The Gatekeeper's House (23 page)

“
Let Zeus know you’re
coming,” Hades had said. “As soon as you leave the chasm, pray to
him, so he doesn’t strike you down.”

Lord Zeus,
Therese began.

“
Compliment him,” Hades had
said.

The most powerful of all the
gods,
she added.
I
really need to speak with Aphrodite concerning matters of the
heart, which are the most important matters in the world to
me.

She hoped that sounded lofty and
serious. When the gods spoke casually to her and to others, they
sounded like regular people, but when they spoke of official
business at court, it seemed to Therese they shifted into a loftier
conversational style. Whether they did so out of custom, out of
respect, or to show off, Therese didn’t know.

The sky remained quiet, and since no
more lightning shot down at her, she took this as a good sign. But
as she neared the gates of Mount Olympus, her hands shook with
fear.

Please help me to be
strong
, she prayed to Hades. She usually
prayed to Than, but she didn’t want him to worry.

You are strong without my
help
, came the reply from Hades.

Therese approached the gates and said,
“Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall, please open the gates so that I,
Therese, goddess of animal companions, may enter.”

A loud roar carried through the air,
and a tunnel of cold wind lifted. At its center was a single rain
cloud. As the wind settled and the rain cloud emptied its contents,
the giant wall of clouds opened, and Therese drew the chariot
forward. The wall of clouds closed behind her. She passed the
beautiful fountain and parked the chariot, where Cupid offered to
unbridle the horses. She thanked him and strode to the palace,
where she took the rainbow steps into the court. She had no idea if
Hip was with her.

Zeus sat beside Hera on their double
golden throne. Hera openly glared at Therese, still sore over
losing her golden apples from the garden of the Hesperides. Ares
sat to their left, but his expression was cool and aloof. He wasn’t
openly hostile; nor was he friendly. Hermes was there, after Apollo
and Poseidon’s empty thrones, looking somber and anxious. He
usually greeted Therese with a wink, but today there was no wink
for her. Beside Hermes was Hephaestus looking grave.

Therese frowned at Athena’s empty place
to Zeus’s right and briefly met the eyes of Artemis beside it. Past
the double throne belonging to Persephone and Demeter was Aphrodite
and her beautiful, smiling face. Therese immediately felt
better.

“
May I speak with
Aphrodite?” Therese asked from where she stood in the center of the
room. She still had no idea whether Hip had remained behind in the
chariot garage or whether he was beside her now. She tried to hide
her terror. “My heart is breaking.”

“
You may speak to her,” Zeus
replied in his loud, authoritative voice, “but you must do so
before us all. No privacy can be afforded to anyone during these
delicate times.”

She fell on her knees before Aphrodite
and cried her eyes out. She allowed all her fear and anxiety and
frustration to pour down her cheeks. Her body shook, and she
couldn’t speak for several minutes. If Hades could have seen her,
he might have thought her an excellent actress, but it was no act.
She was baring her heart to her favorite goddess.

“
There, there,” Aphrodite
said, patting Therese’s hair and shoulder. “Tell me what’s
troubling you.”

Therese wiped her face with the back of
her hands, cleared her throat, and, without getting up from her
knees, said, “Oh, Aphrodite, I finally told Than how wrong I was to
question his fidelity. I told him I love him and want to marry him
and to be with him forever.”

Aphrodite’s face lit up. “That’s
wonderful news. So why are you so upset? He didn’t reject you, did
he?”

“
No. He kissed me more
passionately than he’s ever kissed me, and when he lifted me in his
arms, I thought I would die of love.” It felt so good to get all of
these feelings out. She sat back on her heels, which helped to hide
her trembling legs.

Aphrodite smiled down at her, and
Therese wished they were on the same side of this conflict so she
wouldn’t have to put their relationship in danger. She never wanted
the goddess of love to be angry with her. She hoped she would
always smile down on her as she was smiling at her now.

“
Love is overwhelming at
times,” the goddess said as she stole a glance across the room at
Ares.

“
We agreed to plan our
wedding as soon as possible,” Therese continued, “but before we
could tell everyone that the wedding was back on, Hermes appeared
to us with Zeus’s message.”

Everyone looked at Zeus, and, it seemed
to Therese, they all had fear in their eyes, even the king of the
gods.

“
Now this conflict between
brothers is ruining everything!” Therese said, the sobs overcoming
her. She wondered how much longer before Hypnos would lure everyone
to sleep. She would soon run out of things to say. “Who knows when
we’ll be married the way things are going?”

Zeus spoke next. “Do you know what my
brother plans to do, Therese? Will he turn over Cybele, as I asked,
and put Melinoe into the pits of Tartarus? Or does he plan to go
against my wishes and force my hand?”

Therese wiped her eyes again, and sat
up on her knees. “Lord Zeus, I only know he is discussing his
options with the other gods in his chambers. I hope he will do as
you ask, so that we can put this behind us and Than and I can
finally be married.” She felt guilty over the lie, but she was
terrified to tell him what she really thought.

“
I hope so too, child,” Zeus
replied. “Perhaps your coming here is a good omen. If you truly
wish to bring a speedy end to this conflict, you should come back
here and report to me the moment Hades has made a decision, whether
favorable or unfavorable, to me. Do you agree?”

Where was Hypnos? Why weren’t the gods
falling asleep yet? Therese didn’t want to make a promise to the
king of gods when she had no intentions of keeping her
word.

***

After Therese had parked the chariot,
Hip had followed her out to the garage only to become wary near the
fountain, because he knew that every time his father had worn the
helm in or near water, Poseidon had found him out. To avoid a
possible snag in their plan, Hip went a different route to the
palace. He first entered the back door of Hephaestus’s forge and
maneuvered his way through all of the machinery and metal work to
the door leading into the palace.

