Under the Light of your Eyes

By Juani Hernández

‘I will make your heart bleed for me…’

With those words, Aglaea announced Teuthras’ destiny; a bet that challenged her to seduce the body and heart of that man with the only objective of feeding her feminine vanity.

The young lady thought it easy; she wasn’t Aphrodite’s priestess in vain, she wasn’t like any other priestess. Aglaea was one of the three Charities, and not only did she have the deity in her favour, but she was also the worshippers’ favourite, who came to the temple to demand her services and her body to dedicate their offerings to the goddess, the city’s protector. Aglaea knew she was beautiful, wished by men… and the winner of that bet.

However, Fate wanted Teuthras to be the one who wouldn’t fall under the spell of the beauty and sensuality of the priestess. And so, what first started as a game, became a real challenge, not only for Aglaea but for both of them; and it would inexorably change the direction of their lives forever.

Under the light of your eyes… A story that is full of eroticism, passion, and love capable of breaking the barriers of any divine or mortal plan.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Juani Hernández
• Release date: Sep 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781071567326

Book preview

Chapter 1

Aphrodite's screams were heard all over Mount Acrocorinth. Aglaea and Euphrosyne lifted their gaze from the embroidery they were working on and searched the eyes of the rest of their partners, whose surprise hardly lasted a few seconds and then returned to their duty. They were working on the new peplum dress that the goddess was going to wear in a couple of weeks in Aphrodisias' festival, organized in her honour at the beginning of summer.

The two young females, although the indifference from the rest, let go of the tunic and went to the garden, though before that, they diverted themselves to the kitchen to pick up some pots. The time they had spent at the goddess' service had taught them to comprehend how unpredictable her mood could be, such as ways to calm her rage, one of them being to delight her with a bit of freshly harvested nectar and ambrosia.

As they entered the kitchen, the servants who were there stopped their duties, bowing their heads and putting their hands on their backs with a servile attitude.

‘Continue,’ Aglaea ordered to them, shaking her hand with a disdainful gesture.

After picking up what they had gone to look for, they left the building that the goddess used as a residence when she visited Earth, and they went to the temple, to the majestic gardens that were on the back. They were for Aphrodite's private use, as a reconciliation gift from her husband, Hephaestus, after one of their frequent fights.

As they entered that small oasis, the girls came to a halt for an instant, assaulted by that delicious smell that could get any living being drunk, be it mundane or divine.

‘What do you think happened this time?’ Euphrosyne asked her partner, both immersed in their work.

‘Her lord Hephaestus came this morning,’ she reminded her.

‘And must have brought her the jewellery she will wear in Aphrodisias’!’ the other young girl added with excitement.

Aglaea put the pot over her head and looked at her with her lips frowned into a grimace.

‘The gemstones that he linked together are maroon,’ she replied with sarcasm.

‘By the gods...’ muttered Euphrosyne, looking at her with incredibility, ‘but the peplum we are making is fire red!’

‘I would say more like a blood-red, the blood that Hephaestus would have spilt if he hadn’t come around Mount Olympus by the time Aphrodite went running after him,’ she replied with mockery.

‘Daring... she could hear you,’ she repressed, although a wicked smile appeared on her lips.

‘You must admit that she had bad judgment’ continued Aglaea, returning to her duty with a lot of care. The flowers from which the nectar was collected were surrounded by sharp and poisonous thorns. ‘And he should know how important that festivity is for her. It’s going to be hard for her to forgive him.’

‘To a man like that, I would forgive him anything, no matter if he was a mere mortal,’ her friend whispered with a sly giggle.

Aglaea gave her a very fake reproving look, for she thought the same...the same each priestess and servant who had had the honour of meeting him during the frequent visits he paid to his wife during the seasons that Aphrodite stayed there.

For many, it was strange that the most beautiful of deities had accepted him as a partner because, among all the gods, Hephaestus was the most imperfect since he suffered from a limp. However, this did not even take an ounce of his gallantry, leaving the defect in the background. With black hair and sharp features framed by a big beard that did not hide by any means his wild and manly appeal, what undoubtedly most stood out from him was his imposing aspect, for he was not in charge of the Forge of Gods in vain; working with Almighty Zeus’ lightning bolts was not a scornful task. Hard and outlined muscles created the map of his body, robust and strapping, with tanned and shiny skin, covered by a perfect patina that oozed bed desire from every side.

However, Aphrodite was the object of such attraction, and although the goddess loved his husband, her playful personality infuriated him. For Hephaestus’ bad luck, he loved her as well, and with certainty, at that instant, he was locked in his forge, devising a way to win her wife over.

‘Nevertheless, only a goddess like Aphrodite could get a specimen of such characteristics,’ Euphrosyne joked, making her partner laugh.

