I suddenly wilted with relief, feeling as though I had no bones in my legs to hold me up any longer.
I looked at the farce of the ceremony, at the laughing and jeering faces of those surrounding my precious love and a fire I’d never known before filled my belly.
I stood, and bellowed, “Enough!” And with a thunderous clap, they were all gone. Sent back to wherever they’d come from.
When the eyes of all were no longer on us, I unshackled the beast and returned it back to the size it’d once been. It scampered off with a quickness.
Now only Psyche and I remained.
I looked down at my body as light cascaded over me. I’d done mother’s task and now her curse was also lifted off of me. I looked as I truly did. Tall. Strong. Handsome. And I wanted so badly to show Psyche who it was that she truly loved. But I knew that if mother ever learned of it, she would kill my wife. I still walked a precarious road.
So, I did the only thing I could. I shielded myself in shadow. Covering every square inch of me in darkness so that none, not even my own beloved bride could see me, then I snapped my fingers and the sash fell from off her eyes.
She gasped, looking around. The whites of her eyes were large and her skin so pale. My heart broke for her.
“Male,” she whispered and my heart sang, for in her fear it was to me that she’d cried. “Are you here? Am I truly safe?”
I could not speak to her here. Mother’s spies could be anywhere. But in my palace, where Uncle’s cloak would shield us, could I open myself to her.
I was so unbelievably gentle when I reached her side and took her soft, small hand in mine. She gasped and went stiff.
“Who. Who is that?”
Wetting my lips, wishing I could show her who I really was but knowing I dare not, I did the only thing I could. I kissed her. With all the passion in my heart and in my soul. She was unyielding at first but then… “It’s you,” she mouthed against me. “I would know your touch anywhere.”
And then she was the one kissing me. And our kiss was sweet and wet and wild and desperate.
She clung to my shoulders, and I only broke away when I felt the salty wetness of her tears upon my tongue. I sucked in a sharp breath and she opened her eyes, staring at me with passion burning deeply in them. I was astonished that she could look directly at me even though I knew she could not see me. But it was like we were one, we were so attuned.
“It is you,” she whispered.
I stroked the tears away with the pads of my thumbs and gently, so very gently, I hefted her in my arms. She came willingly. Wrapping her arms around my neck and laying her head on my chest.
I withdrew my wings and I flew us into the heavens, toward my palace.
She laughed and my heart sang a new song I’d never heard before.
I’d given this gift to so many others, but now I finally understood what it was to feel it too.
Psyche
I thought maybe he meant to never speak to me again. But I knew it was the mysterious male, I knew his touch anywhere. And when we arrived at the palace, his palace, I was shocked into silence.
It was more amazing than even my father’s own and up until now, I’d believed him to be the wealthiest person in our kingdom.
The second we touched foot upon the palace grounds, the gardens to be exact, he reluctantly seemed to release me. But without his touch I couldn’t find him any longer I held one of my hands out, moving slowly, trying to find him again. Seconds later I felt a warm hand slip into mine. I released a shaky breath and smiled.
“Do you like it?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, but I thought that maybe he wanted my opinion on the grounds. I’d seen what he could do at my father’s palace, but this… “oh my gods,” I breathed, finally seeing what he’d done for the first time.
This was a garden, and yet it was unlike any garden mortal eyes had ever seen, I was sure of it. Topiaries of magnificent prancing beasts weren’t made of shrubs, but of wispy, feathery clouds. Birds and insects that glittered like gold flew lazily past. Night song filled the air, the music so beautiful it brought tears to my eyes.
The ground beneath my feet shook and I jumped back as the land fractured and from its depth a shoot of vines shot forth. The vines began to entwine, forming and shaping into a pavilion. Beautiful red and purple blooms sprouted, and baby’s breath filled the spaces between. And then two final strands of vines created a seating area. I felt myself pulled forward. I followed him up the ropey steps, surprised by their strength.
Once I sat, I felt the rustle of his passing. I glanced around, feeling a little as though the pavilion breathed in and out, each exhale smelled of sweet night jasmine.
“I love you,” he said huskily and it was so foolish and sentimental but I teared up. We barely knew each other. We’d only met a handful of times and yet…
“I love you too.”
Again, I felt his hand encase my own. I turned mine over, sliding my fingers through his. He had five. I traced my thumb over his flesh, feeling its firmness. The soft swell of veins, this felt like a young man’s hands. I wanted to see him. I wanted to know in truth what he looked like. It hadn’t mattered before, but he was my husband now. I really, really wanted to see him.
“Show me yourself, male. Tell me your name. Please,” I squeezed out, wanting to know everything about him now. I felt like I’d been waiting an eternity to find him, I wanted no more secrets between us.
The silence between us stretched and grew, seeming to take on a life of its own. I bit my bottom lip as blade tipped butterfly wings shredded my insides up. Had I offended him?
“I know you have questions. And I wish I could answer them all. Truly, my Psyche…”
My heart fluttered at the sound of my name upon his tongue. My Psyche, he’d said. Was I already his? Did he truly see me as such?
“…but to tell you more would place you in great harm.”
Those words snared my attention. I frowned. “Harm? Why? I rarely left father’s palace, I have no enemies. Who could possibly wish to—”
He squeezed my hand. “So long as I live, you will never know harm. All I ask is that you trust me. With your heart. With your body. With your soul. And I, in turn, will give you every part of me.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Could it really be this simple? Was it possible that even with the guise on me, and the fact that I could not even see who my husband truly was that somehow, we might be able to build a future together? A happy one?
“What do you say, Psyche? Will you live happily ever after with me?”
Growing up I had one truth instilled into me, I would never be my own. My entire path in life would be dictated to me by the whims of my father, that whatever I was told to do I would do. Even my own sweet mother had told me that no matter who my father choose for me, it was important that I always smile, always seem pleased by anything and everything my husband told me I should do. That my worth was simply in my body and nothing more.
And yet, here I was now, sitting before an invisible man who was asking me whether I would love him just as deeply as he loved me.
A smile more radiant than the sun and coming from deep within me, poured out of my soul. “I will love you forever, my mate.”
I heard his deep inhale and in my mind’s eye I imagined that he had his eyes closed and a grateful smile gracing his full, lovely lips.