Free Seeds by M. M. Kin

glare that would have castrated a mortal.
         “I am not playing anything with you. And do not ever come after me again. Good day.”
         Even in his drunkenness, Zeus had the good sense to not go after his sister. However, he would not be so easily thwarted in his goals.
     
    o0o
     
         Summer cooled into autumn, and this year's harvest festival in Iasion's village was like nothing else. Nobody went hungry. The animals were fat and healthy; milk, cheese, and eggs were never sparse. The honey was plentiful and the berries from the forest around them plump and juicy, making for incredible jellies and fillings. Having more free time and energy meant the chance to develop talents and amusements.
         Digging into the hillside nearest the village turned up a motherlode of high-quality clay, needing only the addition of some water to make it into a thick, smooth substance that was easily molded into pottery and utensils, giving canvases for the newly developed artists to paint and decorate. Even though farming remained an integral part to everyone's lives, the miseries that had been left behind were replaced with opportunities to explore and appreciate the world around them.
         Hyalos's wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy, and three new rooms were added to the family house – one for Eurycleia so she could have a quiet place of her own amidst the bustle of her growing family, the second for the newborn and the other children that would follow, and the third for the storage of their more-than-ample harvest. Esthanes had found a passion for woodworking, so the local carpenter agreed to take him in as an apprentice. The temple to Demeter was taken down so that a bigger and better one could be put up in its place to honor the goddess that had come down to release them from their life of toil and misery.
         And Demeter and Iasion continued to come together in love. At first she feared his eyes might stray. She had even sent animals to spy on him while she was gone. But he had remained unerringly loyal to her, paying no notice to the village elders and their matchmaking attempts, and the not-so-subtle flirtations of the village maidens. She had him entirely to herself, and she loved it.
     
    o0o
     
         It had been three days since he sent his eagle to spy on his sister, and Zeus looked up as he heard the quiet swoosh of wings before the bird landed on the arm of his chair. Around them, the night air was quiet, the sky completely dark but for the presence of its myriad stars.
         His eagle was a silhouette in the darkness, and he idly stroked its back feathers.
         “Show me everything you have seen,” Zeus murmured. The creature looked up at him.
         Flashes of his sister rolling around in the grass with a dark-haired youth, his form tanned and muscled, flexing as Demeter ran her hands along his body as her delighted chuckles and his pleased groans rang through the air. The two of them walking side by side through a village, his sister dressed demurely in a mortal disguise, her hair covered by a brown scarf. The couple cuddled by a fire inside what was apparently the youth's house, feeding her berries as they lay nude on a blanket, obviously having just made love. Him laughing and chasing her through the partially harvested fields, and sitting with her under the shade of a tree.
         Oh ho . So that was Demeter's secret. She had a mortal lover and preferred him over a god. What did a mortal have that he lacked? His lovers were well aware of his virility and skill. Not even Hera could deny that he was a good lover, at least, when he focused on her desires instead of simply gratifying himself. And the married women who willingly let him woo them often told him that he put their husbands to shame. It certainly didn't hurt that he was rather nicely endowed...
         “You may go now.” With another whoosh , the eagle was off, leaving him alone in his private