‘Don’t give us too little credit, will you?’ Aglaea refuted, replacing the clay container over her hip and putting her free hand on her waist in a seductive pose. ‘It’s no coincidence that we are part of the Charities, and being Aphrodite’s favourite priestesses should give us some sort of charm.’

‘Speak for yourself, since you are one of her favourites,’ she ignored the efforts of her friend, shaking a hand with indifference while the other continued working. ‘You must have been touched by the goddess of fortune. When you were born, you were given the gift of unique beauty and an exultant body. That alone attracts any man like a bee to the tastiest honey.’

And Aglaea delightedly admitted that Euphrosyne was right since she would have added to her description that her hair was golden like brilliant sunrays, and her eyes were as green as a fertile field.

‘You are beautiful too,’ she wanted to ingratiate herself with her, for it was true. Perhaps her dark hair and hazel eyes weren’t as pretty as hers, but her features were harmonious and delicate.

Euphrosyne pensively looked at her until she let go of a sigh in appreciation.

‘It is true,’ she alleged with a pinch of modesty, and both started laughing. ‘But do you think your charms are enough to win any man? Not just his body,’ she warned her, ‘but also his heart, same as our goddess did with her lord Hephaestus.’

‘Yes,’ she said with firmness, and her friend looked at her with a lot of scepticism.

‘You reply with quite the confidence,’ she provoked her, ‘Want to bet something?’

‘Who’s showing confidence now?’ she mocked her.

‘There will be some conditions,’ the brunette clarified, ‘I will choose the man in question, but you won’t be able to tell him who you are or it doesn’t count.’

Aglaea shook a hand, letting out a disrespectful puff.

‘Do you think I’m crazy enough to trust you?’ she replied grudgingly. ‘I bet it’s going to be some old geezer or a freak, or both,’ she added, scrutinizing her from top to bottom.

‘Hmm...no, the guy I’m thinking about is young and attractive,’ responded Euphrosyne, although laughing with malice, ‘and you’d have time until the Aphrodisia festival...less than two weeks,’ she added with a voice tone that pretended to sting her vanity. ‘You can’t say you have no leverage.’

‘And what would I get in return?’ she inquired, faking interest, although her friend’s smile was a clear demonstration of her lack of success.

‘I will cover your sacred fire guarding shifts for a month,’ she said undoubtedly.

‘A month?’ Aglaea cried out, opening her eyes wide.

Watching that the sacred fire didn’t go out was one of the most tedious tasks and one that took the most responsibility, under pain of death; it was assigned to the priestesses, and to be free from it for a month was a powerful temptation.

Suddenly, a bang reverberated from Aphrodite’s bedroom, and the young ladies looked at each other, both with fearful expressions.

‘I think she’s destroyed all the pots that she had within reach,’ Euphrosyne predicted.

‘Let’s bring her this for once,’ Aglaea suggested, and both of them went running to the residence.

They went through the entrance’s colonnade to the vast atrium. The luxurious white marble walls shone under the flames’ light that came from a line of golden torches that illuminated the different rooms of the residence. In between, followed green marble pedestals with little statues; most of them were representations of Aphrodite and Hephaestus.

‘Son of a one-eyed goat!’ the goddess continued with her harsh remarks, and both priestesses rushed into the corridor that took them to the rooms. 

When they arrived, they peaked from the doorstep but waited until Aphrodite noticed them, for they did not dare to pester her.

‘Aglaea, Euphrosyne, what are you doing at the door?’ she asked in a lousy manner, although she was moving both her hands, inviting them to come in.

‘Divine Aphrodite, we brought some nectar and ambrosia to...’

‘Take that away from here. I don’t want anything!’ she screamed, starting to wander around the room. Her blonde curls, tied into a loose bow, shook alongside her movements, just like the misty fabric of her light blue tunic that was the same colour as her eyes.

As the damsels knew her, they didn’t do what she ordered, and they put the pots on a small short table close to the divan, and then they moved out of the way.

‘Cyclops’ dropping,’ she continued muttering. ‘Look at this!’ She cried out, suddenly going to her dressing table, from where she took a box wrapped in velvet. With urgency, she reached the young ladies, showing it to them. Then, she walked in circles around the room a few more times and stopped in front of the small table, pouring herself some of the nectar. ‘Ummm, this is delicious... Have you seen what that faun’s head has brought me?’ She screamed, leaving the glass on the surface covered by enamel.

Both women looked at each other, trying to hide how dazzled they felt for those jewels that –never better said- were worthy of a goddess. It was an ensemble of a short necklace and gold earrings that had the shape of a beautiful cluster of grapes. The goldsmith’s engraving work was excellent, and each gemstone was the size of a redcurrant...and had its same colour. It was practically red, right? However, that ‘practically’ was what drove Aphrodite crazy.

