If I Had Words

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It was time for this mortal to die, Aphrodite thought.

Psyche had been such a thorn in her side.

First, she’d stolen away Aphrodite’s worshippers. Then, she’d managed to turn Eros’s head, convincing him to make a fool of himself and marry her. Now she was requesting an audience with Aphrodite after returning to the kingdom and already causing trouble again.

Was there no end to her insolence!?!

At Harmonia’s prompting, Aphrodite had called her children to counsel together and determine what should be done, once and for all.

“It seems this mortal refuses to stay in her place,” Aphrodite was saying. “Since leaving your home she is back at it again. She is a bigger pain than Poseidon’s trident. Something must be done.”

Phobos and Deimos smiled at each other. They were thoroughly enjoying the show.

“Why, Mother?” Eros said, his own frustration rising. He had been down to see Psyche himself and he could see that she was back to helping others, but just as before, she was doing nothing wrong. “She is only helping people.”

“They are still worshipping her, Eros!” Aphrodite hissed.

Deimos let out a giggle at her outburst and Aphrodite glared at him. 

“Not exactly,” Eros said. “They aren’t building shrines or offering gifts. They are doing as you have commanded.”

“You can see it so clearly that they still worship her!” Aphrodite said. 

“Psyche is Eros’s wife now, is she not?” Harmonia said carefully.

“That marriage was not sanctioned by me,” Aphrodite said. “Where are the witnesses? I have no doubt she was with him, but his wife?? I acknowledge nothing of the sort. No mortal could be worthy.”

Harmonia had an idea.

She looked at Eros, hoping he trusted her enough. 

“What if she is worthy?” Harmonia said. 

Aphrodite looked narrowly at Harmonia. 

“Impossible,” Aphrodite said with disdain.

“This whole thing started with you questioning Psyche’s worthiness of worship. True, any mortal attracting so much attention should either be punished or, perhaps, challenged,” Harmonia said.

Eros eyed Harmonia. 

He knew his mother loved games, but only when she was sure she could win them. A challenge when the outcome wasn’t sure would be tricky. 

Still, Eros knew it would likely come to this. He had warned Psyche about the possibility. He knew his mother would never accept Psyche without making her pass through some gauntlet to prove her worth. 

He was somewhat relieved that it was Harmonia who brought up the idea. It would give them a chance to guide the process a little better. 

“You already tried punishing her,” Harmonia said, casually forming her argument. “We can all see how that worked out. It’s worth considering that perhaps Psyche is, in fact, worthy of the worship she receives. 

“It’s time to challenge her.”

“Challenge her?” Aphrodite frowned.

His mother would need another little push. If Eros could make her feel just a bit more secure in Psyche’s weakness, she might agree. 

“Wait,” Eros said. “I don’t think this is a good idea. Psyche couldn’t possibly — ”

“Afraid, Eros?” Aphrodite said, cutting in and smiling. “Don’t think your bride is up to it?” 

His mother had taken the bait. 

Though, Eros honestly didn’t like the idea. He knew his mother wouldn’t play fairly and the process would be extremely difficult for Psyche. 

“I would say he’s not the only one afraid,” Phobos said. “What are you afraid of, Mother?”

“Me?” she laughed. “I’m not afraid of anything.” 

Her laugh sounded hollow.

“You are afraid,” Deimos said. “You’re afraid that this mortal will beat you, that she’ll prove you wrong. I can feel it.” 

Aphrodite scowled at her sons. They really were quite annoying. 

Why had she let Harmonia talk her into making this a family meeting? 

She had thought it would help to have witnesses to Eros’s embarrassment. Everyone would see that she had been right and Eros had been wrong. He had confronted her in front of everyone and she wanted to make him pay.

Surveying the composition of her children, however, she realized her mistake. 

“Phobos, you and Deimos are excused,” Aphrodite said, lifting her head slightly and dismissing them with her hand.

“Oh, no,” Phobos said, assuming a comfortable posture and folding his arms. “There’s no way we’re missing out on this.”

“Not for the world,” Deimos said, folding his arms too and looking at her. 

“Urgh!” Aphrodite said, exasperated. 

Aphrodite started to pace.

Why did Eros have to marry Psyche?? It was so much more complicated now. If only he had done what she’d asked him to do and married her off to that vile merchant! 

Now she had to deal with the possibility of challenging Psyche and having her win. 

Aphrodite’s anger was building.

Deimos and Phobos smiled at each other. 

“You know, Mother, if you want to make it a proper challenge, you might consider having our help,” Phobos said.

Eros’s eyes widened. 

What were his brothers doing? He couldn’t quite tell their intentions and the thought of them helping greatly worried him. 

“Yeah, absolutely,” Deimos said, smiling and winking at Eros. “We could make things especially horrible for her.” 

Eros furrowed his brows. 

Aphrodite smiled. 

