Destined

by Jessie Harrell

  Alexa had her arm around me in a heartbeat and Chara rushed to my side, but she only looked on.

  “Mathias,” Alexa called. “Come help!”

  “My head,” I moaned. Before I could even try to regain my balance, Mathias was in the courtyard and scooping me up into his arms.

  “I think she’s got a migraine,” Alexa explained. “Take her to her room so she can rest.”

  As Mathias carried me inside, I asked him to wait. “I have to say goodbye to my sister.”

  I turned as best I could from Mathias’s arms to look at her, but slammed my eyes again when the sunlight only increased the searing pain in my head. “Don’t leave yet. At least stay for lunch. Maybe it will go away.”

  “Unbelievable,” Chara muttered. “Fine. I’ll eat lunch and then I’m leaving. If you’re not up by then, I’ll come find you to say goodbye.”

  As Alexa hissed something at my sister, plates and goblets floated into the dining room and Mathias carted me away.

  He laid me carefully across my bed and propped my head and feet up with the silken pillows. Then he draped a scarf across my eyes to block out the light. “There you are. Get some rest and forget about all that nonsense.”

  “Um-hmm,” I mumbled in agreement.

  But when I was alone, a sudden darkness of panic flooded me. My chest compressed as my head reeled with a suffocating dizziness. What was I going to do? Who was I supposed to believe? I’d sided with Alexa in the courtyard, but was back to questioning my decision. As my mind swam with questions, and the aching in my head intensified, I drifted into a restless sleep.

  The next thing I knew, Chara was crouched beside my bed, urging me to wake up in a hushed whisper.

  “Psyche, I don’t have long. Alexa will come looking for me soon. Just listen to me.”

  I pushed up onto my elbows and blinked the sleep from my eyes. Chara’s intensity was frightening.

  “If you want to save yourself, then listen to me. Hide a knife and lantern under the bed. Tonight, after he’s asleep, you kill him. And be quick about it. A beast like him won’t give you a second chance to do what you need to do.”

  “I couldn’t possibly … I told you. He’s not like that.”

  “Just think about it. As mad as I am at you, I don’t want to see you dead. You understand me?”

  Just then the door flew open and pounded with a crash against the marble wall.

  “What are you doing in here?” Alexa demanded in a thundering tone I’d never heard from her before.

  Chara rose to her full height in a way I’m sure she meant to look proud and intimidating. “I was just telling my sister goodbye. And apologizing for upsetting her. Isn’t that right, Psyche?”

  I was shaking too badly to disagree. I nodded weakly since I didn’t want another clash breaking out around me.

  “Well, you should get some rest then. You’ll need your strength.” Chara’s eyes bore into mine as she looked down at me. She was too tall, too imposing, looking at me that way. I wanted to pull the covers over my head and hide.

  I wanted her to leave so the pounding in my brain would leave too.

  “Travel safely,” I said, waving a half-hearted goodbye.

  Alexa closed my door again after Chara left and I flopped back into my pillows. I was so tired. And confused.

  And achy.

  I stared up at my ceiling and wondered if I was coming down with the flu. I remembered the terrible shudders and retching I’d had a few years ago and it was miserable. If Father was feeling this sick — Father! I still didn’t know what was wrong with him. That was the whole reason I really needed my sister to come in the first place.

  Clambering out of bed, I hurried down the hall to catch Chara before she left. I was just rounding the corner into the entrance hall when I stopped dead in my tracks.

  Standing at the gilded entrance doors, saying goodbye to my sister, was a perky-looking girl. Her dress was the sparkling blue-green color of the river where it meets the sea, and her amber hair flowed like rippling waves down her back. I would’ve known her voice anywhere. Alexa.

  I backed into the hall to stay out of sight and listened. “So you see,” Alexa was saying, “it’s really better for Psyche that she not be able to see us. We’re not sure she could handle it all.”

  My sister nodded and smiled knowingly.

  What had Alexa just told her about me? How could she let my sistersee her but hide herself from me? If Alexa had lied to me about it being bad luck to see a nymph, what else was she lying about?

  Just then I had a sickening thought. What if everything I thought was true, wasn’t? The architecture could be an elaborate ruse to confuse me. My new friend a spy to mislead me. Maybe the only truth was what my sister had been trying to tell me after all.

  How stupid had I been?

  The clang of the front door pushing closed jolted me back. I couldn’t let Alexa see me here. If I had any chance of surviving, she couldn’t know what I’d just overheard.

  Chapter 34 - Eros

  Eros not only missed his chance to watch Psyche and her sister, but he wasted three otherwise perfectly good hours of his life listening to Iris chatter away in meaningless babble. His stomach nearly lurched when she pursed her thin lips together and batted her eyelashes in obvious hopes of receiving a kiss after Council. But Eros dropped Iris at her door, giving her only a quick, “See you at the next meeting,” before launching himself back toward his Olympian palace.

