The Coming of Aphrodite Pt. 01

'What condition?' he said.

'Over the past weeks,' said Hypergamy, 'I've grown very close to Zoravelina. And after I leave this house, I would like to continue a friendship with her. So my condition is that whatever passes between us is kept secret from her. The fact that you sleep with other women hurts her very much, and I would hate her to know that I'm one of them.'

'She doesn't care.'

'You are mistaken, sir!'

Hypergamy glared at the man, her rage and disbelief stamped on her face. Syphon found himself avoiding that gaze and he frowned and took a mouthful of wine. He forced a sigh and tried to affect a casual tone.

'If you come to my room,' he said, 'how would we prevent her from knowing?'

'I understand that you are seeing the king in the morning,' she said. 'Afterwards, you could take me somewhere else. I'm sure you know places where we could have a few hours of privacy.'

'You've got this all worked out, haven't you?'

'I have given this some thought, yes.'

'In that case, tell me: why are you doing this?'

Hypergamy frowned, pretending to be puzzled.

'I thought that was the unspoken agreement?' she said. 'You get me an audience with the king, and I go to bed with you?'

'Yes, but you already have your audience. You won!'

'I didn't "win". I merely asserted the right not to have sex with a man I don't want to have sex with.'

'So why have you changed your mind?'

'Because you don't see it that way! You see this as a battle of wills in which I won and you lost... and, in my judgement, you are not the kind of man who is gracious in defeat. You are going to resent this, year after year, but you won't punish me. You'll punish your wife. And to see that lovely woman with a black-and-blue face is more than I can stand!'

'Hey! I have never hit my wife!'

'Then I'm sure you'll find some other way to wipe the smile off her face. Am I right?'

Her voice was shaking and her eyes welled with tears. Syphon was troubled, but he kept his face stony and his voice casual.

'You really don't think much of me, do you?' he said.

'You're a hypocrite and I detest hypocrisy.'

'How am I a hypocrite?'

'Because if your daughter grew up and married a man who treated her the way you treat your wife, you'd kill him. You would fucking kill him.'

Hypergamy rose to her feet and looked down on him.

'Good night, sir,' she said.

And she turned and left the room.

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Author's Note: This novel consists of eighteen chapters. My plan to post it in six parts with three chapters in each part. For those readers who are concerned with investing their time in a novel without an end, please rest assured... there is an ending.