"I like the lovely wine color of these robes, don’t you? They complement her dark hair well.” Venus arranged the silken drape of the stola that swathed Polyxena’s unnaturally still body.
“Anything that brings you pleasure brings me pleasure, Goddess,” said a nearby satyr.
“Yes, darling, I know. That’s why I wasn’t asking you. Now run along and finish wiping the last of that blood off the floor.” Venus patted the creature’s cheek to take the sting from her words. “Eleithyia, I was asking you.”
“Oh, yes, Goddess. I think the color is beautiful.”
“Then why are you frowning?”
“Well, it’s quite, um, unusual that you’ve arrayed the maidservant in such finery, too.”
Venus smoothed the creamy silk tunic so that the maidservant’s blush colored stola wasn’t wrinkled. Then she frowned at the little priestess. “Child, it is true that this is a servant’s body, but the soul that is going to reside there is definitely not a servant. It’s going to be a big enough shock for poor Jacqueline to wake up in a strange body and find out she has to play the part of maid to her best friend.”
“You are, of course, the Goddess. I bow to your intelligence and wisdom and—”
Venus waved away her compliments. “Bow later. Right now just tell me that the fabric is perfect.”
“The fabric is perfect.”
“Oh, Venus, the satyrs have done a wonderful job setting my temple aright!” Hera bustled in beaming at the randy woodland creatures and making them wriggle with glee.
“I told you they were marvelous,” Venus said, blowing kisses at the beasts closest to her.
“I am surprised that they did such a good job getting out all the blood and gore,” Athena said, materializing not far from Hera.
“And them.” Venus gestured grandly in the direction of the two newly cleaned and clothed bodies. “Don’t you think they look lovely, too?”
“The mortals look beautiful, as does my temple. Thank you, Venus, for a job well done,” Hera said.
“They are beautiful, though little but empty shells without souls,” Athena said.
Venus ignored the Goddess of War. “All went well with Agamemnon?” she asked Hera.
The Queen of the Gods curled her lip in distaste. “My opinion of that insufferable man hasn’t changed one bit. I do feel terribly sorry for poor Briseis.”
“Which means he’s going to take her from Achilles?” Athena said.
“Yes.”
“Good. Thetis will take care of nudging her son into withdrawing from the battle. She’ll make it a point of pride. Apparently Achilles has matured from the impulsive teenager who chose glory and battle and he is not thrilled with the fate he chose for himself, but he’s still typically prideful. Thetis assured me there will be no problem getting him to withdraw, at least for a short time,” Athena said. “Now all that’s left is for your mortal to work her magic and continue to keep Achilles out of the fray long enough for the Trojans to claim victory and then this whole mess will be ended.”
“Don’t worry about my mortal. She’ll do just fine.”
“Really? Does she speak ancient Greek?” Athena asked pointedly.
Venus hesitated only briefly and said, “She will after I do a little…” The Goddess of Love waggled her fingers, causing glitter to form in the air.
Athena snorted.
“Venus, perhaps you could put the souls into the bodies and we could get this business underway?” Hera said.
“Oh, yes! Of course. Satyrs.” Venus clapped her hands commandingly together. “Return to Olympus. I’ll send some Nyseideian nymphs to thank you for aiding me.” The hoofed creatures cheered as they disappeared. “All right. Stand back. Give me room to work.” The Goddess of Love smoothed her long blond hair and then raised her hands, palms up. “I call the mortal spirits I recently made free—Katrina and Jacqueline, I command you come to me!”
Two glowing orbs popped into the air and floated to rest on Venus’s open palms.
“First I gift you with the language you must know,
so that as soon as you’re here you’ll be ready to go.
So now is the time to begin the task I ask of you—
ensoul these bodies that you may complete the job
Love would have you do!”
Venus threw the glowing orbs at the bodies like she was a major league pitcher.
Kat gasped and choked. She sat up coughing and rubbing a hand across her forehead. Jacky moaned and pressed her hands to her chest in the exact place her wound had been.
“Oh, god, I feel like utter crap,” Kat said. “How much champagne did I drink, anyway?” She cleared her throat and blinked her eyes. “What’s wrong with my voice and where the hell—” Her words broke off as her vision cleared. She stared, wide-eyed, at three gorgeous women who where watching her like she was a new species of flower that had just bloomed.
“Kat, I think I’m having a heart attack.” Jacky moaned again. “Since when do hangovers feel like heart attacks?”
Kat pulled her vision from the three ridiculously attractive women and turned to look at the person who lay beside her and who was talking like Jacky, but didn’t sound anything like her and…
“Holy fucking shit! Jacqueline? Is that you?”
The beautiful blonde blinked several times, trying to clear her vision, and continued to rub her chest. “Who else would it be, the goddamn Easter Bunny? Why do you sound wrong? God, am I going deaf, too?”
“Have no fear, Jacqueline and Katrina. You are safe and well and under our protection,” said the woman who was standing closest to them, and was probably the most stunning of the three.
Kat closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. “Drunken hysterical dream. I’ll never drink that much champagne again. Promise. Time to wake up now and deal with my horrendous hangover.” She opened her eyes.
“You are not dreaming, mortal woman,” said the regal looking woman in flowing white robes trimmed in sky blue.
Then the statuesque woman with the unusual gray eyes stepped forward and spoke. “We have altered your fate. Instead of allowing you to perish in the modern world we have plucked your souls from your shattered bodies and brought you to the ancient world. You may thank us.”
The woman who had spoken first frowned severely at the gray-eyed woman. “Give it a rest, Athena. They don’t need to thank us. It’s not like they asked for this. And besides that, the whole abasing yourself before the gods thing doesn’t work in the modern mortal world.”
“This isn’t the modern mortal world,” snapped the gray-eyed woman.
“Really? I hadn’t noticed. I thought—”
“Okay, what the fuck?” Jacqueline said, sitting up.
“Jacky?” Kat ignored the bickering women and turned to face her friend.
“Kat? Is that you in there?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“But you’re not you. I mean, you’re nothing like you. And what the hell are you wearing?” Jacky reached out to touch a drape of the burgundy-colored robe and her eyes became riveted on her hand. “Katrina Marie Campbell, what is going on? Why. Is. This. My. Hand!”
“We can explain everything,” said the regal woman. She nodded to the most gorgeous one. “Go ahead, Venus; explain everything.”
“Well, it’s really quite simple. You two got in a horrid accident after you left your girlfriend party. I’d been watching you through my oracle.” She paused and smiled. “I am Venus, Goddess of Sensual Love, Beauty and the Erotic Arts.” She pointed to the gray-eyed woman. “This is Athena, Goddess of War, blah, blah.” Then she gestured to the regal woman. “And this is Hera, Queen of Olympus. Anyway, as I was saying, I’d been watching you through my oracle and I witnessed your accident. I just couldn’t let you die like that, so I snatched up your souls. Not long after that, Hera’s temple was defiled and Polyxena, Princess of Troy, and her, uh, maidservant, Melia, were killed. So we did some quick thinking, quick healing, and quick re-ensouling. And here you are—yourselves, but in different bodies. See, I told you it was really quite simple.”
“I—I—I—” Kat sputtered.