Pantheon (The Tamar Black Saga)

by Nicola Rhodes

  ‘Oooh,’ said Aphrodite. She nudged Hephaestus. ‘I think he means it,’ she said.

  ‘Of course he means it,’ he replied testily. ‘He is the god slayer.’

  ‘A god slayer,’ corrected Denny. ‘And don’t call me that.’

  ‘Can we get back to the point?’ said Tamar. ‘Thank you.’ She addressed Prometheus. ‘There must be more you can tell us,’ she said.

  ‘Ask the Fates,’ said Hecate. ‘They will know.’

  ‘That’s not a bad idea,’ said Denny. Hecate inclined her head.

  ‘What are you smiling at?’ snapped Tamar at Prometheus who was indeed smiling and gently shaking his head.

  ‘The Fates will tell you nothing,’ he said. ‘They are under the rule of Zeus himself, they will, at best, tell you nothing, and at worst, so obfuscate the truth that they will lead you down completely the wrong path.’

  ‘There’s Arachne,’ said Aphrodite. ‘She answers to no one, that one. And she is the keeper of the wheel.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ said Denny, genuinely surprised at this good idea considering where it had come from.

  ‘You do not have to sound so surprised,’ said Aphrodite. ‘I am a goddess, you know. I am not a fool.’

  ‘Arachne is a devil,’ said Prometheus, ‘with a temper as bad as that of Ares. Are you sure you want to tackle her? Her lair is a dangerous place for men, even the god slayers, for Arachne is a monster and not a god.’

  ‘Really?’ said Denny. ‘I didn’t think she was all that bad. I quite liked her really – the last time we met.’

  Prometheus’s mouth fell open.

  ‘She called you an upended broomstick,’ said Tamar.

  ‘Yeah, but not, like, nastily or anything,’ he said. ‘Anyway, she had a point didn’t she?’

  ‘I suppose so,’ said Tamar, and Denny scowled.

  ‘She’s just like anyone else,’ he said to Prometheus. ‘She doesn’t like being judged on what she looks like. So as long as you don’t call her a monster to her face, I reckon it’ll be all right.’

  ‘Or a demon,’ added Tamar. ‘Well, in the absence of any better plan, I think that’s what we’ll do then.’

  Denny was stomping out the fire when he was approached by Aphrodite. Her attitude toward him had not changed since her reconciliation with Hephaestus, a fact which did not seem to bother her husband at all. Perhaps he was under the impression that she was merely continuing her campaign to make him jealous and, after all, who was he to question the methods of Aphrodite herself when it came to the tactics of promoting love? Or perhaps he just had not noticed.

  ‘Are we really going back to the underworld?’ she asked him.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. He straightened up and looked at her. ‘You know, sometimes I think I spend more time down there than all the dead people.’

  ‘Oh, I don’t think so,’ she said seriously. Then she smiled. ‘Oh, I see, that was a jest.

  ‘Not very good eh?’ said Denny with a grin. He did not like Aphrodite much, but she was so pretty that he found it hard to be unfriendly to her – even though it was clearly annoying Tamar.

  She moved closer to him and laid a hand on his arm. He shook her off and frowned. ‘Look,’ he said. ‘You have to stop doing that. If you don’t then, deal or no deal, Tamar is going to kill you.’

  She stepped back. ‘I can’t seem to help it,’ she said. ‘It’s strange really. Heph was right. You aren’t handsome at all …’

  ‘Or witty either apparently,’ he said before he could stop himself.

  ‘Have you really met Arachne before?’ she said, changing the subject abruptly.

  ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But she won’t remember us, it hasn’t happened yet for her.’

  ‘Like Hecate?’ said Aphrodite shrewdly. ‘I saw that right away. You know her, but she doesn’t know you – at least not yet. Have we met before, in your life I mean?’

  Denny looked at her, taking in the bright blonde hair, the doll like features, the soft doe-like expression. ‘You are sort of familiar,’ he said.

  * * *

  ‘What was all that about?’ said Tamar suspiciously, after Aphrodite had sloped off.

  ‘What was all what about?’ asked Denny, genuinely mystified.

  ‘Her!’ snapped Tamar. ‘What did she want this time?’

  ‘Oh, that. She just wanted to know if we’d really met Arachne before.’

