Chapter 19
" Honey, I think you have the makings of a real artist." Lina studied the charcoal sketch on the parchment. She had expected Eurydice's map to be a crude little drawing, but when the spirit unrol ed the parchment Lina had immediately been impressed by the quality of her work. The palace blueprint was laid out with strong, clear lines, each section labeled in a flowing script, but what impressed Lina the most was the meticulous detail with which Eurydice had symbolized each section of the palace. To mark the main dining room she had reproduced in miniature the ornate table, complete with candelabrum. The Great Hal had been labeled with a dais on which she had drawn Hades' throne. She had even sketched in the flower-fil ed courtyard and outlined the massive fountain in its center.
"Do you real y like it?" Eurydice asked breathlessly. "It is not completed yet. There are stil many finishing touches I should add."
"I love it. Have you always been an artist?" Eurydice's face was animated with excitement. "Yes! I mean, no, not actual y an artist. My father did not believe drawing was a proper pastime for a young lady - even as a hobby. But I used to draw things in secret. I sketched pictures of flowers on dry patches of ground with a sharpened stick. I dipped a bird's quil in my mother's dye and drew animals on old rags." She grinned impishly at Lina. "My father would have been very upset if he had known."
"Wel , I think being an artist is the perfect pastime for a lady, and I give you wholehearted permission to draw and draw and draw," Lina said.
"Thank you so much, Persephone!" Eurydice did a happy skip-step. "I cannot wait to tel Iapis. He said he thought that I drew very wel , and that he could find more supplies for me if I wished to keep sketching."
"Did he?" Lina raised her eyebrows suggestively.
Eurydice's face, already luminous, took on a decidedly pink hue. "Yes, he did. I thought he was just being kind, because he is always so kind, but if you agree with him then I know it must be true."
"Tel Iapis I said to load you up with supplies. You are now official y Personal Artist to the Goddess of Spring." Lina raised her arm regal y to punctuate the proclamation. Eurydice's eyes grew round with wonder. Impulsively she threw her arms around Lina, hugging her tightly. "You are the most wonderful goddess in al the world!" Lina laughed. "That is exactly the opinion I expect from my Personal Artist."
"You must task me with a commission. What shal I draw for you?"
"Shouldn't you finish the map first?"
"That wil be done soon. Then what would you like me to draw?" she demanded eagerly. Lina thought for a moment. Then she smiled. "The narcissus is quickly becoming my favorite flower. Why don't you draw me a big, beautiful picture of a narcissus?" Eurydice's face glowed as she curtsied deeply to her goddess. "Your artist wil do your bidding, Goddess of Spring."
Lina inclined her head in her best goddess-like gesture, pleased at how happy she had made Eurydice. "I wil try to wait patiently for your first commission." The little spirit popped up from the curtsy. "Oh! My first commission!" Two firm knocks sounded against the door to Lina's room. Eurydice danced to open the door.
"Iapis!" she gushed. "Persephone has declared that I am her Personal Artist!" lina observed the daimon closely. His expression was warm and open as he congratulated Eurydice, and his eyes never left the girl's face. Lina's grandma would say that he looked very much like a man who was on his way to being wel and truly smitten. Lina noticed that Eurydice touched the daimon's arm twice during her excited recitation. The girl's body language definitely said she was returning his interest - no, Lina corrected herself - she was going to have to stop thinking of her as a girl or a child. Eurydice was a young woman who had already been unhappily married once. In actuality the body Lina currently possessed didn't look to be much older.
"Goddess, may I commend you on your excel ent taste in artists?" Iapis said gal antly. Grinning, Eurydice hovered at his side.
"Thank you, Iapis. I think we are just beginning to discover Eurydice's talents." Iapis smiled fondly at Eurydice. "I must agree with you, Goddess." Then he bowed to Lina. "Hades awaits you at the stables. He asks that I relay to you that Orion is growing impatient." Lina's stomach gave a jolt at the mention of the God. "Wel , then, it's a good thing I'm ready. I wouldn't want to keep a dread steed waiting."
"They scare me," Eurydice said.
"Remember, just think of them as big dogs," Lina told her. The spirit and the daimon hurried after her as she walked briskly down the hal way and through the courtyard, fully aware that now she was the one who felt like dancing happily.
"Was your bath satisfactory last night, Goddess?" Iapis asked. Lina was glad that she was walking ahead of him. She knew the expression on her face would give away just how satisfactory last night had become.
"Yes, it was lovely. Thank you."
"Persephone said she slept very wel ," Eurydice added.
Lina smiled. She had slept wrapped in Hades' cape, fal ing in and out of teasingly erotic dreams.
"It pleases me to hear it," Iapis said to Eurydice. "Especial y after the restless night my Lord spent. I do not believe Hades slept at al ."
"Perhaps you should try bathing him as I did Persephone," Eurydice said. Lina quickened her pace, letting the soft breeze that drifted through the courtyard cool her flushed skin. Her body already felt like a spring that had been tightly wound. She definitely didn't need to start visualizing Hades' naked body being bathed and covered in oil. Lina hurried past the central fountain and the lovely sculptures, relieved when she final y reached to the wrought iron gates.