Lying on her bed, that had a canopy, a piece of the fabric chosen for the priestesses to make the peplum dress was seen. It was of an intense, raw, penetrating red colour. Then, the goddess took it with anger and held it closer to them.

‘It’s not similar on the least!’ She continued, and in a way, she was right, because the beauty of the jewel was obfuscated since the shade was duller. ‘What most hurts me is that he knows how important this festival is to me,’ she suddenly said, slumping back into the divan with a feeling of defeat. The goddess accepted it and gave them a sad smile while she returned the glass.

‘He left being so angry,’ she added on the verge of tears, to then suddenly stand up, seething like a mad bull, as if her fury had resurged from the ashes like a phoenix. ‘Well, I don’t give a hoot, that way he’ll know who I am... Who did he think he was?’ She panted, starting to go around the luxurious room again. ‘And he’ll come back, I know he will,’ she added, trying to not sound worried, she even smiled, but that was more to cheer herself up rather than for her servants to see, ‘he always does... I know how to control this stubborn overgrown very well.’

Suddenly, her smile turned into an expression full of mischievousness. She poured herself more ambrosia and, sighing, she reached the priestesses who awaited her sitting on the broad divan in silence. Euphrosyne was the first who dared to speak.

‘Aren’t you scared that...he may not?’ she demanded in a low tone, afraid of feeding her anger.

‘Of course not,’ she cried out, stunned by her question. ‘Hephaestus is a man, and is immortal, but he’s a man after all. A smile, a bat of eyelashes...and I give myself away completely in our bed, and... By the bolts of Zeus! I am the goddess of love. If I wasn’t capable of keeping my husband, I wouldn’t be worthy of being recognized as such.’

Then, she walked up to the dresser, searching for her image in the reflection of the mirror. She lifted her hand to her face and outlined her cheekbone with the tip of her fingers.

‘I seduced him with my beauty,’ she said with a quiet voice, halfway between justification and a lament. ‘And I transformed my body into the prison in which he will forever remain captive...for me...mine.’ She recited with passion. ‘In love and war, everything is allowed, and these are my weapons. I don’t regret using them, and you shouldn’t either.’ She said, turning to them.

‘We aren’t as beautiful as you, my goddess,’ Aglaea replied with despondency.

Aphrodite went back to the small table and took a little more of ambrosia, and then a full and radiant smile appeared on her face.

‘No woman is as beautiful as I am,’ she remarked with vanity, and the three women started laughing, although the deity’s facial expression quickly turned serious. ‘The lesson for today, my girls: it doesn’t matter how pretty you are, but what’s important is that you don’t forget who you are. Beauty conquers palaces, kingdoms, the Olympus... ask Hera,’ she joked, creating a giggle on her pupils, ‘and do you know why? They’re ruled by men. And there’s no greater doom for a male than a female who has the power of seducing him.

The ladies looked at each other, remembering the conversation they had just had in the gardens.

‘And now, I would like to have a bath to relax a bit,’ Aphrodite indicated them, putting a hand on her forehead. ‘The discussion with Hephaestus has given me a headache.’

‘We will immediately tell the servants,’ Aglaea responded, both stood up and bowed before leaving.

They quickly left the bedroom, but they hadn’t even taken four steps when Euphrosyne took her friend from the arm, making her stop abruptly.

‘What is it?’ Aglaea inquired, releasing herself from the grasp.

‘You still haven’t answered,’ she reminded her with a wicked smile, both returning to the path that led to the back of the residence, where the servants were.

‘I need more information about that man to make a decision,’ she justified.

‘I already told you that he’s gorgeous and young,’ she replied, provoking her and getting a destructive gaze from her partner. ‘That’s okay. He’s a shepherd.’

‘A shepherd?’ Aglaea blurted out, stopping in the middle of the corridor. ‘Have you lost your mind?’

‘What are you so scared of?’ She laughed in return. ‘You already heard Aphrodite. A beautiful woman can seduce kings and gods... Why wouldn’t you be able to do the same to an insignificant shepherd?’

Aglaea growled.

‘Or do you think that you aren’t beautiful enough to do it?’ She insisted with a sharp mocking tone.

Euphrosyne burst into laughter, and Aglaea smoothed her curly mane, feeling herself between the sword and the wall.

‘It will be two months,’ she finally decided. ‘You will beg me for two months.’

‘That’s if you win,’ Euphrosyne pointed out with superiority. ‘Because if you lose, you will be the one who will take my watching shifts,’ she added with malice.

