Destined (15 page)

“Thank you, Alexa,” I finally said. “Not for this, I mean,” and I gestured to my face and body with a circling motion. “But for being so nice. Today was supposed to be the worst imaginable day of my life … granted, it could still end that way, but … What I mean is, you’ve made a bad day better.
Really
better. And I might not be here tomorrow to thank you, so … thanks.”

“What do you mean you might not be here tomorrow?” she gasped. “You’re not going to run away are you?”

I let out a nervous laugh. “I hadn’t figured I’d live long enough to have a chance to run,” I said, as I picked at the skin around my fingernails.
 

Alexa sighed in a way that I knew would’ve been accompanied by an eye roll if I could’ve seen her. Then she wrapped her soft, invisible arms around me.

“Psyche,” she said, “you believed me when I told you this palace was just built for you, right?”

I thought for a moment before answering. “Yes.”

“Then please,
please
, believe me when I tell you that you worry too much. The truest thing I could ever tell you is that he loves you with all his heart — all his being. No harm will ever come to you here. Not from him.”

Nervous laughter played from my lips as I wrung my hands together. He didn’t even know me yet - how could he love me? As badly as I wanted to trust Alexa, the idea was absurd.
 

I stared out the window and saw the sun beginning to set below the tree line. Closing my eyes, I took in a long, deep breath. Then I slowly exhaled. Alexa was waiting for me to answer.

“I believe you,” I whispered, finishing in my mind “that he won’t hurt me.” Not in a million years did I think a monster could love.

She hugged me again, tighter this time. “You’re just as wonderful as he said you would be.”
 

Now I was the one who rolled my eyes. She grabbed my hand and tugged at me to follow her out of the room.
 

“Wait. Where are we going now?”

“To get dinner, of course,” she answered. “You can’t meet him on an empty stomach.”

Chapter 18 - Eros

Eros paced deep in the forest near his new palace. The sun had already dipped below the horizon, leaving little light amongst the trees.

“Will you calm down, man?” Hermes said between bites of apple as he sprawled underneath an oak tree. “It worked, didn’t it? Apollo gave Darion your prophecy and Psyche is here.” He gestured with the half-eaten apple in the direction of the palace. “All you have left to do is go in there and meet her. Again.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” Eros snapped. “She doesn’t want to meet
me
.”

“Seriously? How can you be worried about something like that?” Hermes asked. “You can change that in a second with your arrows.”

“I won’t do that to her.” Eros paused his pacing to run his hands through his hair. “You don’t understand what it’s like. Being obsessed by love like this makes your soul feel like it’s — I don’t know, being crushed out of your body. I can’t think of anything but her.” Eros punched the oak. “I won’t make her suffer from this much love.”

“You’re a piece of work,” Hermes said, tossing the apple core to the ground as he hopped to his feet. “You’re so close to having everything you want and you’re not willing to seal the deal.”

“I will not use my arrows on her. End of discussion.”

Hermes slapped Eros’s shoulder. “Good luck dealing with a girl who thinks you’re a monster then. If it were me though, I’d use the gifts I was born with. Think about it.”

Hermes winked at Eros as he launched into the air.

“Where are you going? It’s not time yet. You can’t leave me here to wait by myself,” Eros called after him.
 

“You’ll be fine,” Hermes yelled back. “I have too much work to do to listen to you whine anymore. No one stopped dying just because Eros fell in love.”

Eros turned and kicked Hermes’s apple core, launching it deep into the trees. Then he sat under the oak to wait until it was time to meet Psyche.

Hopefully they wouldn’t have a replay of the last time he’d been her bedroom. He wasn’t sure he could handle it if she kicked him out now.

Chapter 19 - Psyche

The banquet hall would’ve been large enough to hold forty tables and couches, but only one grouping stood in the center. Chandeliers of hammered brass dangled from the ceiling and their thousands of candles danced light across every inch of the room. I paused before crossing the threshold, as if the enormity of it all might suck me in. Alexa nudged me forward to the dining couch.

Even though I couldn’t see anybody, the room pulsed with life. Tentatively, I reclined across the pillows. I wasn’t used to eating on a couch, since at my home they were reserved for men. But that’s where Alexa guided me, so that’s where I sat.

As I settled in, musicians began playing lyres and flutes. The songs were so much happier than the ones that’d been played during my procession up the hill that morning.
Had that really only been a few hours ago?

Plates of food and a goblet of wine floated down and landed on the square table in front of me. I recognized some traditional foods of welcome: slices of pomegranate, baskets of bread, honey and sesame seeds. But there was so much more. My invisible servants brought plate after plate of delicacies. As I ate, invisible tumblers swirled ribbons around the room in a hypnotic dance of color. I let the music and motion carry my tired brain away to place where I didn’t have to worry, or think, or pretend to be anyone but myself. Was this what relief felt like?
   

