Divine Interventions: Nemesis of the Garden

by Cricket Starr

  Ah. Not even Echo…that is, Chloe, could have done as well.

  With a resigned sigh Pan picked up his mug and filled it, then took a tentative sip. From the way he was behaving, she thought he might expect the brew to be laced with hemlock.

  An odd expression crossed his face and he took a deeper sip. Narrow eyebrows arched nearly to his tiny horns as surprise took over his face. “That’s pretty good!” He spied the sugar on the counter and helped himself to a teaspoon. At her steady stare he shrugged apologetically. “It just needs a little sweetening.”

  Nina tried not to laugh. For Pan everything had to be a little sweet. Even her. Fortunately it was getting easier for her behave that way for him.

  Maybe a little too easy, she thought to herself as he moved to the chairs near their table. Sometimes she wondered if she were still the same nymph she used to be, Nemesis, enemy of all. She couldn’t seem to work up a good antipathy against anyone anymore. Particularly not so long as she was around a certain hairy-legged horned-headed god.

  Was that such a bad thing, to not be anyone’s enemy? Nina sipped her coffee and considered the matter. Perhaps not. There really hadn’t been a whole lot of satisfaction in destroying other people’s lives. She’d had much more fun as an adult movie star, and did now as a writer and producer. Everyone she knew had adjusted to living in a modern world.

  Narcissus had learned to love another person besides himself and was now Nick Rockman, college professor, and happily married to Violet.

  Echo, whose claim to fame was being unable to say more than the last words of anyone she met, had fallen in love with Alex, a man incapable of loving her. But then she’d moved into his home, earned his love in spite of everything, and had become a gourmet cook and the owner of a small restaurant chain.

  Both of them had grown beyond the limits that history placed on them. Why couldn’t she do the same? She could stay with Pan, be his lover and the mistress of his garden home.

  A surge of excitement passed through her. Why not? Why couldn’t she drop her Nemesis persona and become simply Nina. Nina the writer. Nina the homemaker.

  Pan’s Nina.

  Her gaze fell on him, sipping his now sweetened-to-taste coffee with relish. It was so tempting…to make plans for them, to plan on staying with him for the rest of eternity.

  But then reality crashed in on her as she remembered why it was they were together in the first place. It was because of the spell, the one on the arrow that had passed through both of them. Pan loved her only because of that and sometime the spell would fade and he’d no longer want her in his life, just like before. Without the spell keeping him faithful, he’d be checking out the latest nymphs in the forest…or the next vestal virgin looking for a change in her life.

  It was inevitable that would happen. Sure, there had been a couple times in the past few months that she’d talked to Pan about his previous defection and he’d told her flat-out he didn’t want anyone but her. But how could she possibly trust that? He was still under the arrow’s spell, just like she was. What would she do when the day came that he no longer was bound to her? How could she survive if she was no longer Nemesis? Could she go back to her previous nature, particularly if that wasn’t really her anymore?

  Would enough of her be left after Pan’s defection to survive without him? With him, she had no doubts, but without his warming presence could she live on without the edge of animosity to keep her going?

  Could she live without hate? She wasn’t so sure.

  Nina sighed and sipped the now bitter-tasting brew in her cup. She’d have to keep a little of herself in reserve to protect herself. Avoid giving in to him completely, no matter what or she’d be lost when she he left her. No matter what, she’d have to guard her heart, or it would be broken as easily as a ceramic cup.

  Pan could become bored with her at any time as the spell began to fade. Even now he could be thinking of ways to keep his interest, or looking for new sport in the game of love. She’d have to keep watch for that. It could signal the end of their relationship.

  * * * * *

  Later that day in the dark paneled den of his best friend, Pan leaned into the thickly padded back of an armchair and took a good deep sip of his beer. Ah…sweet with just a hint of bitter, the color of the brew a rich amber, thick head, full-bodied, just the way he liked it. He raised his glass in a salute to his host.

