Artemis in Love
Page 3
Jace opened his eyes at this, but said nothing. I reached down and took up one of his hands and held it lightly in mine. “So Theron and Amara told me what had happened. Amara had decided secretly to make her prayers to me, and the day after she visited my temple, Theron the hawk had sought the intercession of my brother Apollo at his. Theron had prayed to be granted human form to be with his love Amara, and his prayers were true and sincere to the core, so my brother’s magic upon him was effective. He came to Amara as a man, and she knew him at once. The two laughed together at what good fortune it was that they had not both been successful, and found themselves man and bird and no better off than before. And so they were wed, and as far as I know, are happy together till this day.”
Jace looked up at me. “But Theron can no longer fly,” he said.
My heart sank to hear him say it. “You’re right, he can’t,” I agreed.
The face in my lap was very thoughtful. I considered saying many things but in the end thought it best to stay silent. After a minute or two, Jace’s eyelids sank again, and I felt his fingers twitch in my hand. “It’s time for bed,” I told him.
He nodded and roused himself barely enough to stand. “Will you put out the fire?” he asked. “There’s water in that bucket.”
“Yes, of course,” I said, once again surprised that the youth was so responsible.
He touched my arm. “Then come to bed,” he said, and turned to go in his little house.
I made quick work of being sure the fire was out, but by the time I followed Jace to bed he was already curled up and asleep. Jace’s bed was a small corral of logs, filled to the top with pine branches and needles, and covered over with a pile of soft pelts to make a nest. He had a blanket woven of some soft stuff and colorfully patterned, and I wondered how he had fashioned it. I slipped out of my tunic, stepped over his shed clothing on the floor and lifted a corner of the blanket to crawl under. Jace’s warmth had already spread to the fur and into this softness I sank.
There was a window over the bed, which could be shuttered in ill weather but on this fine summer night was wide open. Moonlight spilled in over my young companion’s face where it rested quite close to mine.
My mind was so full of thoughts, my heart so tight with emotions. I knew Jace had invited me to his bed with the same innocent affection that he would have asked any friend with whom he had spent the day. And frankly, in one respect that pleased me. He wished to be close to me because he enjoyed my company, and to a goddess that is a rare gift.
Although Jace had not said so, I knew he was lonely, and having me at his side all day had been balm to his spirit. I knew this because being with him had shown me I was lonely too.
Curse that Hera! How had she known this would happen? But wisdom was what made a goddess, and great wisdom was what made her the Queen of all.
The moonlight was cruel to me, even though I was ostensibly its mistress. It blurred the features of the young man’s face, and upon them again I could see what I had seen that afternoon. There was no use denying I was in love with him, with the man Iason, whose soul was both old and young, just like mine.
An immortal may sleep if she wishes to, and I wished myself to sleep so I would think upon that subject no more.
* * *
Dawn woke me with a caress of breeze upon my face from the window above, and the song of a lark perched at the edge of the casement. As I came to consciousness, I perceived something else:
There was an arm looped over my waist.
Jace lay behind me, and his arm was indeed draped over me, outside the blanket that angled down from my body. This was a startling occurrence. Startling, but not unpleasant, for all other issues aside, I relished the possessiveness of the gesture. Before I forced myself to set aside these sentiments and be sensible, I decided to allow myself one glance at the lovely sight of that sweet arm over me. So I looked down…
The light of dawn was not so faint as to conceal the change.
The golden down of hair on Jace’s forearms had darkened. And the veins and sinews on the back of his hand were more distinct.
My heart skipped in my breast: how could this be?
Behind me there was a stirring, a sigh, a small noise—Jace’s voice, but baritone now instead of tenor. I knew what I would find if I turned over to face him, and yet still wondered how it were possible. I knew from experience even Hera could not work such a transformation unless Jace himself honestly willed it so.
Then I heard him speak, softly, just at my ear. “Artemis? Are you awake?”
“Yes, Jace,” I replied, simply, and turned over.
His face was resplendent in its maturity. A dusting of whiskers, golden russet in color, adorned his cheeks and chin. The first small creases of laugh lines were visible at the corners of his green eyes, eyes that regarded me with hopeful expectation.
“Tell me what I look like,” said Jace.