  ‘And that’s all, is it?’ Tamar looked as if she did not believe it.

  ‘Well, yes, actually,’ he said a little testily. ‘What’s up?’

  ‘She’s always hanging around you,’ she said. ‘It’s really getting on my nerves.’

  ‘Why?’ he said. ‘It doesn’t mean anything, she’s just bored. And besides, it’s your doing anyway. I certainly didn’t ask for it.’

  ‘But you can’t deny that you’re flattered by the attention, she is Aphrodite after all. That’d turn any man’s head.’

  ‘Not mine,’ he said. ‘I’ve got you.’ He faltered. ‘Haven’t I?’

  ‘Of course,’ she said, but not very convincingly.

  Suddenly Denny understood. Or thought he did. ‘This is about Cindy, isn’t it?’ he said abruptly. ‘About what I did?’

  Tamar scowled. ‘That was a long time ago,’ she said. ‘I’m over it.’

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘You don’t trust me anymore.’

  ‘It’s not that exactly …’ she began, realising that she had started all this, and there was no getting out of it now, so she might as well talk about it.

  ‘Not that I blame you,’ he said. ‘It was a betrayal. I’ve never tried to deny that. But … why now? You seemed to be okay for years and then … You weren’t really okay at all, is that it?’

  ‘I was,’ she said. ‘I was fine when I didn’t know. I mean I knew something had happened, but I swore I would never ask. Not ever, and then …’

  ‘I went and told you anyway,’ he finished for her. ‘My big mouth. But I thought it was for the best.’

  ‘Why did it have to be her?’ Tamar burst out. ‘You didn’t even like her all that much. At least that’s what I thought.’

  ‘And that’s what makes what I did to her so terrible,’ he said, ‘because she knew it too.’

  ‘What you did to her?’ snapped Tamar indignantly.

  ‘Yes,’ he said gently. ‘Think about it. She’s the one who really got hurt. Just witness what she did afterwards.’

  Tamar shuddered. ‘I see what you mean,’ she said.

  ‘Yes,’ he said sombrely. ‘I reached out to her and used her shamefully, or I tried to, because I was breaking my heart over you. It was a selfish, cruel, unforgivable thing to do. Because she knew, you see. It was all about you. It’s always been you, not her. You asked, why her? It was because she wanted me, and it seemed at the time as if you didn’t. But that’s no excuse, I know it. I was a bastard.

  ‘And everything she did afterwards, everything she brought her son up to do, all the terrible things he did too, that was all my fault.’ He sighed. ‘And then you stepped in,’ he continued. ‘And you forgave her and then you forgave him and because you did that, you redeemed what I had done. That’s like miracle to me. How can you possibly believe that I could ever want anyone else but you? You’re wonderful, don’t you see that?

  ‘You wiped out my sin, but I know you didn’t do it for me. Because you haven’t forgiven me, have you?’

  Tamar had tears in her eyes. If only she had known all this before.

  ‘I never blamed you in the first place,’ she told him. ‘This was never about forgiving you. And I would, if I had ever thought you needed it. I’d forgive you for just about anything. But what did you do that was so terrible? You made a mistake, that’s all. And I don’t think you could be more sorry if you tried. And you were definitely punished for it – more than you deserved.’

  ‘Then what?’ he said. ‘Why can’t you trust me anymore ?’

  ‘It’s not you I don’t trust,’ she said. ‘I’m
afraid, that’s all.’

  ‘Afraid of what?’

  ‘That someone will come along and take you from me.’

  ‘Impossible.’

  ‘That’s what I used to think,’ she said. ‘But then I realised I was being arrogant.’

  ‘Arrogant?’ Denny shook his head. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘I used to think … this is embarrassing,’ she admitted. ‘I used to think, that my beauty was enough to hold you. It had to be, what else have I got …?’

  ‘We’ve been over this,’ he said.

  ‘I know, and I see now that I was wrong about that. But that’s what I thought. And then … Cindy happened and I sort of lost faith in that idea. But you’re the only one, you know, who sees me that way. You talk about all the admirers I get, but with them, it’s not love, they only see this.’ She gestured to her face. ‘And I don’t care for that. But with you, when you get admirers, it’s not like that …’

  ‘Not unless they’ve got really bad taste,’ he supplied wryly.

