Aphrodite's Choice

Chapter 39 – Whip’s Wrath

Without warning, Hera lifted an ordinary-looking leather horsewhip. Before Aphrodite’s brain could even process what was happening, the Queen of the Gods made a casual flick of her wrist, sending a stinging blow towards her opponent.

* * *

“It hurts!” said Aphrodite loudly, wincing in pain, as Apollo briskly dabbed a healing salve on her cuts. She pulled back her arm but the Sun God held on tightly, all while clicking his tongue and continuing to apply medicine.

“Don’t be such a baby. You knew what you were going into, be quiet and bear the consequences.”

“Shut up. Just finish what you’re doing and get lost,” replied the goddess of love, glaring angrily at Apollo just as he had finished dabbing the last of the salve. The cuts were already fading away as if they were some trick of the light or imagination. But instead of departing, he just sat down on the bed beside Aphrodite.

“You annoyed Hera too much. Are you thinking of going to war with her?”

“What are you talking about?” replied the goddess of love, her headache interfering with both her desire and ability to carry a conversation.

“You know she hates being called Hephaestus’ mother, yet how many times did you say that those two were alike?”

Aphrodite gave a ladylike chuckle, amazed as always at sharp and discerning Apollo could be.

“It’s not as if she didn’t insult me as well. And if I recall correctly, she started it.”

“That’s beyond the point.”

“Then what is the point?”

“You should have thought more about the consequences before opening that mouth of yours.”

“That’s advice Hera needs more than me.”

On that point, Apollo silently conceded to Aphrodite. After all, it was the Queen of the Gods who resorted to violence after losing her temper. If the goddess of love went to court, injuring another Olympian was no minor infraction of the law. Zeus was fully aware of that, which is why he sent the god of healing, hoping that such a gesture would appease Aphrodite and dissuade her from seeking redress.

She felt a twang of envy with that thought. For all his philandering, the lord of Olympus would occasionally demonstrate concern, if not affection, for his wife. Aphrodite, on the other hand, felt like she had no husband at all. She had created a scandal with Ares yet she heard not even a whisper from him. Come to think of it, she didn’t even know if he had any idea of what happened.

The thought put her in a bad mood, making her snap at Apollo.

“If I wanted your advice, I would have asked for it. Now leave.”

“Sure, you don’t want it. But you definitely need it. What’s done is done. But you can keep things from getting worse.”

“Am I the one who really needs that advice?”

Before Apollo could answer, Aphrodite cut her off with a, “I don’t need any advice from anyone who thinks I deserve to get whipped like some animal.”

The Sun God clammed up in shame as the verbal jab hit home, as the goddess of love expected. After all, Aphrodite knew he disliked her carefree lifestyle to the point where he enjoyed seeing her get whipped, even if it did not show in the god of healing’s face. He also let his servant, Helios, spread the rumors about her and Ares.

Meanwhile, Apollo always tried to curry favor from Hera. But Aphrodite knew that no matter what he did, he would always be a bastard of Zeus and not even his favorite bastard. Imagine, the Sun God but lower than some of Zeus’ bastards in the latter’s eyes. Aphrodite felt both contempt and pity for him.

She turned her back on Apollo as if in dismissal, but then he spoke out.

“Aphrodite.”

“I thought this conversation was over.”

There were a few seconds of silence, punctuated only by the sound of Apollo’s tools being moved around his bag. He then spoke up, “I will not apologize for what I did–”

“Big surprise,” said Aphrodite sarcastically.

“But there’s one thing I’d like to clear up. I don’t think you did anything wrong.”

It was the goddess of love’s turn to shut up, this time in surprise. Her pride told her to keep her back towards him, but she was dying to see Apollo’s expression while he said that.

“I could have never said those things to her in a million years. So, thank you for saying that.”

She whirled around in shock, but he was no longer there.