tence of her
explanation. "The--the Goddess?" he said faintly.

"Certainly," the High Priestess said. "Else why would I give you
audience? I am not promiscuous in my dealings with the lay world."

"I'm sure," Forrester said respectfully.

The High Priestess looked at him sardonically. "Of course you are," she
said. "However, the important thing is that our beloved Aphrodite has
selected you, William Forrester, for some high honor."

Forrester caught her word for the Goddess, and remembered, thanking his
lucky stars he hadn't had a chance to slip, that here in the Tower it
was protocol to refer to the Gods and Goddesses by their Greek names
alone.

"I don't suppose," he said tentatively, "that you have any idea just
what this--high honor is?"

"You, William Forrester," the High Priestess began, in some rage, "dare
to question--" Her tone changed. "Oh, well, I suppose I shouldn't become
angry with ... No." She shrugged, but her tone carried a little pique.
"Frankly, I don't know what the honor is."

"Well, then," Forrester said, his bearing perfectly calm, even though he
could feel his stomach sinking to ground level, "how do you know it's an
honor?" The thought that had crossed his mind was almost too horrible to
retain, but he had to say it. "Perhaps," he went on, "I've offended the
Gods in some unusual way--some way very offensive to them."

"Perhaps you have."

"And perhaps," Forrester said, "they've decided on some exquisite method
of punishing me. Something like the punishment they gave Tantalus when
he--"

"I know the ways of the Gods quite well, thank you," the High Priestess
said coolly. "And I can tell you that your fears have no justification."

"But--"

"Please," the High Priestess said, raising a hand. "If the Gods were to
punish you, they would simply have sent out a squad of Myrmidons to pick
you up, and that would have been the end of it."

"Perhaps not," Forrester said, in a voice that didn't sound at all like
his own to him. It sounded much too unconcerned. "Perhaps I have
offended only the Goddess herself." The idea sounded more plausible the
more he thought about it. "Certainly the All-Father would back up his
favorite Daughter in punishing a mortal."

"Certainly he would. There is no doubt of that. And still the Myrmidons
would have--"

"Not necessarily. You're well aware of the occasional arguments and
quarrels between the Gods."

"I am," the High Priestess said, not without iron