Free Love's Forge by Marie Medina

since it made her happy to share such things with mortals, to go back to the times they had been a part of the mortal world. She wondered what Zeus was doing. Was she giving him too little credit? She knew he was concerned for Ares too, but she couldn’t help making him the target of her frustration.
    He would let her. As surely as she knew he loved her, she knew he would let her blame him if she felt like it. She thought of him with a sad smile, fading into the mists to go home to him.
    * * * *
    Hephaestus had tried to sleep, but he couldn’t. Now he roamed the halls of his underground home, thinking of Aphrodite. Had not giving in to him really meant more to Aphrodite than setting Ares free? Did that prove giving in to him would mean as much to her as he thought it would? Did it also show he was wrong about her feelings for Ares? She didn’t love Ares, but Hephaestus had been sure she still wanted him. Now he felt he’d been mistaken. Even if Aphrodite had been willing to sneak around behind Hephaestus’ back after saying she wanted them to try again, would she have done so with Alala in the picture? The more he considered it, the more certain he was it couldn’t be true. Aphrodite had had a rather interesting sort of one-night stand, as mortals called it, with Apollo while he and Alala were together. Even having been ignorant when it happened, Aphrodite had felt very guilty once the truth was out. She wouldn’t have tried anything with Ares now, no matter how much she wanted to, if only for Alala’s sake. And only a few days before Alala’s wedding to Ares, a wedding Aphrodite would be blessing? He shook his head.
    Someone had made a fool of him, and whoever it was had done a fantastic job. He recalled the look in Aphrodite’s eyes when she’d said no. Even trembling with desire and presented with an opportunity to set Ares free, she’d told him no. She’d been the one with enough control and sense to remind him what he actually wanted. She had, in a way, protected him. Did that mean her feelings had gone beyond caring? Would she completely give her heart to him sooner than he’d expected?
    He glanced down the passage that led to the room Ares was in. If he let Ares go, his mother and Zeus would leave them alone. Ares might demand something be done, but Hera could order him to do nothing. If they would all leave Hephaestus alone with Aphrodite, couldn’t he convince her to forgive him? She’d already said she wasn’t afraid. She’d even said she wasn’t angry. That might have changed after their last encounter, but if she knew he’d freed Ares, that might fade away. She might let him have the chance to persuade her he was exactly what she needed.
    He walked with purpose toward Ares’ prison. It had worked for Hades, hadn’t it? Getting Persephone away from all outside influences had given him the chance to woo her as he pleased. Hephaestus had once thought Persephone a whiny, spoiled child, but if that had ever been true Hades had definitely changed that. She was sweet and kind, and most importantly she seemed blissfully happy as queen of the Underworld. A fertility goddess finding her heart’s desire in the land of the dead? That was love. As much debate as there had been about what Hades had done, no one at that wedding could have denied how happy the couple was. Some people had been made for one another, and he knew Aphrodite had been made for him. The Fates had told him so. Whether their marriage was a true one or not, whether anyone else recognized it, he would never love another. He had placed that ring on her finger so she would never forget, even after she’d run away, how he felt about her.
    The ring gave him the power to summon her when he wanted to. Some nights she was pleasant, but others she was hostile. She’d gone back to Ares quickly when he refused to release her, and soon after that her son Eros had been born. Hephaestus knew the night it had happened. They’d fought, and she’d