  “Hep, you get better at this every time.”

  The smith and part-time brewmaster smiled and grabbed his own mug. With a bow he took the seat opposite Pan. “I’ve been at it for over a thousand years. I should be pretty good at it.” He tried his own glass and whistled appreciatively. “Very good, even if I do say so myself.”

  “Dionysius might have the winemaking for the gods locked up, but you brew the best beer, Hep, no doubt about it. I’ll have to make sure that I pick some up to bring home to Nina.”

  “Yes, the amber is a particular favorite of the ladies. Even my own likes it, and we know Appie enjoys white wine best.”

  A hint of melancholy covered the big man’s face at the mention of his wife, but Pan knew better than to question it. Hep often became gloomy over Aphrodite and their relationship. It was as if he expected that at any time the woman would come to her senses and leave him without warning.

  Come to think of it, that wasn’t too far off from how Pan thought of Nina. When would his little Nemesis fall out of bespelled love with him?

  At least now he had her moved into his home. If she did leave, she’d have to go through a great deal of trouble. Maybe just the thought of hauling her belongings back to her tiny apartment would be too much for her.

  Anything to discourage her from leaving…anything to keep her where she belonged…with him!

  He had to admit, things were looking up. Nina, never the most domestic nymph around, seemed to be settling in nicely. She’d even cooked him breakfast this morning, which had turned out to be delicious in spite of its rocky start where she’d forgotten to turn on the oven. Keeping Hep’s advice in mind about how she should have some say in his place, he’d given her a brief lesson in coaxing his garden to grow the various containers and furnishings she wanted.

  Even better, in recent days she hadn’t mentioned anything at all about their past. Perhaps it was possible she’d forgiven him.

  As of this afternoon she was content. Having unpacked and put away her things, she’d taken her laptop and begun transcribing the notes she’d taken while they had brainstormed her movie, transforming them into screenplay format. As quiet as the machine was, the steady tapping of the keys had gotten on his nerves after a while. After being assured that he wasn’t needed for any acting out of sex scenes, something he’d most certainly want to be involved in, he’d sought refuge at Hep’s home until dinnertime.

  The only issue with visiting the gods’ weaponsmith was running into Aphrodite. Every time they’d seen each other during the past several months she’d had trouble keeping a straight face. The goddess of love was obviously pleased with the results of her “little joke”, shooting Nina and him with the same arrow and making them fall in love. Pan grinned to himself. What would the goddess think if she realized that he wasn’t all that dismayed by her trick anymore?

  In fact, he was getting more than a little used to it and was beginning to think he should thank her for intervening. Not that he’d ever tell her that. Aphrodite was arrogant enough without him adding to her reasons for it.

  Fortunately for him, it appeared that the goddess was elsewhere this afternoon. Moreover, as he looked around it was clear that she’d been elsewhere for a while. Pan could tell from Hep’s disgruntled mood and the miscellaneous glassware and dishes strewn about the place. While the smith was diligent in keeping his forge and work areas neat, his home quickly degenerated when his wife was gone. From the clutter Pan estimated that Aphrodite must have been gone for at least a couple of days.

  “How is the little writer doing, Pan?” Hep broke in on h
is musings. “Making any progress?”

  Pan smiled. “Actually, yes. Between the computer and my help, she’s almost done with her first scene. She’s doing a screenplay based on Scheherazade’s Arabian nights.”

  “Is she?” Hep seemed pleased. “An excellent choice of subject. Lots of opportunities to get creative.” He grinned knowingly. “Pretty sexy stuff sometimes as well.”

  A little surprised that his friend was familiar with the subject, Pan was happy he hadn’t told Hep just how sexy Nina’s screenplay was likely to get. From the sounds of things there would be several sex scenes but at least she wouldn’t be starring in them.

  For a moment Pan wondered how she really felt about that. The evidence in the photo albums had shown her happy with her work. There was also what she’d said as they were packing her stuff, about how “variety was fun”. Had she been talking about different kinds of sex with him, or had she meant something else, a variety of partners being something she enjoyed?

