There was a woman swathed in gold robes laying langorously on the couch. Hermes moved into the room, silent on the piled carpets, and the woman stretched like a cat and tilted her head to regard the god's entrance. Seeing her looking at him, Hermes struck a pose with his hand to his chin as he looked her over in a careful survey, then he sucked in air through his teeth in appreciation.

"Were you waiting up for me, darling?" he asked.

There were no candles, but the Moon was looking in the window and threw an interested light on as much as she could. In the shadows of the open door the goddess on the couch sat up a little and the rustle of her robes was loud in the quiet room. Her hair fell around her face, curtaining what the darkness hid in further mystery. Hermes could not see her face, but her movements suggested a lithe body underneath the wrappings of bedclothes. There was no cooler god than Hermes, but the closeness of his quarry heated his blood.

From behind her veil of hair and shadow, the goddess's voice emerged and enveloped him, "But were you waiting for me, Hermes?"

Her words were a riddle that Hermes couldn't resist and her tone was an invitation he would not turn down. He could not see her, but there was a deep intelligence in that voice, an acknowledgement of all he wanted and could ever want. But when she smoothed a place among the sheets for him to come and sit, he hesitated. It was too easy, he thought, until she laughed and he realized that she was laughing at him. His expression registered no change from the crooked smile that had been so successful with so many women so many times.

"So?" asked Peitho. "What is it that you desire?" she almost purred the final word, but it was not to seduce him. She was still laughing at him.

Hermes leaned forward, and before his face entered the shadow, the Moon shone on his curled lip. He reached out his hand and, with a gentleness that belied his expression, brushed the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear leaving his hand to trail down the curls to her neck and shoulder and arm. Looking her in the eyes his face approached hers until they were cheek to cheek; his lips brushed against her ear as he murmured softly in her ear, "Not you."

He could feel her cheeks heat as the blood rushed to them, and he smiled in triumph. But when he pulled away he saw the same mocking grin. She lifted her eyebrows in insolent inquiry,

"Did you come to play dice, then? You'd probably have more luck with them than seeking Aphrodite in Peitho's sheets.

For a moment Hermes had no response. Could he have been so easy to foil? His plan to seduce Peitho had ended when her mocking come-on had goaded him to insult her, but he still wasn't quite sure why he had lost his head like that. Forcing a laugh, Hermes produced two dice from her ear by slight of hand and dropped them into her lap where they were promptly lost in the folds of the sheets.

"I'll play you for an introduction," he challenged, not ready to admit complete defeat. But the goddess shook her head,

"You play with loaded dice, God of Tricksters. But I'll play you for a kiss"

Hermes leaned back and if there was hesitation in his eyes, she could not possibly have seen it. When he spoke, his voice was that of the perfect gentleman he knew she knew he was not. "I would not do you the insult, madam, of allowing you to melt in my embrace while my mind is enthralled by another."

He stood and bowed and headed back for the door and heard the sheets rustle as she snuggled back into them. "Then I suppose I must bid you goodnight, since there is nothing more to say to each other," Peitho sounded disappointed, but Hermes could not tell if it was ironic.

He was still trying to figure out what had gone wrong when she called across the room in that beautiful, wry voice, "By the way, I don't think I could stand two such disappointments in one night. Would you mind telling your father to wait until tomorrow? I've simply got to get some sleep tonight, and he'll never find her where she's hidden, anyway." Then, before he could respond she added dismissively, "Thank you, dearest messenger. Sweet dreams."

Hermes shut the door behind him.