Maybe her twins weren’t completely useless. 

Harmonia eyed Eros, hoping he wouldn’t say anything.

“We might want to establish the parameters of this challenge then,” Harmonia said swiftly.

“Fine,” Aphrodite said. If she was going to go along with this horrible idea, she would set the conditions. “The first rule — Eros must stay out of it.” 

“Sounds like a good one,” Harmonia said, trying to maintain her position as moderator. “Just for clarity’s sake,  what do you mean exactly by ‘stay out of it’?”

Aphrodite glared at Harmonia. 

“I mean that Eros must not be seen, heard, or felt by Psyche. He may not speak to her, motion to her, or any form of communication whatsoever throughout the entire trial process. She must be completely cut off and separated from him,” Aphrodite said. “Clear enough?”

Harmonia nodded.

“Anything else?” Harmonia asked.

“I’ll take Phobos and Deimos up on their offer to help,” Aphrodite said. “They must be there to make sure there is no cheating. And, of course, they can do whatever else comes naturally.”

Aphrodite smiled.

Eros groaned. 

“If Phobos and Deimos are allowed to help, then others must be allowed to help as well,” Eros said.

“Like who?” Aphrodite scoffed. 

“Anything. Any being or creature who happens to help her,” Eros said.

“What creature would want to help a mortal? All they do is chop and cut at everything. They value nothing. They respect nothing,” Aphrodite said.

“They must be allowed to help,” Eros insisted. 

Aphrodite held Eros’s gaze. 

It felt like a trick.

“Phobos and Deimos would be around to scare away anyone or anything who tried to help Psyche, would they not?” Harmonia said.

Aphrodite considered. 

“Fine,” Aphrodite said. “Psyche may have other sorts of help, if she manages to secure any — which I doubt.”

Eros was more hopeful. He wasn’t altogether sure of his brothers, but he was sure of Psyche. She would find some way to bring things great and small to her aid. 

Still, he didn’t want her to have to suffer too much.

“I propose that you limit the number of challenges to two,” Eros said, trying his luck. “Psyche should be able to prove herself well enough after completing at least two tasks.”

Aphrodite laughed.

“How can anything be determined with so few tasks?” she said. “I couldn’t possibly judge anything without giving her at least five.”

Eros started to object, but Harmonia stopped him.

“Let’s agree on three. It’s a reasonable amount and should give you enough variety to test her on multiple things, if you wish,” Harmonia said. “Anything else?” 

 Aphrodite stared at Eros for a moment.

“If she fails,” she said, locking eyes with him. “If she is unable to complete even one of my tasks, she will be forever exiled, to be completely shunned by gods and man until her death. 

“And upon her death, as she enters the Underworld, she will be banished to Tartarus forever.” 

“Ouch,” Phobos said.

“Eternal torment?” Deimos said. “What did Psyche do to you, Mother?”

“What did she do??” Aphrodite said, her anger rising again. “I’ll tell you what she’s done.”

Aphrodite looked at all four of them.  

“Psyche used her beauty, a gift of my domain, for her own gain. She beguiled the villagers, stole worshippers, made them love her more than they loved me. 

“She has blinded Eros, my rock, my boy who has ever been by my side. She dares to think she is deserving. She could never deserve your love, Eros. 

“Never.”

“I love her, Mother,” Eros said simply. “Psyche is unlike any mortal I’ve ever seen. She understands true love and shows it in a most divine way.”

Aphrodite lifted her head.

“We shall see,” Aphrodite said, looking hard at Eros.

“To clarify one point,” Harmonia said, breaking in. “I believe it is beyond your power to pass judgment on the dead, so should Psyche fail in her tasks and upon her death, her eternal torment would be dependent upon Hades. 

“But, she could certainly be banished until the end of her mortal life. Will that be satisfactory?”

Aphrodite looked at Harmonia.

“It will,” Aphrodite said.

“One last thing,” Harmonia said, “what will happen if Psyche completes all of the tasks you give her?”

Aphrodite smiled.

“Easy,” she said. “She won’t.” 

Eros rolled his eyes. His mother’s arrogance knew no bounds. 

“Supposing she did, Mother?” Harmonia pressed.

Aphrodite sighed.

“If Psyche manages to complete the tasks, then Eros may have her,” she said.

“And you won’t interfere anymore, Mother,” Eros added. “If Psyche passes your tests, you must let go of this grievance you have with Psyche. 

“It will be finished.”

Aphrodite thought for a moment.

“Agree,” she said finally. 

“If all is satisfactory, Mother, then I believe we should leave you to prepare to receive Psyche,” Harmonia said. 

Harmonia curtsied to her mother and moved to leave.

Eros formally bowed to Aphrodite and followed Harmonia. 

“This is going to be interesting,” Phobos said to Deimos as they bowed and excused themselves as well. 

“Interesting indeed,” Deimos said.

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