  Eros tore through the door and darted to his couch, perching on the edge. With his fingers tented together, he started scanning.

  A swirl of purple mixed with cloud caught his attention first. Favonius was carrying Chara back up the mountain. Eros didn’t know whether to be relieved that she was gone or angry that he’d missed the entire visit.

  Before he could decide, his thoughts returned to Psyche. How had she held up?

  Eros scanned through the palace courtyard and gardens. No Psyche. He searched the dining room and library with no luck either. He squeezed his fingertips more tightly together. Finally, he checked her bedroom, and there she was. He hadn’t thought to find her there since it was the middle of the day. But now, his near-panic at not immediately finding her seemed foolish. She’d shown him just a few days ago that he didn’t need to worry about her going missing.

  Convinced that Psyche was asleep, Eros ignored the sunshine and flew down to his palace to find Alexa.

  “Well,” he whispered when he found her, “tell me what happened.”

  “Ack!” Alexa started, poking herself with her sewing needle hard enough to draw blood. “Look what you made me do!” Alexa stuck the wounded finger in her mouth. “Donth sneakth up on people,” she said.

  Eros let out a long sigh. “Sorry. So what happened?”

  Alexa’s eyebrows pinched together. “Weren’t you watching?”

  “I had Council today,” Eros explained as he flopped into a leather-covered chair in the corner of Alexa’s room.

  “Well, you missed a show. Psyche’s sister tried to turn her against you, like you thought she would. Chara made her so upset she got a migrane even. But Psyche was strong. She changed the subject and she’ll be fine.”

  Eros exhaled the breath he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. “Is she okay?”

  “It was just the stress. I’m sure she’ll be better now that Chara’s gone.”

  “Guess that explains why she’s napping,” Eros mumbled.

  “Want to hear the really good part?” Alexa’s eyes were wide with excitement. “Psyche was already resting when Chara left, so as I was showing her out, I showed her me.” Her teeth sparkled from under her impish grin.

  “I appreciate the gesture, but I’m not sure she deserves what’s coming now.”

  “You don’t understand,” Alexa whined. “She kept calling you a monster. And she tried to get Psyche to leave with her. She definitely deserves whatever bad luck she gets.”

  Eros crunched his teeth a
s he thought. Chara tried to take his Psyche away. He’d rather be shot than lose her. Finally, he nodded. “You did the right thing.”

  Perhaps sensing his tension, Alexa turned solemn. “Favonius didn’t drop her on the way back up the cliff, did he? I wasn’t trying to kill her or anything.”

  “I know,” Eros assured her. “And no, I saw Chara make it back. But you know something is coming. No human ever escapes the bad luck that follows seeing a nymph.”

  Chapter 35 - Psyche

  After seeing Alexa and Chara together, I slipped back to my room and flung myself face down onto my bed. I had to bite my pillow to muffle the sobs that threatened to tear from my throat in screams. Like frozen glass breaking apart, my heart felt like it had splintered into a million jagged shards.

  It wasn’t even that I now knew Aris was a monster. That seemed inconsequential in comparison to knowing that whatever feelings I was starting to have for him, he’d manipulated. Those tender moment we’d shared, the sweet promises he’d planted like kisses on my soul, were all lies. He’d promised to love me always and I had believed him willingly. How had I not seen he was just lulling me into a false sense of security?

  I was suddenly so angry that I wished I could sink my fingernails into the baby-soft flesh on his perfect-feeling face and rip. To separate fistfuls of ringlets from his scalp. To dig below the black mask of perfection he wore and uncover the monster within.

  I felt like I’d been living in the world’s best dream for the past few days, only to wake up right where I fell asleep: trembling on this bed, waiting for a grotesque monster to come claim me.

  Only this time, I would be ready.

  Sitting up to wipe at my tears, I resolved that I’d had enough of simply sitting by and accepting the destiny life handed me. I would not offer up myself as a sacrifice, no matter what some stupid prophecy said.

  Of all things, why did my sister have to be right about this? I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the trial ahead.

  Chara had told me what to do. A lantern and a knife was all I needed. I could get a knife from the kitchen and I was pretty sure I’d seen a lantern in the library when Alexa gave me my official tour.

  Locating them would be the easy part. Retrieving them unnoticed in a house full of invisible servants would be more difficult.

  I pulled my legs up by my chest and hugged my arms around them. Resting my head on my knees, I tried to figure out how to get what I needed. The key would be distracting Alexa — the traitorous witch. As soon as she knew I was awake, she’d want to gossip about how awful my sister was and she wouldn’t leave. I’d scream if I had to listen to her badmouth Chara as if she was the evil one.

  Maybe I could tell her I’d thought of a new dress design and I wanted her to get started on it right away. That I wanted to surprise Aris with it as soon as possible. She might buy that, but it wouldn’t keep her far enough away. And if she needed any fabric, or thread, or whatever else goes into making a stupid dress, she might come out of her room and catch me sneaking around.