  Tamar gestured impatiently. ‘You are not ugly,’ she said. ‘Once and for all, will you just accept that? What was I saying …?’

  ‘That my admirers don’t go for my looks,’ said Denny. ‘Which we already knew, let’s face it.’

  ‘Right, they see what I see in you.’

  ‘Exactly what you see actually,’ he pointed out. ‘It’s you that makes them see it. It’s not exactly flattering when you look at it that way. If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be the invisible man.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ she wailed. ‘Anyway, that’s not what keeps them interested. That’s you. In any case, what if one of them turns out to be better than me?’

  ‘There is no one better than you,’ he asserted. ‘And … I don’t think it works that way,’ he added thoughtfully. ‘I love you, that’s all. It won’t stop. And as long as I do, no one else has a chance.’

  ‘I don’t always treat you right,’ she said. ‘I can be …’

  ‘That’s just what it’s like,’ he said. ‘People fight. For God’s sake, don’t turn into a “yes woman” I don’t think I could stand it. I like you the way you are, sarcastic comments and all. It’s not as if I didn’t always know who you are, what you’re like. I’m not perfect either, as I think we’ve established.’

  ‘I know that,’ said Tamar and she was smiling again. ‘But it’s not so easy to convince others. And I think I thought that if anyone could turn your head it would be the goddess of love. I mean, she’s the expert.’

  ‘She hasn’t yet,’ he said.

  ‘Just let her try it,’ said Tamar, but without venom.

  ‘I’ll tell you what,’ he said. ‘If she really starts to bug you, why don’t you just kill her?’

  ‘You wouldn’t have a problem with that?’ asked Tamar, startled.

  ‘Well, it’s not very nice I suppose. But isn’t that what we’re here for?’

  ‘Well, yes, but … you really mean it don’t you? You don’t like her.’

  ‘I don’t hate her either,’ he pointed out. ‘But I think you need to know whose side I’m on.’

  ‘I think she’s safe for now,’ said Tamar. ‘She’s very like her, isn’t she?’ she added.

  ‘Cindy you mean?’ he asked. ‘Yeah, I noticed that. Weird, isn’t it?’

  ‘I think that’s what dredged all this up really,’ said Tamar. ‘I mean before Cindy, I would have bet my immortality that no blonde airhead could tempt you. But I understand all that better now,’ she added hurriedly. ‘If I had been there, it never would have happened, would it?’

  ‘Didn’t you already know that?’

  ‘I guess I wasn’t sure. I mean, I drive you crazy sometimes, I know I do.’

  ‘But in a good way,’ he said. ‘I’d rather fight with you, than have all my own way with someone else. It’s more fun.’

  ‘Especially the making up part,’ she said slyly.

  ‘Oh, yes,’ he agreed, ‘Especially that.’

  ‘And if I looked like a warthog?’ she challenged him.

  ‘I should have seen that coming,’ he said. ‘You never give up do you? Did I ever tell you about Mandy Carlson?’

  ‘I don’t think so … no I don’t remember that name, who was she?’

  ‘Before I met you, she was the prettiest girl who ever agreed to go out with me. She was nothing compared to you, but at the time, I was ecstatic. We lasted three weeks, and I was the one who ended it. God she was boring. I’ve never met anyone so egocentric. She was self-centred and self-absorbed to a degree that was unbearable. I have no idea what made her agree to date me. She probably thought I’d make a willing slave – she was wrong. I think I hated her.’

  ‘I can be pretty egocentric,’ said Tamar.

  ‘Not like her,’ he said. ‘Trust me, compared to Mandy, you’re Mother Teresa. I guess my point is, you could look like a baboon’s backside, and I’d still rather have you.’

  ‘Okay, okay,’ Tamar held her hands up. ‘I surrender, you’ve convinced me.’

  ‘Does this count as a fight then?’ he asked hopefully, putting an arm around her waist.

  ‘Down tiger,’ she said. ‘We haven’t got time for all that. We have a quest to begin.’

  ‘Bloody hell,’ he said in a chagrined tone.

  * * *

  ‘Well, said Hephaestus. ‘It looks as if you were right.’

