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Zeus looked at the procession favorably, clapping and nodding, showing exactly what he thought of a cupid finally delivering the Perfect Match to the Goddess Of Love. Well, shehad things to say about that, and she felt oddly grateful to Sabine for not taking the stage. Think what you want about the arrogant and audacious cupid, but she knew when to take a step back and leave the spotlight.

And so Aphrodite extended her hands again and the expected silence reigned.

“In the days of instant news, instant coffee, and instant feelings, it’s more important than ever to stand on the principles that have ruled our profession for all time. For we bring love, and that makes us paramount.”

She gazed across the masses of her cupids, all of them riveted by her every word, and took a deep breath. Time to kick the hornets’ nest. If Zeus thought he could simply step in and rule love, she had news for him...

“We are what’s important. We are what’s pure and necessary, what’s right and what’s righteous. Nobody can do what we do. Nobody can give what we give. In time everlasting, we are the ones who govern the ungovernable. For love is sacred. And we respect its laws. No matter how much others want to bend it to their will, we are the only ones who know the truth. Love bends for no one.”

She felt, more than heard a rumbling in the distance; the air filled with the distinctive scent of petrichor. Lightning, thunder and rain… Oh yes, Zeus knew she was about to hit him where it hurt.

“Cupids don’t bow to anyone. And neither do I.” She looked Zeus straight in the eye. “It has been suggested that we need to adjust a little, for better direction and a more efficient process.” The cupids burst into a chorus of boos. “Well, love knows no process, no efficiency. There is no efficiency in losing sleep over a pair of long-fingered hands, losing your breath over a sweet, comforting scent, in daydreaming about a tweed jacket. Love dictates, demands, spurs you on. Love commands, but she doesnot allow herself to be commanded. You can try, but you shall fail. You can’t make it work, no matter how much you thunder, no matter how much you push. And you’ve pushed for ages. All this time.”

She glared at Zeus and received a glare back. The rolling thunder was getting closer. She didn’t care, not anymore.

“Time and love are the intangibles. Or should be. And if time is sacrosanct for all, love is something all are trying to manipulate. To twist to their wills. To use as their weapon or their bribe. Trust me, I’d know.” She swallowed against the unexpected lump in her throat. It was in the past. It was all in the past.

She stared directly at Zeus’s angry eyes and her words sounded like shattering glass. Sharp. Deadly.

“You played me. You played with me. With my heart, with my love. For power, for gain, for intrigue, for sport. No more. Because there is one thing I know. That all cupids know. Love is freedom. And freedom is love. And only those free will love truly.”

The cupids around her were on their feet, applauding, cheering her on. Aphrodite pressed on.

“When the Convention began, I was told I was unattached, and that it set a terrible example for everyone. That the Goddess of Love not being in love, not being married, was sending the wrong message to the world, to mortals, to cupids.” Gasps and shocked exclamations replaced the cheers. Her knuckles on the microphone were white, and her fingers screamed in pain. But she did not relax her grip. If anything, she tightened it.

“I want to tell all of you that there is no love without freedom. And that even in love, my choice is free, and it is mine alone. I love. But I am free to make my own choices, unconstrained. Are you happy now, Zeus?”

He stood up, and she could see lightning crisscross the sky in the glass ceiling of the amphitheater. Ares and Hera jumped up with him. Chaos descended. Cupids were screaming bloody murder. Gods were demanding answers about what was happening. Hera was loudly screeching for Ares to do something.

“What can I do, mom? She doesn’t want me.” He seemed utterly perplexed by such happenstance.

“Can she have Hephaestus back, then?” Hera’s words were suddenly drowned out by laughter, and Aphrodite could see Apollo barely able to keep his seat from the guffaws. And in the sudden lull, Hephaestus mumbled, “Mom, you know how Aphrodite just spoke of choices and all that? Well, Apollo and I kinda already made some together…”

“What do you meantogether?” More mayhem ensued as all four almost ran to the exit, arguing loudly.

Artemis and Hermes were standing, whistling and applauding. The cupids were now chanting Aphrodite’s name; the muses were cheering. Alone by the back wall, Demeter looked on, her shrewd green eyes narrowed. Something tugged at Aphrodite’s conscience, the Goddess of Earth seemed too standoffish, too… something.

But as much as she was curious about what had gotten under Demeter’s normally calm and collected bonnet—unless her daughter was involved—Aphrodite focused on one person and one person alone. In the midst of it all stood Athena, her face expressionless.

Ah, yes, hello choices, meet consequences.

Aphrodite had just confessed her feelings for Athena to the entire world, and she’d also made a very public choice to not pursue said feelings. Because nobody ruled her life anymore.

Except, it did not feel like a victory. There was no exultation within her. She had won a war. She had shed her shackles. Andyet all she wanted was to lean in and be held by strong arms and tuck her face into the warmth of that neck and inhale the maddeningly elusive scent. And be comforted again. Be loved. Be wanted. Be devoured. She wanted so much.

And as her fate hung in balance between freedom and love right in front of her eyes, Athena turned around and left the amphitheater. Quietly and unobtrusively, as she did all things, she removed herself from the choices available to Aphrodite, and the equilibrium was gone. She was free. And she was Love. But she was alone.

She was wrong.

Aphrodite did not remember stepping off the stage. She did not remember all the congratulations and all the hugs and kisses and handshakes. She felt fragile and every touch was like a slap; she was sure she’d end up black and blue. Tears threatened, and she blinked them away, desperate to disappear.

Then suddenly a pair of hands held hers, almost dragging her out, soon joined by another pair. She knew these two. She knew she was safe with them, despite what Sabine had pulled earlier with her perfect match arrow.

“Talk about unfair.”

She hadn’t realized she’d said it out loud until both Sabine and Abby stopped and stared at her. Then Abby, the more practical of the duo when it came to things that mattered, bless her, pivoted into the now-familiar janitor’s closet and shut the door behind them. It was a squeeze, but it felt oddly comfortable and she took solace in having been here with Athena.

Athena...