A Wayward Arrow

Chapter Twelve: The Second Trial

Once the breakfast was made, Psyche would find some time to rest a little as the house ate. She'd find some semblance of peace in this dark expanse of sleep but it was short-lived, for as soon as the meals were eaten, she was being whipped awake by Aphrodite's personal handmaidens. As she woke, she was forced to clean up the dishes from that morning.

As she cleaned the dishes, she'd find the will to continue going. Knowing that each of these tasks were only more proof that she had for the goddess of her love and devotion to the god Eros. Surely, if all this torture that Aphrodite was putting her through would eventually pay off in way of favor. Either way, she would finish her cleaning and the chores set out before she came to stand before Aphrodite for her next task.

"I am here for the task you wish to ask of me." Psyche would speak as she stood before the goddess.

"Yes, your next task. I need you to go out to the meadow just outside my palace. It's across the river. There you will find some sheep. Not just any sheep, but beautiful golden sheep that belong to the mighty Helios. I want you to gather up some of their golden wool. Now go." The goddess would wave off Psyche.

The task seemed easy enough. Shearing some sheep, because the last task seemed impossible when the goddess set it, she knew there had to be some sort of catch. Either way, she gathered some shears and headed out of the palace. Making her way towards the river. Keeping her eyes peeled for anything that might make the task set before her seem more difficult than it should be.

Then, she got to the river. The river ripped and rolled violently against the banks as the wind rolled across the meadow. As Psyche got closer, she saw the small whirls beneath the surface, showing that even though the surface of the water seemed calm in spots when the wind wasn't blowing fast and hard, that there was some dangerous undertow just beneath it.

From across the river, she saw the golden sheep of Helios. They were in the meadow grazing peacefully despite the breeze and she wondered if she could manage to get across this dangerous river, then surely she could just shear one of the sheep and get enough wool to bring back to Aphrodite. Yes, she had to. For Eros, she had to cross this river.

She gathered up the rags of what was left of her peplos and started to make her way towards the waters. Her toes touched the shivering cool depths and before she could take any more of a plunge, she'd slip on the bank and begin to fall into the water. Dropping her shears along the way and nearly began to be dragged down by one of the undertows. She screamed out, grabbing hold of the bank with a fistful of dirt and grass and made her way back up onto the side. Finding the river much too dangerous.

"Even if you cross the river, the sheep will kill you." A voice called from next to where she lay, breathing heavily amongst the reeds.

"Who is that?"

"The reeds and the wind. We warned you the river was much too dangerous, but you tried anyway. You still wish you could try again?"

"I need the wool of the sheep. I need to bring it back to Aphrodite. There is no other way. I have to cross the river. What do you mean the sheep will kill me?"

"The sheep are most murderous. This river is here to keep them penned in the meadow. Helios set it that way. They lust for blood. Observe."

Psyche sat up, turning to watch the sheep. For the most part, they were simply being sheep. Bleating to each other and eating the grass and anything else that so much as crossed their path. They didn't seem murderous until a bird dove down too close into the meadow and one of the sheep instantly jumped up. Grabbing it with it's teeth and tossed it to the ground. From there the sheep swarmed around it, stomping and biting as they turned the little bird into a mess of blood and bones. They did not stop till the frenzy was over and the bird was unrecognizable.

"Oh wow..."

"They would do that to you as soon as they saw you. They are no ordinary sheep."

"But I can't turn back, I need that wool. I don't know what to do... I shouldn't be so surprised that she's designing these tasks in a way that might kill me. Not just by drowning, but if I made it over the river..."

Psyche sighed, pulling her knees up against her chest as she placed her face on her knees. She started to cry. Her heart ached for the time before all of this had happened. For when she could just wait till night and her Eros would come to her and everything was just perfect. Now here she was stuck at the edge of a river bank, to a river she could not cross because it was too dangerous, facing down sheep she could not shear because they were murderous and she had lost her shears.

"Observe, dear Psyche, the briars just on the other side of the meadow. See how much wool that has fallen off of the sheep has gathered there? Surely that is more than enough wool to appease the goddess. You must wait until the mid-afternoon sun has lulled the sheep to sleep. Us reeds will help with a lullaby to lure them there. Down the river to where the log has fallen you shall go, there you can cross safely."

"Thank you!"

"Rest, we will wake you when it is time."