‘I’m not losing,’ she muttered, gritting her teeth and returning to walk into the zone where the serving staff was.

That damn shepherd will be yours...in body and soul.

Chapter 2

The next day, after her morning prayers, Aglaea went back to her bedroom and dressed up for her date with the shepherd, which he didn’t know of. She chose one of her best chitons; it had a snowy fabric and was so vaporous that with the most minimal effort, it let others guess her body curves, which she defined even more when she put on a belt. She tied the tunic with a golden brooch to only one of her shoulders, letting the oblique cleavage highlight the roundness of her breasts. She pinned her hair back, though allowing her long and light curls fell in a cascade over her nape and adorned it with a diadem that was also golden, the same shade as her sandals. To finish off, she put a few drops of orange blossom essence on her neck, under her ear, just on the part where her pulse was the most evident, trusting that the heat of her blood would strengthen the aroma.

She got up from the dresser and looked at herself in the mirror; she was ready.

Trying not to let anyone realize of her absence, she left the walled precinct to go through the woods to the stream that started in Mount Klenia, and that bordered Corinth’s city. At its base, in the clearing, the current widened until it formed into what seemed a lagoon; according to what Euphrosyne had said, Teuthras -the shepherd- usually rested some while his sheep drank water.

Aglaea tried to worm out of her friend how she knew about the habits of that man, but she decisively denied replying to her, alleging that such information could give her the hints that could help her win the bet.

A tingling of anticipation ran through all her body as she walked, wondering what she’d find. Young and attractive, Euphrosyne had reassured, and if he wasn’t, by the gods would those two months of shift cover become a year.

Suddenly, while she bordered the stream, she heard some sounds at the distance, sheep bleating, and she knew she had arrived at her destination. She stopped and decided to go around the clearing, hiding in between the trees. She wanted to see Teuthras, she wanted to know how he was before he was aware of her presence. She went a little further. The river had already transformed into a lagoon there, and the sheep grazed comfortably at the shore. In that same place, close to the riverbank, a pile of rocks rose into a slight promontory. And there he was.

A long breath came out from Aglaea’s throat, and she hid behind a tree, afraid of being found. With her back fixed to the trunk and a hand over her chest, she tried to calm the rhythm of her respiration that was suddenly agitated. Naturally, Euphrosyne had been frugal and unfair in his description, for ‘handsome’ was not the adequate epithet to such a beautiful man who could comfortably live in Olympus.

While he was sitting on a rock, he enjoyed the futile pleasure of tasting an orange, having a knife on his hand. His hair was of a strange golden ashen colour, messy with smooth waves, and he had a beard, which highlighted his manly features. His eyes were lost in the lagoon, so she could only enjoy watching him from sideways, straight nose, angular cheekbones, thick and appealing lips, and a strong chin that gave him his most virile charm. His short sleeveless tunic revealed toned legs covered with a thin layer of light fuzz, and his strong fibrous arms were riddled with rounded muscles that contracted and stretched while he was eating that orange. Oh, to be that fruit... She watched him insert the last piece in his mouth and started to lick his fingers, which made Aglaea moan when a rash of desire made her stomach turn. It definitely wouldn’t be a sacrifice to seduce him, and not only would she get the satisfaction of being free from two months’ worth of shifts, but she would also enjoy that body that had transformed into a very appealing reward.

She had arrived there without a plan, especially since she didn’t know what she was going to find, but at that moment, she didn’t have any doubts. She walked many steps away, looking for a tree that was closer to the riverbank, and she took off her chiton and her sandals, convinced that the time she wasted to look beautiful was worth it. After all, was there anything more attractive to a man than the naked body of a woman?

Then, she went to the lagoon, and started to walk, getting inside the water, looking for the perfect spot to swim, and to show him her body. Although she was dissimulating, she would give the shepherd slanted looks, but he seemed impassible on his throne made out of rocks. The water was starting to cover her breasts, and her plan kept being infructuous, for that man was not perturbed.

Aglaea decided to go further and started to swim where his vision seemed to be focused, in the deepest part; she ended up in front of him, without any apparent result. Teuthras’ attitude was wreaking havoc upon the Charity, for having a naked woman walk in front of his eyes was not supposed to be something that happened to him every day, and she was hoping that at least he would bother to look at her. Or perhaps he was used to having any female he wanted at his mercy; such thought made her growl with anger.

She was about to give up when suddenly the muscles of one of her legs tensed in a way that she couldn’t move. She let out a scream that reflected the intense pain she was feeling and started to wave her arms with nervousness because she felt her leg’s immobility make her sink to the bottom of the lagoon without remedy.

‘Help!’ She started to shout, waiting for that man, who definitely seemed to be