The Revelation (Pandora's Harem 1) A Reverse Harem Tale
Angelique Armae
Prologue
Mount Olympus
The Day Zeus Ordered the Gods to Create Woman
Standing in the great hall, I clutch the clay jar—a gift from Zeus celebrating my creation—to my chest. The painted container holds many things from what I’ve been told, but specifics are not for my knowledge. Though I wish they were. The suspense of not knowing what lurks inside, is killing me.
I sigh and stare ahead.
A shadow looms on the far wall as Zeus, dressed in a long, white chiton with a gold belt at his waist and a thunderbolt strapped to his side, paces the room, the massive, dark form on the wall follows his every move.
Without looking away, I finger the jar’s lid, but refrain from lifting it. I have enough knowledge to know you don’t piss off mighty Zeus, so earning his wrath on the first day of my life is not what I intend to do. Yet, still, the jar calls to me. It even teases me by shifting shape and turning into a box, then back to a jar. It’s magickal. And oh, so, tempting.
I want to know what’s inside.
The lid vibrates against the vessel.
The jar is not making this easy, whatever it contains wants out. And I don’t blame it. Who could live pent up in a jar? Or a box?
The lid twists of its own volition.
I clamp my fingers over it’s sides, hold it down.
I now realize I don’t like secrets.
The jar grows cold.
And still.
I glance down at my beautiful gift, but only long enough to witness a tendril of energy from its now visible gold aura, snake its way through the gossamer fabric of my chiton, and make its way into my heart.
I gasp. I don’t know what that tendril of energy has just done. Will it stay with me? Will it leave me? Will it do other things to me? The gods didn’t inform me of the workings of such energies, only that they do exist.
Zeus clears his throat, gaining back my attention.
I redirect my gaze up to the mighty god, but say nothing.
He stares at me, his ominous glare peering directly down his large, straight nose. “Can I trust you to keep the jar sealed, Pandora?”
Of course, he can’t. “Yes.” Why the lie is so easy for me, I haven’t a clue. Then again, I’m only a few hours old, so between my newly formed emotions and brain—despite all the wisdom I’ve been given, including centuries of knowledge along with the basics like how to talk, walk, eat, even how to couple with opposite sex, though I’ve been told to remain chaste as that is one of my better qualities, but I don’t think I’ll maintain that virtue—there are still things I don’t understand. And considering the knowledge I do lack, who knows what I’m actually capable of doing and not doing? Plus, it’s not like I have any role models. I’m the world’s first female human, which doesn’t put me in the same category as the goddesses of Olympus. I’m immortal with various gifts, but god-status isn’t one of them. I’m the first of my kind.
“Are you certain about the jar?” Zeus is getting a bit testy.
I nod, but in my heart, know damn well the second he dispatches me from Olympus and my ass hits earth, I am so going to pop this jar’s lid. In fact, I think the mighty god knows what I’m going to do. It may even be the reason he made me, but since I have little to go on in that category, I’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.
Zeus folds his arms across his chest. The man is massive, all muscle and raw energy. Apparently, I have a thing for this because I’m finding him quite easy to look at. “If you open the jar,” Zeus says, “you’ll pay dearly for disobeying me.”
I’m not really sure I know what he means, but I decide it’s better to agree with him than to question him. Though I did hear from one of the goddesses who helped create me that sometimes disobedience was dealt with by a good smack on the butt, and I have to admit, getting a slap on the ass from the ruler of Olympus is a bit enticing. In the least, the thought stirs something deep inside me. “Understood.” Again, another lie.
Zeus raises an eyebrow, the questionable look crossing his face screams that he doesn’t believe me, but he says nothing more on the matter.
I remain standing in the hall.
A light wind kicks up and wraps my chiton closer to my body. Sheer white fabric brushes against my face as the top layer of the garment flutters upward in the breeze. My body feels all hot and tingly.
“Go fulfill your purpose,” Zeus says, his gaze still lingering on me.
My hair whips around my face as the wind increases. A jolt of heat courses through my veins, makes me feel as if I’m falling to pieces, millions of pieces. I spin, the wind now lifting my feet from the floor and twirling me like a tornado.
Colors flash before my eyes.
Lightning cracks around me.
In a flash, I’m gone from the great hall, spinning and falling my way to earth.
Immortality is mine, but I have the distinct feeling I’m not going to be in this one body for eternity.
Hopefully when the time comes for that transaction to take place, I’ll find a good host who can preserve the true nature of my soul. Until then, my only desire is finding out what’s inside Zeus’s damn jar…
Chapter 1