Rest she did. Psyche laid back on the grass and fell asleep almost immediately beneath the warm rays of the sun shining directly overhead. Without the cracks of the whips of the handmaidens or of Aphrodite's jealous bitterness, she slept peacefully and soundly right there on the edge of the banks. The winds had softened and were more of a calming breeze against her body that cradled her more into the ethereal sleeping space. She didn't dream but she slept peacefully.

It was hours later that she felt the gentle stirring of the reeds against her face. Tickling her awake and she'd sit up to find the mid-afternoon sun was in position in the sky and the wind was gently blowing on the reeds in a way that created a gentle musical lullaby that even made Psyche want to go back to sleep. As she looked across the meadow, she saw the sheep were all falling asleep. This was definitely a miracle intervention of the gods or of pity on her pour soul, whatever it was, she quickly got up to her feet and went down the river a ways.

Just like the reeds had said, there was an overturned log. It wasn't big enough to really walk across but as she descended into the waters, the wind would blow gently again. Easing the water enough to show her that this side of the river was much lower then where she had tried to cross earlier. Psyche gathered up her peplos again. Pulling it up high enough she would not get water logged and as she descended, she grabbed hold of the log, finding it secure and even though the river tried desperately to pull her under, she had enough grip on the log to drag herself to the other side of the bank.

On the other side, the wind picked up again. Enough so, she could hear the lullaby and she gently took her steps around the sleeping sheep. Careful not to wake them. She crossed the meadow and to the briar and with as much haste as she could, with the pounding of her heart, she gathered up as much of the wool as she could, bundling it up into her bunched up peplos. She gathered up enough that one could spin into a ball of yarn and then she made her way back across the meadow.

The wind died down again and with the wool, she made her way back across the river much the same way that she had made her way across it. Carefully not to get sucked down underneath it and as soon as she made her way back to the other side of the bank, she'd look back to the meadow to see that the sheep had woken up and were now furiously stampeding around the meadow across a mouse that had woken one of them up. The mad bleating sounded in her ear, telling her that it could have been her instead of the mouse.

"Thank you again!" She called back to the reeds and, with the bundle of wool in one hand, she'd wave towards the river.

Psyche took her loot and made her way back to the palace. Smiling brightly as she found herself in front of Aphrodite. Going to her knees as she presented the golden wool before the goddess. She didn't even look at her face, but she could tell by the way the goddess's eyes tore into her that she was surprised to see that she had done her task. Aphrodite took the wool from her. Looking it over to see that it was indeed the golden wool of the Sheep of Helios.

"How did you manage... No... it does not matter. So what you did the second task? It took you long enough, didn't it? Well, girl, it is time for supper. I don't know why you are still here in front of me when food should be being prepared and on the feasting table."

"Right away, beloved Aphrodite!" Psyche had some pep to her. Surely she was earning her right to seek Eros.

Psyche took off into the kitchen with the two handmaidens. Even as they started their tasks of whipping and tearing her down with words, she could feel her heart soaring with anticipation. Knowing she had completed another task that Aphrodite had set out for her. She was waiting now for the woman to come to her to tell her when she could see her husband. She worked fast on the supper and when the feast was set out, she'd stand aside and refill the goblets with wine whenever the goddess beckoned.

However, as the food was eaten and the wine drunk, the Goddess would simply task her with clearing the plates and to take them back to the kitchen where she would begin to clean up after supper. She started to feel helpless again. Wondering how much more she would have to do before the goddess would see how devoted she was to Eros, how much more torture, how many more tasks she would have to do before she would allow her to speak with him.

It was well into the evening when Aphrodite came into the kitchen. Tossing a piece of stale bread onto the floor along with an old ratted and molding blanket. The pieces landed on the kitchen floor and Aphrodite would look at the woman with contempt and distaste.

"I have yet another task for you, but I think, since you did manage to get my wool for me, that I will allow you to rest for tonight. I don't have any beds for betrayers of gods, however. So I hope you enjoy sleeping on the cold kitchen floor instead. Goodnight, dear Psyche."

With that, Aphrodite would laugh and leave Psyche alone in the kitchen. Psyche sighed out, looking over the blanket as she thought about her bed back home. The one she shared with Eros almost every night and she'd wipe away a few tears before she sat down on the blanket and wrapped it around herself. Thankful at least for something to shield away the draft from her tattered and torn gown.

Her stomach growled something fierce and though stale bread was hardly something she wanted to eat, she was desperate to get some food, not just for her but for her baby as well. So she'd eat the piece of bread and then sat there. Eventually, she'd lay down on her side. Curled up in the blanket and would fall fast asleep. Exhaustion set in quickly and she would not move or rouse throughout the night.