Hip found it impossible to travel
through the door. If he were to open it, he’d risk giving himself
away. He cursed and traced his steps back through the machinery and
metal work to the back door, all the while thinking of another way
to get into the palace.

He decided to go all the way around the
back side, making a circle to the front of the building on the
opposite side of the façade from the forge. This was the kitchen,
and sure enough, he found Hestia busy at work making up wonderful
dishes for dipping into ambrosia sauce. He resisted the urge to dip
his finger into the sauce pan as he made his way through the door
and into the palace.

***

“
I don’t want to get in
trouble with Than’s father,” Therese said to Zeus. “What if he
won’t allow Than to marry me? I’ll be heartbroken forever.” She
shook with sobs at the thought of it and was relieved to see
compassion rather than anger on Zeus’s face.

“
Dear child,” he began, “I
am the lord of all gods. If you do this favor for me, I will make
sure that you and Thanatos have the best wedding imaginable. We
will have the muses sing, and Hermes will play something lovely on
his pipe, and perhaps Apollo will join him on his lyre. Hestia will
make us the best banquet possible, and I will ask Hephaestus to
create an arch of gold beneath which you and your groom shall
exchange your nuptial vows. No god will stand in the way of your
marriage.”

Therese wished Zeus hadn’t been willing
to sacrifice Melinoe for his own sake, even though Melinoe was
cruel. She also wished he weren’t planning to imprison Cybele, who
was only trying to stand up for Melinoe and Athena. Zeus could be
so kind and agreeable. She liked so much about him. He was
handsome, funny, and kind. He spoke eloquently and showed
compassion. He had reigned over the gods of Mount Olympus for
centuries, and everyone respected him. Why did he have to screw
everything up?

Therese couldn’t stop herself from
asking her question, “Why can’t we just go back to the way things
were?”

“
I wish we could. I can’t
tell you how hard I wish it. But Athena wants me to release her
mother, and doing so will endanger me and my ability to rule. A
threat to the king must be dealt with, you understand? I tried to
do it in a way that would bring the least amount of harm to anyone,
but Cybele deceived me. When someone deceives the king, he or she
must be punished. You agree, yes?”

Therese did agree. Everything Zeus said
had sounded right. She nodded.

Zeus gave her a smile. “Do you swear
then, on the River Styx…”

The lord of the skies yawned. Therese
looked around and saw all of the gods except Artemis and Hephaestus
were falling asleep in their thrones. Finally! Her heart pounded
wildly in her chest as adrenaline surged through her. This was the
witching hour, the decisive moment. She and Hip would either
succeed in helping the god of the forge and the goddess of the hunt
defect to the Underworld, or they would all be captured and become
prisoners of Mount Olympus.

***

Hip lifted the helm of invisibility and
showed himself to those awake and beckoned them to
follow.

They secured the horses to the chariot,
creeping softly past Cupid’s snoring body, and approached the
gates, but the seasons were also sound asleep, and the gates would
not open. The gods pulled and tugged with all their strength. The
gates would not budge.

Hip disintegrated into the hundreds and
stationed fifty of himself on one side of the gate and fifty on the
other. Then he pushed with all his might and was able to create an
opening just large enough for the other gods to slip
through.

Before he had gone through himself, a
slight and feminine figure thrust her head into the opening and
cried, “Hypnos!”

It was Pasithea.

“
I left to run an errand for
my lady, and when I returned, I couldn’t get back inside,” she
explained. “What’s happened? Why are the seasons snoring? Aphrodite
won’t answer me.”

“
Go in,” Hip said before he
himself had gone out. “I’ll hold the gates open for you to pass.
I’m in a hurry.”

“
Why? Is something wrong?”
she asked as she climbed inside the gates, her face close to
his.

Then she noticed there were fifty of
him on one side of the gate and fifty on the other.

“
Come on, Hypnos!”
Hephaestus shouted.

Pasithea, frightened by the army Hip
had amassed, cried out for her mistress. “Aphrodite? My lady, where
are you?”

Hypnos slipped through the gate, but
before he could integrate, Pasithea grabbed one of his arms and
shouted, “Tell me what’s going on!”

“
Hephaestus and Artemis are
joining forces with my father,” he said.

“
What?” she studied his
face, to see if he was telling the truth. Her own expression was
one of horror. “You plan to fight against Zeus?”

“
We’re leaving!” Artemis
said as the chariot took off into the sky.

“
It’s the right thing to
do,” Hip said. “Now let go of my hand, and please tell no one what
you saw.”

“
I can’t betray my lady and
my king,” she cried.

He took her hand in both of his and
beseeched her. “If you ever loved me, you’ll tell no one,
especially Zeus.” He kissed her on her cheek and pulled his hands
away.

“
Zeus!” she shrieked in the
loudest voice he’d ever heard her make. “Lord Zeus, wake
up!”

Hip was about to integrate when a
strong hand pitched him up into the air and dragged him into the
palace.

***

Than was relieved when Swift and Sure
brought the chariot into the garage, where he was waiting.
Hephaestus took his hand, gave it a hearty squeeze, and slapped him
on the back.

“
You should be proud of your
bride,” the god of the forge said with excitement.

“
She was spectacular,”
Artemis concurred as she climbed from the chariot.

Hip winced. “I suppose she gets all the
credit.”

Than embraced Therese, fighting off
tears of joy. He had been worried for her safety and had been
unable to do anything but stand here and wait. The dying couldn’t
die, that’s how frightened he’d been. Now he disintegrated and
continued his duties.

The last to climb from the chariot, Hip
winced again.

“
Are you injured?” Than
asked him.