.

'Here, drink this,' she said.

'I just need a moment.'

'It'll help if you drink water.'

Zoravelina groaned and opened her eyes for the first time. She took the cup, drained it, then gave it back and closed her eyes again. The fingertips went back to the sides of her head. Hypergamy poured another cup.

'Oh dear...' muttered Zoravelina. 'You're not going to "take care of me", are you?'

'I'm afraid so,' said Hypergamy. 'You're going to drink this water, and then I'm giving you a bath. And after that, I'm going to give you a massage.'

'Ooh... I like the sound of that.'

'Good.'

'Can you do massages then?'

'Of course. It was part of my education as a concubine.'

Zoravelina's fingertips immediately stopped moving. Her eyes cracked open and Hypergamy saw the blue iris of one eye swivel to look at her. Hypergamy smiled and leaned closer, her shoulder pressing against the other woman's arm. When she spoke, her voice was low and suggestive.