  ‘I am always right when it comes to matters of the heart,’ said Aphrodite smugly. ‘I knew there was some unresolved issue festering between those two. It was so strong that I could practically see it. A betrayal of some kind was most likely, but I have to admit, I thought it more likely to have been her. He doesn’t seem the type, which only goes to show, even I don’t know everything.’

  ‘You knew enough to interfere though,’ he said.

  ‘I can’t seem to help myself,’ she admitted. ‘They needed to talk about it. They had been avoiding doing so for many years until they no longer knew how to.’

  ‘So you stepped in.’

  ‘I may have stirred things up a little,’ she admitted. ‘And it could have gone either way. They may have ended up in a permanent estrangement. But I thought it unlikely. And if that had been the case, well then they wouldn’t have been likely to last much longer anyway in such a state of doubt.’

  ‘You are a better person than you are given credit for, I think,’ he said. ‘You had no reason to help them. In fact, I think you have a personal reason not to. Yet you did. And they will never know.’

  ‘No, they will never know. And I have no personal reason not to help them, why would you think so?’

  ‘You don’t need to pretend to me,’ he said. ‘He matters to you far more than he ought to I think. There’s no point in denying it.’

  ‘You don’t seem unduly upset by the fact,’ she said, not even attempting to deny it. ‘I hadn’t even realised that you knew.’

  ‘I can’t pretend I like it,’ he told her. ‘I admit I was hoping for a different answer, although hardly expecting one. But now, at least I think I understand why you did this. It was for him, wasn’t it?’

  ‘I am a god,’ she said. ‘Sometimes we are able to rise above our petty emotions and do the right thing. I want him to be happy.’

  ‘He came here to kill us.’ Hephaestus thought this was worth pointing out.

  ‘They both did,’ she said. ‘And yet here we are. Rise above it,’ she told him. ‘I have. Besides, no one knows what the future may hold.’

  ‘Arachne does,’ he said.

  ‘Usually yes,’ she agreed. ‘But in this case, I suspect that even to her, things may not be so clear.’

  ‘Either way, she’ll never tell us,’ he said sourly.

  ~ Chapter Ten ~

  The goddess Hecaté wandered through the interesting graveyard. She had been summoned here of course. This was her job now. Hades had demoted her – a final humiliation – collecting the souls of the dead. What a come down.

  Of cours
e, slapping his silly face had probably been a mistake in retrospect, but he had deserved it. Him and that silly simpering wife of his. The fool would not know a real woman if she bit him on the …

  She stopped by the grave. “Jack Stiles” she read, and a cold hand reached out and grabbed her heart and squeezed it hard.

  She felt an inexplicable sense of loss wash over her as she stared at the gravestone and its irrevocable truth carved in the granite. Jack Stiles was dead it told her, and she wanted to sob her heart out and had no idea why.

  She shook herself. “I must be going soft” she told herself. “Why, he’s only a human! Millions of them die every day”

  ‘Have you come to take me to the other side?’ a deep voice asked her.

  She turned and looked him.

  ‘Wow!’ said Stiles’s spirit. ‘You’re Hecaté, aren’t you? I always wanted to meet you. This is an honour.’

  And Hecaté just stared at him in wonder and disbelief until he began to feel quite nervous.

  * * *

  Arachne was disinclined to be helpful. She gave them a stony, disinterested stare and turned away without a word.

  So, with a heavy sigh of resignation, Denny took a personal hand again. However, it did not seem to be working. Denny looked at Tamar who shrugged. It had worked on Arachne before, that is to say, in the future.

  ‘You had to get control of it now?’ hissed Denny. ‘Just when it might actually come in handy?’

  ‘Actually,’ she whispered back. ‘I’m quite certain I don’t have control of it at all. It’s her. She’s … different, harder. In the future, she was – will be softer – more human.’

  ‘Well, we’ll just have to threaten her then,’ he said.

  ‘I wouldn’t,’ put in Hecate. Prometheus had declined to revisit the underworld and no one had been able to think of a practical way to force him to come, so he was waiting on the surface; however the other gods had been given no such latitude.

  ‘You cannot frighten her,’ continued Hecate. ‘And threatening her is only likely to make her angry.’ She glanced at the glowering face of Arachne. ‘Angrier,’ she amended.

  ‘Then what?’ said Tamar. ‘Should we have brought her a gift?’