  I needed her out of the palace.

  And then it came to me.

  “Alexa,” I called, with acrid-laced sweetness. It was the best I could do.

  She was to my door with her usual immediacy.

  “Are you feeling better?” she asked with obvious concern. Faker.

  “You know what I’d really like?” I asked. “Some honey cake. Seeing my mother’s honey cake today made me crave it, but Chara almost ate it all.”

  “That’s easy enough. The chef can prepare as many loaves as you like.”

  I sighed and made a pouty grimace. “But that won’t be the same,” I whined. “Mother always uses fresh honey that she gets herself from the hives. Could you go get me some fresh … pleeeeeease?”

  “Seriously?”

  “It would mean so much to me. I’ll be your best friend.”

  She sighed. “Ordinarily I’d tell you you’re stuck with the honey we already have, but considering the day you’ve had…”

  I made a show of clapping my hands excitedly. “Thank you, Alexa! You’re the best. Take the chef with you to help. I don’t want you getting stung.”

  In truth, I hoped she’d get stung by a million pointed bees’ tails and her throat would swell closed. She was so much easier to hate than Aris. If it weren’t for her, I might never have trusted him in the first place.

  “Fine. Do you need anything before I leave?” she asked.

  I rolled my eyes and waved her away with a floppy gesture. “It’s not like I can’t manage on my own.”

  The door started to close behind Alexa, but then pushed open again. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay? Chara was really hard on you today. You’re not acting like yourself.”

  “I’m fine,” I said, a razor-sharp edge to my voice. “Can’t I just crave honey cake after having the worst migraine in the history of the planet?”

  “I’m sorry, Psyche. You just seem … never mind. I was worried, is all.”

  I glared up in her direction from under narrowed eyelids. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

  “Okay,” she said, deflated. “We’ll be back with the honey in a little bit. Maybe you should rest while we’re gone.” Alexa closed the door softly behind her.

  “Maybe you should mind your own business,” I grumbled, not even caring if she heard me or not.

  I gave Alexa and the chef about ten minutes to clear the palace before I slunk down the hall toward the kitchen. This wasn’t a room I’d been in yet, but at least I knew where it was. As I sized up the comparatively tiny room, with its jugs of wine, rows of spices and copper pots, I realized I had no idea where to look.

  As quietly as I could, I pulled open drawers in the massive cabinet, rifling the contents in search of a weapon. It didn’t take long to locate a gleamingly-sharp blade with a sturdy wooden handle. I wrapped my fingers slowly around the grip and held the knife up to get a feel for it in my hand. Could I really do this? Could I really murder someone?

  What choice did I have?

  After wrapping the knife in a linen kitchen towel, I slipped it under my belt, just over my hip. If I let my arm drop to my side, I could conceal my contraband well enough.

  Leaving the kitchen, I turned left and crossed through the dining room before winding down another long hall to the library. On the desk, right where I expected it to be, was the lantern I needed.

  As I rushed past the stools on my way to the desk, I tripped on an unseen foot. In my haste, I hadn’t noticed the floating scroll. It would’ve been an obvious clue that someone was reading there. My feet went out from under me as I fell forward. I knocked my head on the corner of the desk, whipping my head back. My neck crackled painfully from the jolt.

  “Psyche, are you all right?” Mathias asked as he tossed his scroll aside and collected me off the marble floor.

  I threw a protective hand over my injured right eye. A lump the size of a breaching whale felt like it was already pushing its way to the surface. I hadn’t planned on crying again that day, but the pain was overwhelming. I couldn’t help myself.

  “I’ll get you to your room,” Mathias promised. “Alexa! Alexa, bring some ice for Psyche,” he called.

  “Unnn…” I groaned. “Stop shouting.” His voice made my head throb. Again. “She’s not here. She’s getting me honey. I’ll be fine, just let me lay down.”

  As Mathias laid me gingerly across the bed, he said, “This is twice in one day, Miss Psyche. You ought to take it easier on yourself.”

  I turned my back to Mathias as I rolled onto my side, curling into a ball. “Thank you, Mathias. That will be all.”

  “Of course,” he said. I could hear him backing out of the room.

  “Oh, Mathias, wait,” I called, looking back over my shoulder in his direction. “I was trying to get the lantern out of the library when I fell. Can you bring it to me?”

  “Yes, ma’am. Do you mind my asking why you need it in here —
”

  “Yes,” I cut him off. “I do.”

  It wasn’t like me to be so abrupt, so rude. I hoped I wasn’t giving away too much of my plan. But I couldn’t help myself. As far as I was concerned, everyone in the house was in on the plan to fatten me for a human barbeque.

  Mathias returned and placed the lantern on my vanity. “Will here do?”

  “That’s fine.” I flipped my hand at the lamp before recovering my swollen eye. “Now please, my head is killing me. Make sure no one comes down here and bothers me.”