A Wayward Arrow

Chapter Six: Loneliness

It had been two months since Psyche had come to the palace. Two months since she had ridden the winds of Zephyr and was taken by the god whom she had no name for. She had made peace with not knowing which god he was. Enjoying her new-found life where she had little worry and little care for anything other than what she wanted to do during the day. What book she wanted to read or what song she wanted to hear, or what time of day she wanted to wander through the garden. If she wanted anything, all she had to do was ask a servant or her husband and it was brought to her with the quickness one could expect from immortal, celestial beings.

At night she was never alone. Her husband would come be with her and while it was always revolving around them lying together as husband and wife, they often would speak about the things that used to trouble her mind when she was in the kingdom below. Woes and worries about mortal life that really didn't seem to bother her now. Philosophy, romance, theatrics. Just things, anything that came to her mind and they would talk about it. Even then, her husband barely spoke about the matters she did, it was often just Psyche speaking and him listening till she'd eventually fall asleep in his arms and woke up in the morning alone in her bed.

She had realized, however, as she was going through her daily ritual that the time had been simply going by really fast at first and now that it seemed the honeymoon stage of living in the enchanted palace was over, she was finding her days lonelier and longer. Waiting till night when she would not be left alone to her own devices and had someone else to speak to. While she could want for nothing, the only thing she wanted was company she didn't have during the day. She had also come to realize that she had been within the palace walls for a little over eight weeks.

Eight weeks and in that entire time she had not bled once or started her menses. The thoughts, of course, began to churn in her mind that she might be with child. It wouldn't have come to a surprise to her if that were the case. While she hadn't started any of the other symptoms her sisters had told her about, like the vomiting, she had found her breasts to be tender and more swollen than before and just a general feeling of being unwell which she had simply chalked up to too much wine with her supper at night or not being used to so much sex as it were.

The more she thought about being pregnant, the more the loneliness began to set in. She wanted her sisters here with her. Wanted to speak to them to know what she should expect now that she was most likely carrying a child. How everyone had mourned her coming up to the mountain to say their goodbyes and how she hadn't spoken to any of them since then. She couldn't bare the thought of what they must have been thinking. What they probably thought happened to her.

That night she waited till after the god had finished with their coupling. It had been a sweet night together with the god on top of her. Unlike the first night, he had been more prone towards a rhythm that had his hips driving in and out of her in a wicked way that brought her towards the edge and kept her there till he exhausted himself and, as he came, it would tumble her over the edge. Then, they lay in bed with him on top of her. Just resting his head against her chest. They laid like this for a while as they both came down. She was in her own mind, though, trying to think of the best way to ask him. Surely he would not allow anyone up here, let alone her family, but-

"Is there any way for me to go back to my Kingdom?"

Just the very question had the god sitting up, pulling free from her as he seemed to study her in the darkness. While she couldn't see him, she knew there was a deep hurt and anger that seemed to spread over him. She could feel it radiating from him in the shadows.

"Are you not happy with me, Psyche?" He asked, the sound of his hurt was found in his voice.

"No, it's not that. I am very happy here with you and I just~ I just miss my family and with the way things were left they all must think the worst. They were told horrible things about the god I was to marry and though I know them not to be true, they don't. Please, I just want to speak to my sisters."

The god sighed, lying back down upon the bed beside her. "Know if you call upon your sisters and you bring them up to my palace that they will see that you are, indeed, fine. They will no longer worry about your well-being. But if I allow this, you must promise me that you will not listen to their idle gossip, that you will not let their words sway you into thinking about the things you know are not true, promise me?"

"So you're saying I can bring my sisters to me?"

"Do you understand what I told you, Psyche?"

"Yes... Yes, I understand."

"Then you promise?"

"I promise."

"Then your sisters may come to stay with us for a short while."

With excitement, Psyche threw her arms around Eros and began to kiss him along the side of his face. She was almost too excited to wait till morning but she'd fall asleep all the same. When Psyche woke, she immediately began to get to work on her invitations. Sending them down to the Kingdoms where her sisters lived. Inviting them to the mountain top where they had left Psyche for the winds of Zephyr would also bring them up to the palace to stay with her for one week's time before they would be sent back to the mortal realm.

While she waited for her guests, Psyche took to making the place presentable. Not that it wasn't already, but for her sisters, everything had to be perfect. She'd speak out loud to the servants to make sure everything was freshly cleaned and the linen pressed in the extra rooms, so when her sisters came there wasn't a single thing out of place. Psyche even went through the garden to make sure that not even a single flower pedal was out of sorts. She'd make sure the enchanted palace was every bit as enchanted as it could be.

As the day came, Psyche would wait impatiently near the front entrance. Watching for any signs of the winds that would bring her sisters to her. She teetered from side to side and watched the skies and eventually she'd spot something off in the distance. They were here and as the winds brought them forward and set them down gently, Psyche ran out and greeted her elder sisters with hugs and kisses. The women laughed and cried, for it had felt like years since they had last embraced or spoke.

"We thought the worst!" Priscilla, the eldest spoke, holding her close to her chest. "We didn't know what to think when we got your letters."

"Look at you! You're all aglow. You don't look tortured at all." Maricela spoke next. "If I wouldn't have known any better I would say that you're with a child!"

The sisters all shared a knowing glance. "I missed you two and that is why I called for you. Please, come inside. The fire bowls will lead you to your rooms. Have a bath and then we can speak more at dinner. Meet me in the garden once you have cleaned yourself of the mortal world."

"Look at this place, you could get lost in here..." Maricela commented.

"Surely we too must have died," Priscilla retorted.

The sisters were just as awe-struck as Psyche had been when she first arrived and as Psyche led them in, she watched with a warm heart and excitement in her body as her sisters oohed and awed their way through the palace towards the rooms they would be staying in. She couldn't believe that her husband had allowed such a gift to transpire and she couldn't wait to show them more of the palace and to catch up with them about the pregnancy. She'd leave them to wash up after their trip and made her way to the garden to wait. All the while, unaware something terrible was growing between those two women she loved so dearly. For each step they took, more and more jealousy was brewing between them.