Goddess of Love
AN: My first story to be completed. Yay! This story was inspired by a story at Mediaminer called Like Religion by Quinn. The references of a temple of Venus as a place where lovers meet is from When We Were Gods by somebody Falconer. It's been awhile since I read it.
Hathor, Aphrodite, and Venus; the three goddesses of love. Hathor, the innocent goddess of chaste love, like that shared between small children. Aphrodite, the passionate goddess of true love, who brought soul mates together. And Venus, the cruel goddess of sensuality, bringing heartache. At least, that was what Takeru had been raised to believe. Now, as the Greek boy stared up at the Roman statue, he wondered if maybehis parents had been wrong? That Aphrodite was the cruel one, and the Roman 'imitation' was the true goddess of love? If anyone had asked him these questions but a moon ago, Takeru would have scoffed before cutting them out of his life. He had been sure that though he bowed to a Roman statue, his prayers and offerings went to Aphrodite, and even more sure that it was Aphrodite's hand that guided the head priestess to purchase the Egyptian slave, Daisuke. Takeru had instantly lost his heart. Takeru admitted that his interest in Daisuke was, at first, physical; the boy had wine red hair that was so dark it was almost purple, callused and sun-tanned skin and beautiful, soul searching brown eyes; but physical attraction was supposed to doom a real relationship. But he had become entranced by the shy boy's graceful movements, artistic inclinations, and hidden intelligence.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Ken, the child of a temple hetairai, was interested in the slave as well. And since Ken was Roman while he was a Greek hostage, Daisuke was given to Ken to be trained. But that didn't stop Takeru from trying; he would bring extra food to Daisuke and talk to him whenever he could. Takeru was thrilled when Daisuke called him a friend after only three days. Takeru believed his hopes had been further been confirmed whenever he and Ken had made offerings; Takeru's burned all the way through, but Ken's were always blown out. But today, his hopes were shattered, as well as his heart. Takeru had been walking through the temple, ensuring that the 'worshippers' were well hidden, when he had stumbled upon his Daisuke, with Ken, in an alcove, like one of the veiled ladies.
Takeru now glared up at the statue. "Perchè! Why lead me on?" He demanded. The statue did not answer, even when Takeru began to chip at its face. No one would stop him tonight, the festival would ensure of that. By morning he'd be long gone.
Ken was awakened by a shaft of spring sunlight filtering through the wooden shutters of his temple quarters and Daisuke stirring at his side. "Good morning, amante." Daisuke whispered. Ken smiled gently; gods this boy was beautiful in the morning. "Morning. Did you enjoy the festival last night?"
"Since I was with you, how could I not?" Daisuke replied and began to purr as Ken began running his fingers through Daisuke's hair. Ken's smile grew wider before softly kissing Daisuke. As they broke apart, they heard a loud screech come from the atrium. Exchanging puzzled glances, Ken and Daisuke quickly got dressed before going to see why their high priestess was suddenly raining curses on the Greeks.
Translations
Hetairai professional entertainer or a whore
Perchè Why!
Amante lover