In what was perhaps a cruel twist of fate, the maiden he was destined to spend the rest of his life with, was in love with another. They were in love.
And to make matters worse, it was the husband of his own ex-lover. A cruel twist of fate indeed.
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Corrina was certainly right to say yes to being Hephaestius' mistress; after all, she'd spent the last few weeks languishing around his house, eating as she pleased, drinking as she pleased, and even staring at Hepahestius as she pleased. She'd sit with him in his workshop, staring dreamily at his muscles with every stroke he made, sharpening a sword or watching carefully as he hammered hot metal into his desired shape.
And he hadn't just made weapons. No, he had made Corrina some absolutely charming jewellery that she wore constantly. A small necklace with a tiny pendant displaying an anvil on it and a few golden rings, each displaying gaudily large jewels that had Corrinna kicking her feet slightly every time she looked at them. They were just so beautiful and so big.
Even now, as she watched him pour water on the hot metal to cool it down, she let out a louder than-intended "ah" in wonder as she stared at the freshly forged blade. "Can I see?" Her voice might have been quiet, but he seemed to pick up on her every word, granting her whatever she asked for, so much so that she couldn't help but want to do the same for him. Only he didn't ask for anything, so she couldn't do anything for him.
Hephaestus didn't say a word, only plodding over with heavy feet to her and presenting the blade to her wide-doe eyes so that she could admire his craftsmanship. Her watery eyes widened as she stared at the pure and beautiful craftsmanship. Hours and hours had gone into making this blade, and his hard work had certainly paid off. "What's it for?" She whispered as she reached a finger out to run it along the fancy patterns that had been carved into the blade.
Neither seemed to be paying attention to her finger as he finally spoke up. His voice was deep, and since he didn't often speak, it sounded as though it were the first time in years that he'd spoken every single time he spoke. "Ares commissioned it from me." He said with a scowl.
"What's that frown for? Do you not like Ares?"
"No, I do not. He's sleeping with my wife, after all." Was his only reply, and whatever Corrina had been expecting him to say, sleeping with his wife certainly wasn't it; the shock of it had her gaping and her finger slipping, slicing it on the sharp edge of the blade.
"Ouch." She whispered, staring down at the bright red that pooled from her fingers, dripping down onto the brand-new sword. "Oh no, your sword." Came Corrina's quiet voice, staring down at the now bloodstained sword.
But it seemed that Hephaestus didn't particularly care for the sword in the same way, for he was quick to drop it to the floor, not caring whether his hard work went down the drain and the sword was damaged. Instead, he dropped to one knee in front of the comfy chair that Corrinna lounged in and grasped her pale finger with his much darker hand. "Here," he muttered, "This will get rid of the bleeding."
And then he plunged her index finger into his mouth, sucking all of the blood from the cut. Neither said a word; instead, Corrina could only stare at him out of her wide, watery eyes, unable to tear her gaze from his lips around her finger. Then he looked up, drawing her bright green eyes to his dark ones, and Corrina couldn't help but wonder just how she had gone so long, simply staring into his eyes.
When she blinked, the spell was broken and Corrina was quick to rise from her seat, face flushed and eyes scanning the room, looking everywhere but him. "I...well...I...urm..." Every word seemed to be an attempt to make way for a sentence, but somehow, she couldn't think of any, and then she finally got out. "I have to go... do something.... very important." She muttered as she rushed from the room, her cheeks a bright pink as she continued to mutter under her breath as she ran about the huge house, trying her best to ignore the echoing baritone of his laugh that only seemed to follow her wherever she went.
When she found a door, she was quick to stop in her tracks, pressing her ear against it in an attempt to guess what was behind it. Perhaps a fancy room or another room that was filled with Haphestus' wife's beautiful yet expensive things. But when she pushed open the door, she was pleasantly surprised to press her bare feet against the marble floor and step further and further in so that she could admire the charming simplicity of the kitchen. It was white and clean, with cupboards full of whatever food one could desire; Corrina was sure that if she wanted something, she would be sure to find it in there somewhere. And when she came across flour, eggs and sugar, a brilliantly bright idea flitted through her mind. She should bake Haphestius a cake. Pretty pink cookies with colourful icing like she'd seen people have at Heather's birthday since she'd not been invited bitch. Sure, she didn't have instructions, but just how hard could it be?
She concentrated very hard as she placed the two eggs very carefully into the bowl; after all, she didn't want to crack the shell and ruin the cookies. Then she reached into the box of flour, grabbing a decently sized handful and sprinkled it in the bowl with the eggs. Cookies were sweet, so Corrina made sure to be especially generous with the sugar, ensuring that the eggs were entirely covered. She wasn't quite sure what else was supposed to go in the cakes, but she added a dash of goat's milk and a couple of pinches of baking powder just to be safe; then she pulled out a metal whisk and got to mixing. It was quite a job, making sure the eggs were sufficiently smashed for a real crunch and that they were all mixed in. It was a bit runnier than she thought it should be, so she added a couple handfuls of flour before pouring the mix onto a tray to make little circles, and then, she popped them over the fire, watching them cook carefully to make sure they wouldn't burn and when they started to turn black around the edges, she took them off the heat, carefully transferring them to a plate before leaving the kitchen.
Corrina was so excited to have Haphestus try them.
By the time she'd made her way to his workshop, she was sure that the smell of the cookies had made its way over to him and she was sure he'd be salivating at the smell by now.
"What's that smell?" He winced at the sight of her carrying a slightly burnt batch of cookies.
"Ah, sorry they got a bit burnt," Corrina grinned before offering him the plate. "I made you some cookies when I found a kitchen!"
She didn't say anything else, only stared at him in pure anticipation as she watched him warily eye the cookies before picking one up and taking a bite. "It's crunchy," he muttered, his brows furrowed.
"Yeah, that's the eggshell. Cookies are supposed to have a proper crunch!" Corrina grinned, but when she caught sight of the real wince, she realised he probably thought she was a poor cook. "Do you not like it?" She stared up at him, wide eyes filled with worry that she'd fed him pure shit. And so she reached up to the plate he was holding and muttered, "I'll try it."
"NO!" He exclaimed, "They're really good, I swear! I just don't want to share them."
"Oh? Okay!" That had a happy Corrina skipping off, ready to bake him more baked goods, not noticing that with a wince; Haphestus was quick to tip the rest of the cookies into the fire, wincing at the sight of them burning.