"I think I wil stay here, Persephone," Eurydice cal ed from behind her. The little spirit pointed to a cluster of narcissus flowers. "I can begin some preliminary sketches while you are riding with Hades."
"And I must procure the proper supplies for your artist," Iapis said, but his eyes never left Eurydice.
"Behave yourselves. I'l be back soon," Lina said.
The pair waved her away and she hadn't taken more than a couple of steps from them when she looked back to see that they already had their heads together. Eurydice's girlish giggle was fol owed by the deep sound of the daimon's laughter. She was going to have to remember to talk to Hades about them. Iapis seemed like a good guy - if guy was the right word to use when referring to a semi-deity - but what exactly were his intentions? Eurydice was recovering from a bad relationship, not to mention the fact that she was newly dead. That had to make her doubly vulnerable. Didn't it? No matter what, Lina was definitely responsible for her and she didn't want to see her hurt. Iapis should be told to take it slow. Eurydice needed to be treated careful y and with respect.
An ear-splitting neigh brought Lina up short and she stopped her inner tirade. Orion was standing outside the stable. His mane had been combed and braided with ribbons the color of moonlight, which was the exact color of the narcissus tucked under the crownpiece of his bridle. He caught her eye, arched his neck and snorted, taking a few frisky side steps to show off. Beside him stood another stal ion that could have been his twin, except that the other horse's night-colored coat was broken by a single white splotch on his forehead in the shape of a lopsided star. The two steeds were almost as magnificent as the God who held their reins. Hades was scowling impressively at his lead stal ion.
"Settle down you great foolish beast!" Hades told Orion. "You see that Dorado is not making such a fuss."
Lina hurried to join them, trying not to be obvious about staring at the way the God's arms and shoulders bulged as he pulled Orion to order. He was wearing another short tunic which exposed an excel ent amount of his arm muscle as wel as most of his legs. His black cloak bil owed around him. Batman. A delectable, ancient version of Bruce Wayne. Lina fought the urge to fan herself.
"Don't scold him. I've decided that he's incorrigible, but loveable," she said, heart fluttering. Laying her cheek against Orion's soft muzzle when he nuzzled her in greeting, she averted her eyes from Hades. "You're just glad to see me, aren't you, handsome boy?" Hades thought he knew exactly how the stal ion felt; he had the ridiculous urge to strut and shout at the sight of her. Persephone was swathed in a long length of fine linen with a skirt that was full enough so that she could ride comfortably. When the breeze stirred it pressed the semisheer fabric against her body, outlining the swel of her breasts and the delectable curve of her waist, making Hades wish that he had thought to cal up more wind. He watched jealously as she caressed Orion, even though he felt like a shal ow clod for being jealous of a horse. Dorado nickered at the Goddess and looked bereft. Instead of doing the same Hades said,
"Persephone, I do not believe that you have been formal y introduced to Dorado. He does not lead as wel as your Orion, but he is the swiftest of the four." He patted the horse's glossy neck affectionately.
Lina rubbed Dorado's head. "It's nice to meet you, Dorado. Faster than Orion, huh?" She slanted a sassy look at Hades. "I guess that means that we won't be able to run away from you." Hades swal owed past the sudden thickness in his throat. Just being close to her made him feel powerful and helpless, hot and cold, al at the same time. He was probably going mad - and he didn't care. Moving close to her so that the sides of their bodies pressed against each other, Hades caught her teasing gaze with his own. "No, you wil not be able to escape me." Lina felt like she was fal ing into his eyes. Escape from him? Not likely. She wanted to climb under his skin.
Orion butted her back and snorted. She laughed, breaking the spel between them.
"Okay, impatient boy!"
"The beast is not impatient. He is jealous," Hades said, sending the stal ion a black look, which Orion pointedly ignored and lipped innocently at his Goddess's shoulder.
"Jealous?" Lina pretended to be taken aback. "Just because I petted Dorado? That's very sil y of you," she cooed to the horse.
"You have no idea how sil y," he muttered, but he wasn't talking about Orion, "Come," he took her elbow, guiding her to the horse's left side and helping her mount. "The Elysian Fields await the presence of the Goddess of Spring."
They rode side by side, fol owing the black marble road. The steady clip of the horses' hooves mingled with the lyrical sound of songbirds cal ing to one another from the boughs of the imposing cypress trees that lined their pathway. The fragrance of narcissus blooms perfumed the air. Every so often they would pass spirits, sometimes in groups, sometimes a solitary soul walking alone. But al of the reactions were the same. First, the spirits would step off the road, giving the dread steeds a wide berth. Then the realization of who was riding the steeds would hit them. The dead bowed solemnly to their dark God, al the while keeping wide eyes fixed on Persephone. The men would smile at the Goddess and bow to her, some of them even cal ed greetings to her, but it was the women whose reactions moved Lina the most. When women recognized that they were in the presence of the Goddess of Spring, their faces became alight with joy. Many of them addressed her by name and asked for her blessing, which Lina readily gave. Some even dared to approach Orion so that they could touch the hem of the Goddess's robe.