  If so, she was doomed to disappointment. He wasn’t about to share Nina with anyone. Sure he might have considered a ménage with her and someone else, like her sister Echo, in the past, but that was then. That was before he’d brought Nina into his life. She was his now, no matter who else she wanted, or who wanted her. Pan had no intention of playing well with others, not where his Nemesis was involved. She’d just have to content herself with him as a lover.

  But what if it wasn’t enough. That nagging thought haunted him. He wanted to keep her with him even after the spell wore off. Could he do that and keep her to himself at the same time? Would she be content to stay with him alone, or would he have to learn to share what he wanted to keep?

  “Hey, Pan,” Hep said. “You have something on your mind?”

  He looked over to see that his buddy was watching him with a concerned look on his face. Pan suppressed a sigh. He couldn’t even hide his feelings from Hep, not noted to be the most observant man in the world.

  Normally he’d have no trouble hiding his thoughts from others. Nina must have gotten under his skin worse than he’d expected.

  On the other hand, Pan reasoned, maybe he should level with the god, at least a little. After all, the man’s advice so far had been pretty solid, getting her to move in with him and having the laptop made. He didn’t need to tell Hep everything…like about the adult film Nina was making. Still, it was no secret Nina had been busy in the bedroom.

  “Well, remember how you said that I’d find out a lot about Nina from her place?”

  “Yeah, I did.” The big man’s eyes turned pensive. “You find out something you didn’t want to know?”

  “Sort of. I knew she’d been pretty active sexually. Had other partners.”

  “You find out she had someone special? A rival?”

  “No, nothing like that. But she was a lot more active than I’d expected.” He grimaced. “Maybe even more than I had been.”

  “Really? More than you? Wow, I wouldn’t have thought it possible. She’d practically have to make a whole career out of sex to do that…” Hep’s obvious admiration broke off as Pan glared at him.

  The big god cleared his throat. “I can see how that would bother you, but it’s all in the past, isn’t it? It isn’t like she does that now, right?”

  True enough, but that wasn’t really the issue. “It isn’t that she does anything about it but I worry that she might miss the…variety.”

  Hep took a deep swig of beer then fixed him with a steady stare. “Do you miss the ‘variety’?”

  “No, but I’m not the one in question here.”

  “Did she say she missed it?”

  “Not exactly. But I think she might. I was wondering…”

  Hep threw up his hands, a look of horror on his face. “Hey, buddy, we’re friends, but don’t go thinking about including me or Appie in your love life. I’m strictly an observer here and we don’t ‘swing’, as the humans put it.”

  “That’s not what I was going to ask anyway,” Pan said with disgust. “I like you, Hep, but I’m not going to share Nina with anyone. That’s the problem, I don’t want to include anyone else in our bed.”

  “Oh, okay.” The big man sighed with relief. “I see where we’re going. So you want to include some variety in Nina’s life, but not make it another lover. Interesting problem.” Hep sipped his beer and pondered for a while. After a moment he leaned forward and looked at Pan speculatively.

  “How do you feel about toys?”

  Pan shrugged. “Toys? You mean like whips, handcuffs, and dildos? They have their uses.” In spite of his concerns a smile crossed his face as he thought about the large box Nina hadn’t let him see the inside of. She had hidden it in the bottom of her closet as soon as she’d gotten it home. What was in that little surprise package? he wondered.

  “I know Nina likes them.”

  Hep grinned. “I have something a little more elaborate than an inanimate object in mind. Suppose you could get some ‘variety’ without it being a real person. Would that be of interest?”

  Someone that was more a toy than a real person? At least Nina wasn’t likely to prefer such a thing to him. He leaned forward, intrigued. “Maybe. What kind of a toy?”

  Grinning, Hep finished his beer and slammed the mug on the table, which shook under the big man’s force. He gestured for Pan to finish his beer. “Drink up. We need to see a man about a statue.”

