Cupid Read Free

that evening was going to be steak Diane sauteed in ambrosia and grapes, with rice and peas smothered with nectar. On the seventh day of every week, Venus rested from being pampered and went to her temples to receive gifts and the adulation of the people. At least that was how it used to be.
    On this particular day, Venus had started to doze off beneath the skillful hands of Oizys, when the goddess of pain said, under her breath, "I wonder what's going on down there."
    Of all the deities, Oizys was the most ignored. There were no temples dedicated to her honor. There weren't even any stories about her like there were about Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, and Venus, among others. But because the deities avoided Oizys, except when they wanted a hard massage, she had plenty of time to see who was doing what to whom and why. She knew more about the doings on Olympus than any of them, including Mercury, who did nothing but carry messages and gossip all over everywhere. So when Oizys said, as if speaking to herself, "I wonder what's going
on down there," she knew what was going on down there. She also knew the information would cause Venus great pain. But if it were not for pain, neither deities nor mortals would ever grow up.
    "What's going on where?" Venus asked sleepily. "Ouch! Not so hard on my shoulders. Ahh! Yes, that's better." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Did you say something was going on?" she asked sleepily.
    "Over there," Oizys replied, pointing to a tiny kingdom at the edge of the Great Blue Sea. "All those people. They look like they're waiting for something, or someone."
    Reluctantly, Venus raised up and looked down on the world. It took her a moment to find what Oizys was pointing to, but finally she saw crowds lining both sides of a road. Venus smiled wistfully. "That's how it used to be when I walked among mortals," she thought.
    The crowd stirred as the great doors to the palace grounds swung open. People jostled each other to get a better view.
    "The king of this realm must be very loved," Venus whispered. She was eager to see the man who inspired such devotion from his subjects.
    But the person who walked out was a young woman of a beauty unlike any Venus had ever seen, including that which looked back at her from her mirror each morning. The crowds were so quiet you could hear green color flowing into new leaves. Some people were so overcome at the
sight of the young woman, they fainted. Others simply gazed, tears streaming down their faces.
    As the young woman continued walking, petals from flowers bordering the road drifted off the blooms, braided themselves into a wreath, and settled on her head.
    "Who is that?" Venus demanded to know, not wanting to believe what she was seeing.
    "Oh, I wonder if that is who I overheard Mars and Apollo talking about the other day." Oizys stopped suddenly, as if afraid that she had said too much. Not too long ago, Mars and Venus had a passionate affair. When Vulcan learned of it, he rigged a net over her bed. The next time she and Mars lay together, the net fell on them. Vulcan had called all the gods and goddesses to come and look at the two in their naked togetherness.
    Venus frowned at the mention of her former lover's name. Even though they were no longer lovers, she did not like the idea of him looking at another woman, especially a mortal.
    "What were Mars and Apollo saying?"
    "Oh, nothing," Oizys muttered.
    "Answer me!"
    "It was nothing. Just men talking, and you know how they are. What they said is not worth repeating."
    "I'll determine what is and is not worth repeating. Now, tell me what was said."
    Oizys sighed again, but smiled to herself. She had set a trap for Venus even more subtly than Vulcan had. "Well,
they said she was more beautiful than any goddess on Olympus."
    Venus was furious. "Who said that?" she demanded to know. "Which one of them?"
    "It was Apollo," said Oizys, feigning reluctance.
    "Apollo!" Venus exclaimed. It would have broken her heart had Mars