‘Must be nice,’ muttered Enyo.
‘I mean, I think I know where I could find more of these,’ said Perseus. ‘Ideally you’d like one each? Or more than one?’
The shift in the sisters’ mood was unmistakable. This silence dripped with hope.
‘More than one?’ asked Deino at last.
‘Each?’ said Pemphredo.
‘Some people have more than one tooth,’ said Perseus. ‘It makes it easier to chew, I think.’
‘It must do,’ said Enyo.
‘More than one,’ said Pemphredo. ‘Each. And eyes the same.’ The other two nodded.
‘That’s right,’ said Deino. ‘Two eyes each, and as many teeth as you can find.’
‘I feel confident about finding the teeth for you ladies,’ Perseus said. ‘But I don’t know if I can manage the eyes.’
‘If you don’t,’ Enyo said, calmly, ‘Deino will kill you and I will take back the tooth and gnaw the flesh from your bones.’
‘Please,’ said Perseus. ‘I want to find you more eyes, and I will if I can. But without the original eye I wouldn’t know exactly what size I was looking for. There’s no point my bringing you eyes that don’t fit, is there?’
‘Give him the eye,’ said Pemphredo.
‘No,’ said Deino. ‘You can give it to him when it’s your turn.’
‘I never get a turn. And if you give him the eye, we won’t need turns.’
‘She’s right,’ said Enyo. ‘We would never have to share again.’
There was silence.
‘Very well,’ said Deino. ‘But if he comes back with eyes that are too small and fall out, it’s still my turn. Agreed?’
‘Yes,’ said Enyo.
‘Yes,’ said Pemphredo.
Perseus managed not to retch as he heard the jellied scoop of an eye being pulled from its socket. Deino held it out to him, and he took it from her. It was not the slimy texture that was its most revolting feature, he would remember in later years, but the warmth.
‘There’s only one more question, and then I will go and find what you need,’ said Perseus. ‘I know you could tell me when I come back, but I’m worried that in the happy excitement of new eyes, and teeth, I might forget to ask.’
‘What is it?’ said Deino.
‘I need your help with my other quest,’ he said. ‘The search for a Gorgon’s head.’
‘To save his mother,’ Enyo said. ‘From death.’
‘Was it death?’ asked Pemphredo.
‘Marriage,’ said Perseus.
Pemphredo shrugged.
‘You’ll need what the nymphs have,’ said Deino.
‘The Gorgons are our sisters!’ Enyo cried. ‘Don’t tell him that.’
‘When did we last see them?’ asked Deino. ‘When did they last offer to find us a new tooth or an eye each? Each!’
‘She’s right,’ said Pemphredo. ‘The Hesperides can help you,’ she said.
‘And that’s all you can tell me?’ asked Perseus.
‘They have what you need,’ Enyo replied. ‘Now bring us our eyes and our teeth.’
But Perseus had already thrown them into the sea beneath their cave, and by the time they realized he would never return, the gods had taken him far away and their howls of anguish were lost in the sound of the waves and the wind.
Gorgoneion
You are not. You’re not still sympathizing with him. Why? No one asked him to touch the eye or the tooth. He asked to have them. He tricked the Graiai into handing them over. You saw that, did you? I suppose you thought it was clever. Clever Perseus using his wits to defeat the disgusting old women? Your own eyes aren’t all that, you know. Oh, but at least they’re safe inside your head. Well, lucky you. Would it kill you to be sympathetic about someone who isn’t as fortunate as you are? Would it? No. So perhaps when you’ve finished congratulating Perseus for his quick tricks, you might spare a moment to think about how the Graiai lived after he was gone.
Blind and hungry.
Athene
Athene could tell that something was wrong with Hephaestus, but she didn’t know what. Why was he standing in front of his forge with a strange smile on his face? Her request was not unusual. She wanted a new spear and a new shield.
‘Why are you smiling?’
‘Sorry,’ said Hephaestus. He looked away.
‘I didn’t say you had to apologize,’ she said. ‘I asked you why you were smiling.’
‘I’m happy to see you,’ he replied.
Athene thought about this. ‘I see. And you’ll make the spear?’
‘Of course, it would be an honour,’ he said.
‘Good,’ she said, assuming he had finished. But as she spoke he opened his mouth again and said, ‘I was speaking to your uncle.’
‘Which one?’
‘Poseidon.’
‘Why?’
‘He was offering me some advice,’ Hephaestus said. ‘You could sit down, if you wanted to.’ He gestured at the broad stump of a tree, which had long ago been blasted to oblivion by Zeus. Hephaestus had carved it into a seat – a delicate pattern of leaves etched into its back – though Athene had never seen anyone here except him and he never sat on it.
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘To test it,’ he said. ‘I’d like to know if you find it comfortable.’
She nodded, and walked over to the tree, which bore no trace of its blackened self. She sat on the gentle curve and leaned into the back. ‘It’s very comfortable,’ she said.
‘I made it for you,’ he replied. Athene was growing bored of asking him why he kept saying and doing such odd things, so she decided to ignore this. She had never made any request for a chair. ‘Would you like to know what Poseidon was advising me to do?’
Athene thought for a moment. ‘Not really,’ she said.
Hephaestus limped towards her. ‘I’d like to tell you,’ he said.
‘I don’t know why you ask me what I’d like if you aren’t going to listen to the answer.’
‘I’m sorry.’ The blacksmith took another step closer. ‘I was asking you as a way of introducing the subject. Because I didn’t want to just tell you what he said.’
‘Did he tell you to make me a wooden chair?’ she asked. ‘Because he might not have been giving you the best advice.’ Hephaestus now stood in front of her and looked fondly at his handiwork.
‘There’s room for both of us,’ he said. ‘Look.’ He spun awkwardly on his good ankle and sat down heavily beside her. Athene was beginning to wish she had asked another blacksmith, even a mortal one, to make her weapons. Hephaestus didn’t normally behave like this and she didn’t like it. She shifted away from him.
‘Don’t run away,’ he said. ‘Please.’
‘I’m not running anywhere. I’m moving because you’re sitting so close that your hip was touching mine and I didn’t like it.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Can I tell you about Poseidon?’
‘Will it take long?’ she asked.