Calliope - In The Arms Of Morpheus

Chapter 25

The proaulia, the days of fasting and offering to the gods were over, and the gamos, the day of Calliope's wedding, had arrived. It was as bland as any other day.
Polihymnia had woken her for the ritual baths, and afterwards forced her to eat some bread and olives, while she braided her hair in silence. That was how they always were. She never said much. She just knew things. Calliope had seen it in her eyes. She knew of her pain. She also knew that there was nothing that could change it. She was Calliope's rock. Whenever Calliope felt, that she could not go through with this craziness, Poli had a hug. Then Calliope would be strong enough, to bear the hundreds of people flooding the palace to decorate it, bringing an abundance of food, flowers and wine, and the noise, the loss of privacy and the stares. The Muse is getting married. I wonder... and then they giggled behind their hands.
"Good Morning, dear Sister!" Thalia chimed from the door to her room. "How are you feeling on your big day?"
Calliope was too tired to speak. Too sober to breathe.
"Awww," Thalia dumped a big glittery pile of Erato's jewelry on the floor beside Calliope's feet, and gave her a big kiss, "you are nervous!"
Her bubbly sister knelt before her, and selected different bracelets from the pile, that also contained some kind of golden amulet, Calliope had never seen before.
"You shouldn't be nervous. Your groom is magnificent and experienced." Thalia slipped a bracelet on Calliope's arm.
"What do you mean by magnificent, exactly?"
"You know..." Thalia blushed. "Well-built, beautiful and well-hung."
"How do you know?"
Thalia blushed even more. "Well, Erato said that-" She clasped her mouth with her hands, wide-eyed. Then her hand slowly sunk. "I'm sorry," she whispered looking at Calliope's knees. "I thought you knew..."
Calliope looked up, out the window, where a raven sat on a far tree. She was sure her groom was not inexperienced. But she hadn't known about him and Erato. She should have guessed, though, by their familiarity.
Did it matter? No.
"Calliope, I am sooooo sorry." Thalia whispered.
Calliope looked at her, the wide eyes, the open mouth. Thalia only meant well. Calliope caressed her cheek. "I know. It's okay. We'll be okay. I want this. It's okay."
The raven fluttered to the windowsill and looked.
"Go now, Thaila. I'll see you at the ceremony."
She nodded and rose.
Once she was out, Polihymnia enfolded Calliope in her arms and hugged her to her chest.
"I know you want to protect your true love." Poli buried her face in Calliope's hair. "But you don't have to go through with this. You can leave right now, you know."
"I know." A tear slipped down her cheek. "I want this. I can do this. It has to be done!"
Polihymnia nodded, then placed the golden barrette in Calliope's hair.

****

Epithymiae slid from Erato's bed.
She did not know. She never suspected that Epithymiae was the cause for her condition. She was perfect for his experiment. She wanted so much. And they desired knowing how far a human could go with their wants. They'd done everything that was possible in the bedroom, and tonight, they were going to find out, how far she was truly willing to go. Ah, the delights of a true orgy...
"Darling, please be so kind as to hand me that bracelet over there." They asked her and pointed to their snake-bracelet on a small table beside her bed. And where had they left the golden saculum? Must be safely with Erato's jewelry.
Erato handed the bracelet to them wordlessly, a sign that something was bothering her. She's missed an opportunity to pull them back to bed. "What is it, honey? You worried about today?" Epithymiae said, already going in their mind over the guest list, sorting them into fuckable and non-fuckable.
"Yes, I worry." Erato sighed.
What a peculiar answer. She knew that they had their little bride under control.
"Terpsichore is acting up." She rolled over and let the sheet slip from her body. "I worry that she is not going to play her lyre during the reception."
"Why wouldn't she?" Epithymiae arranged Abbadon like a bracelet around their finger, coiled him over the back of their hand and wrapped him up their forearm.
"Something about inspiring others to dance, but no love for her." Erato rolled around and began to massage her breasts, knowing full well that this would usually make them come back for second helpings.
Not today.
"Don't worry, she'll come around or you'll just make her." Epithymiae looped their zoster around their body, then arranged the pleats around their waist. "You know, siblings. My brother also thinks he is better and wiser than anyone else. They need to be shown their place, from time to time. Taught who's the most powerful."
It was not about what people dreamed, it was about what they desired.
Erato slipped from the bed, knelt before them and started arranging pleats too, her slightly parted lips just at the right height of their crotch. But today, she had nothing alluring.
Today, Epithymiae desired to fuck another little muse. And show his little brother who was the most powerful: the Dreamer, always so high an mighty with his usual, "Oi hav sooooo much iiiimportant tasks!" Or the one, who inspired true change in the waking world with the use of tangible desire.

(Will Morpheus arrive at the weding on time? I can spoiler this: he's weakened from the dreambuilding-session, thus unable to materialize on a whim in Greece. If you want to find out, please vote for this chapter, then come back tomorrow, once then next chapter is published.)