Je T'aime.

V. The Apple of Discord

"Jesus Christ, Mimi, not so tight!" Liesl exclaimed as I tugged on the laces of her theatrical costume.

"You're playing Aphrodite, aren't you?" I replied, pinning her gown closed. "I'm giving you an Aphrodite figure."

Leisl adjusted the pink roses and pearls that decorated her hair, which flowed down over her shoulders in frizzy, beachy curls. A shawl of pink silk was wrapped over her shoulders, pinned in place with a scallop shell. "Says the one playing a man."

I glanced down at my men's costume, my legs only being concealed by a flat linen skirt and a tiger pelt tied around my waist. "But I'm quite the dashing man, aren't I?" I posed, flexing my biceps.

Liesl rolled her eyes. "Hey, I'm the most beautiful one around here."

Marianna came to us adjusting her helmet atop a complex Grecian updo. She held a shield with a Medusa emblem, and a sword was sheathed on her belt. "Are you two almost ready?"

"I was born ready," Liesl replied.

Albert poked his head around from behind the burgundy curtain, which was heavy and filled with dust. "Ladies, you have about five minutes. I'm on for the prologue."

My sisters and I crowded around the curtains, taking turns poking our heads out and gazing into the crowd. The faces of the full theatre's audience were hidden in the darkness, their figures only illuminated by the stage lights. It was silent except for the occasional stray cough. "I think the entire court's here. That's not making me nervous at all," whispered Marianna.

"Oh, come on," replied Liesl. We've been doing these plays since the day we got out of diapers."

"That doesn't mean I can't be nervous," Marianna snapped back.

"Shh, you two!" I replied, pressing my index finger to my lips. "Albert's about to speak."

Albert stepped onto the stage, his written lines in his hand. His red coat, decorated with golden thread, glowed in the stage lights. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he began. "Tonight we have a wonderful show for you all. This is The Apple of Discord, a tale from Greece in the ancient times, many centuries ago. We hope you enjoy," after a round of applause, Albert began, "Long ago, in the mountains and valleys of Greece, there lived a king named Priam, who ruled over the land of Troy. He was blessed with many children. But his youngest son, Prince Paris, was different. His mother dreamt that the boy would bring the destruction of Troy. So, with heavy hearts, the King and Queen ordered that their infant son be beheaded at the base of Mount Ida. But the executioner, unable to kill the child, left him on the mountainside and hoped that the elements would kill the young prince. But, miraculously, the prince was found by a shepherd and was raised as his son. The shepherd named the boy Alexander."

Everyone who was playing a god or goddess rushed to the stage. Albert continued, "Meanwhile, in the palaces atop Mount Olympus, a great wedding was taking place between Thetis, a nymph, and Peleus, a mortal, the future parents of Achilles."

The lights focused on my siblings, all seated around the banquet table in the costumes of deities. Charles, as Zeus, stood from his seat from the table. He lifted his glass and declared, "May Peleus and Thetis have a long, happy, fruitful marriage!"

"Hear, hear!" replied the other gods, clinking their glasses in a cheer.

"Zeus, my endearing husband," said Amalia as Hera, taking Zeus's arm. "Was there someone we forgot to invite?"

"I don't believe so," replied the god of the sky.

"On the contrary!" exclaimed a winged goddess cloaked in darkness, portrayed by Johanna. She tossed a golden apple onto the table. "Exclude Eris, the goddess of discord, and watch what happens. This ought to be good." With those words, she faded back into the dark.

Hera picked up the apple and read its marking. "For the fairest. Surely this is for me. Who is more fair than the queen of the gods?"

Liesl, as Aphrodite, stood. "No, I am the goddess of beauty. The apple is for me."

Marianna as Athena stood and reached for the apple as well. "Nothing is fairer than wisdom. The apple is meant for me."

The three goddesses began to argue indecipherably, reaching for the apple. Zeus plucked the apple from Hera's hand.