“You’re perfect,” I sighed. It was true. I couldn’t recall seeing a mortal man more handsome. His nose, which in boyish form had turned up ever so slightly at the tip, still retained that characteristic but was remarkably elegant. The proportions of his face, the bone structure, every curve and angle were striking. His skin was still browned by the sun, his hair was still the lovely soft red color of a fox’s, his eyes were jade green and sparkling. He took my breath away. “My words could not do justice,” I said. “We’ll need to find you a looking glass.”
He smiled and became three times more handsome because of it. “Just tell me if you wish to kiss me,” he said.
I nodded. He tilted his head slightly and I closed my eyes. This time his lips were warm, but just as soft as when we kissed under the waterfall. In spite of the roughness of his chin, he still kissed like a boy, shyly and cautiously. It was charming.
I felt my body wake to his touch, but I wanted more to find out how this change had come about. “Jace,” I asked him, “tell me how this happened.”
He drew back just a little and gave me a soft smile. “I awoke in the night. You were sound asleep, and I watched you. I had feelings…feelings I found I couldn’t bear. As if the questions I had been asking for so long could be answered in you, but I was deaf to them. I didn’t want to be deaf anymore. So I decided, and then I prayed. I sought the sympathy of Hera, whom I suspected to be my best ally.”
“Ah yes…she would be quite eager to hear you. But how…how could you make such a hard choice?”
His hand came up and he slid his fingers into my hair, brushing it back, then lingering to play there gently. “I learned something from you. I learned if you have a child’s heart…then you have a child’s heart, and nothing takes it from you.”
I nodded.
He continued, “I was afraid if I became a man, I would lose that. But you never lost it, Artemis. You showed me it didn’t have to happen that way. So I stopped being afraid.”
“I’m glad,” I said. “And I learned something from you, too. I was afraid if I gave myself to someone in love, I would lose my child’s heart. But I haven’t lost it since I met you, so I guess I was wrong.”
My meaning did not escape him. The magnificent smile reappeared. “Then you wouldn’t mind kissing me again?” he asked.
Jace was a quick learner. This kiss was deeper and moved me to the core. He moved closer to me as his mouth caressed mine, and his arm came round me and drew me in. His warmth was intoxicating; my body purred with it. When he drew away I had to gasp a little.
“You seem to have natural skill for this, Jace,” I told him breathlessly.
“It’s easy,” he said, preoccupied with taking another kiss.
I pulled back a little to delay him; one more thing concerned me. “But Jace, I must ask you, can you really live with this sacrifice, with giving up your magic and asking to be a mortal man?”
He lowered his chin and gave me a look I felt down to my toes. “I never said I asked to be a mortal man, Artemis,” he said.
My mouth fell open.
“Then…what?”
“Why, God of the Moon, of course.”
No wonder he seemed so perfect.
It has never been easy to humble the Goddess Artemis, but I knew I had met my match…in more ways than one. Jace, I found, was my better in running, in hunting, and certainly in flying. His skills exceeded mine in argument as well as in magic. I didn’t mind being his inferior in these ways, for Jace’s arrogance was always an act and one of which I never tired. Beneath that charmingly brash exterior, he always maintained his conviction that he would forever be in my debt.
Therefore he was willing to eschew fame, and never sought out the scribes and historians who made the rest of the Pantheon so famous. I retained my reputation, and only my parents and brother knew that in secret I kept this sole lover, who as a mortal won my heart and as deity became my eternal companion.
So we ruled together, but only a few knew the name of Iason, God of the Moon. And though in bodies we were gods, in our hearts we remained young forevermore.
Diana Laurence
Diana Laurence has been freelancing for nearly three decades, and her work has appeared in such diverse publications as ‘Teen, The Lutheran Witness, Beckett Hockey Monthly, and Suite. Her professional background includes legal, finance, information technology and marketing. She is a self-professed “dabbler,” and enjoys gourmet cooking, jewelry making, mixology, home spa techniques, costume design, webmastering, drawing and painting. Diana is married to David, whose support has been essential to her success, and has two grown daughters, graphic artist Katie and writer and film connoisseur Amanda.
Visit Diana at www.dianalaurence.com.
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