When I was already stuffed to the gills, a miniature cake danced toward me.

“Oh, I can’t eat another bite,” I protested.

“You’ve got to try this,” Alexa piped up right behind me. I’d been so engrossed in the food, music and dancing, I’d forgotten Alexa was still with me. “This cake is truly divine.”

Who was I to refuse dessert?
“If you insist,” I sighed, forking up a huge bite. The cake melted in my mouth. It was sweeter than honeysuckle and dripped with liquid caramel. I rolled my eyes as I indulged.
 

When only one bite of the tiny cake was left, I pushed it away. “I can’t eat anymore. I’m about to burst out of this dress,” I said, patting my full belly.

As I set the fork back on the plate, Alexa said, “There now. How’s that for an easy first night?”

“I suppose,” I agreed, “but it’s not over yet.
He
isn’t even here, or…” I lowered my voice, “is he invisible too?”

“No, he’s not invisible,” she assured me. “You’ll be able to tell when he arrives.”

I thought about her words for a minute. “That’s not the same thing as saying I’ll
see
him. You’re hiding something.”

“There you go, worrying again.” Alexa was dismissive, so I knew I was right.

“Don’t speak to me in riddles, Alexa. I need —”

She cut me off in a light voice, as if she hadn’t been listening to me at all. “So, I figure in the morning, I can give you a proper tour. You haven’t seen anything except your own suite, and I’m sure you’ll just love the gardens. Plus, I want to show you the library and —”

“Just stop.” My voice was so low and trembling, I barely heard it myself. “I can’t think about tomorrow. Not when I question whether the sun will even rise for me.”

“This again? I thought we settled this already.”

“Yeah well, maybe my mind can’t get past the bone-numbing fear quite so easily. All this food makes me feel like a sacrifical lamb, just being fattened up for slaughter or something.”

“Your mind is too poisoned against him,” Alexa told me softly. I felt her kneel in front of me and take my hands in hers. “Look around you. No girl in the history of Greece has ever been so well cared for. Can’t you see the love he put into creating this palace for you?”
 

Her words pleaded with me to open my mind. And I wanted to, but I was still so filled with doubt.

“But what if all this beauty is just a cover for monstrosity?”

“It’s not. Psyche, it’s not. Please gods, what will it take to convince you? Would you feel better knowing I’d take your “monster” in an instant if it were me he wanted? Because I would.”

I looked away from the spot I knew she occupied. Alexa had finally gotten through to me - a bit - but I still didn’t feel certain. How could I? We’d never even met before today. Was I just supposed to trust her now because she was the best hair and makeup artist in all of Greece?

Still, I wouldn’t reject something she so obviously wanted to her face. No point in being cruel.
  

“You’re right,” I finally said. “When will he be here?”

Alexa sighed with relief. “Soon, soon.” She pulled me off the couch and hurried me down the hall. “We’ve got to get you touched up before he comes.”

We wound back through the maze of halls and crossed into my room. The fireplace had been lit while I was at dinner, filling the room with the intoxicating aroma of cedar. Alexa pulled me back to the vanity for my final touch-ups. She reapplied my lipstick and dusted my cheeks again with blush. “Better?” she asked, spinning me around.

Instead if being gold, the vanity and mirror were now silver. I turned back with wide-eyed astonishment. “How is this possible?” I asked Alexa, pointing at the changed table.

“Anything is possible here.”

She pulled me toward the edge of the bed and squeezed my hand to indicate I should sit. The bed bounced a little as she obviously sat down beside me. Alexa waited with me for him to arrive and I squeezed her hand so tightly I’m sure her fingers must’ve ached.

As he approached, I heard the flapping of wings, like an overgrown eagle. The sound dissolved as he landed at the edge of the open window. A rush of wind flew past me and extinguished the flames in the fireplace. Stars glowed behind him but his figure was encircled in black.

As he came in, Alexa released my hand.
How can she leave me now?
Behind me, I heard her close the door as she slipped out of the room.

Although I couldn’t see him, I was too scared to look away. I wanted to peek behind the darkened cloud surrounding his body so badly. I peered at him, trying to focus on any features I could define. I needed to see his face, however hideous. What was he hiding? Was he really as repulsive as the Pythia had warned?

Panic swelled through me as I stood to face my captor. I’m not sure how I kept my legs from following Alexa out the door. When I looked back over my shoulder to see how far it would be if I decided to make a run for it, he slipped in front of me and pulled my hands into his.