  * * * * *

  Astonished, Pan stared at the carved marble figures in the sculptor’s workshop. “Wow. They look so lifelike.” One was a man at the height of his beauty and youth, the other a high-breasted maiden. They were beautiful even though they were made of cold stone.

  He turned to their beaming creator. “Pygmalion, these are wondrous statues.”

  Pleased, the little man smiled at the god’s compliment. “I’m glad you appreciate them. They are the inspiration of a lifetime.”

  A sculptor known for his ability to create realistic figures, the ancient Cyprian had outdone himself this time. These were even better than the man’s most famous statue, Galatea. Not that Pan would ever say that out loud. It wouldn’t be a wise thing given the circumstances.

  Pygmalion had sculpted Galatea then fallen in love with her stone figure. He’d asked Aphrodite to give him a wife like the woman he’d sculpted and she’d answered his prayer by turning the figure to life. Pan might think these figures fairer than the man’s wife, but the sculptor would never see them that way.

  To a man, his wife is always the most beautiful. Or should be.

  “How does Galatea like them?” Hep asked and Pan cringed at the big man’s bluntness.

  To his surprise, Pygmalion looked embarrassed. He leaned forward and his voice got softer. “To tell you the truth, it’s become a problem. She didn’t seem to mind when I was working on them, but since they are finished she’s done nothing but complain about how big they are, how naked they are…she wants me to get rid of them. I think she’s a little jealous of them,” he said confidentially.

  “Hmm,” Hep said. “What you need is a good home for them. Maybe someone with a large garden where they wouldn’t seem so out of place.”

  All of a sudden, Pan realized what Hep was suggesting. He took another good look at the statues. He knew how to turn figures like this to life. That was the solution Hep was suggesting, to use these figures as stand-ins for the lovers he would no longer allow Nina to have.

  Of course, he’d only make them come to life when they were wanted for sex. Otherwise they’d become too human. He would have to be sure to treat them as sex objects only.

  For a moment he considered the maiden’s breasts and what it would be like to suck on those beautifully formed nipples. Oddly enough they didn’t appeal nearly as much as Nina’s did.

  Still, he wasn’t doing this for himself. It was Nina who wanted variety in her lovers and using these statues could be the answer to that need.

  “I’d be happy to give them a place in my garden,�
� he told Pygmalion. “You could visit them when you like.”

  The little sculptor rubbed his hands together, obviously pleased at the solution. “That’s wonderful. Galatea will be so pleased.” He stared at the pair of stone figures. “I can’t imagine what I was thinking of when I made them.”

  * * * * *

  In Titanous, Hyperion watched Pan and Hephaestus converse with the sculptor with rising amusement. He smiled as Pan waved his hands and magically transferred the statues to his home.

  When this was all over, he’d find a way to repay Pygmalion for his unknowing assistance. The man had been ridiculously easy to influence into creating the figures. He’d managed to make one of them the exact double of his beloved daughter and her guard. Not that he was completely happy with who that guard was, but the man had volunteered. The key thing was that the statues were now in a place where someone was likely to turn them to life.

  Raising his fists in an enthusiastic cheer, Hyperion stopped his hands just short of hitting the low ceiling. He glared at it for a moment then returned his attention to the worlds below.

  His plan was under way and things were working out just fine.

  Chapter Five

  Nina glared at the kitchen wall. The blank space next to the stove was made of woven, living branches still green with leaves. It would be an excellent place to store her new pots and pans if she had a set of pegs to hang them on.

  On her computer was an image she’d found on a home design website of a lovely kitchen, complete with a pot rack. It looked both functional and decorative, a great solution to storing her presents from Echo.

  She wanted one just like it.

  The garden wasn’t cooperating. She’d tried six times already to get the wall to grow pegs for her pot rack, each meeting with dismal failure. Either the incantation wasn’t right, or her focus wasn’t right…something was wrong.