Chapter 14

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Everyone was quiet as the sisters and attendants worked in the dressing room. This was not what Psyche had imagined for herself those years ago when Aglaura wed. 

Aglaura had put aside her haughty self-righteousness and gravely helped Psyche into her dress as Cydippe solemnly fastened it together. They wanted to help her themselves. 

Poor Psyche. 

No jokes this time about the wedding night. 

Cydippe shuddered. 

Aglaura accepted the wedding veil from an attendant and turned to Psyche. 

Psyche would never beat her now. She was marrying a monster. Aglaura hadn’t decided whether Psyche deserved such a punishment, but looking at her solemn face made Aglaura pity her fate. 

“You are still a most beautiful bride,” she said as she fixed the veil to Psyche’s hair. 

“You’ll melt your husband’s heart with your charm,” Cydippe said. “Use all of your goodness and kindness and he won’t have the heart to hurt you.”

Psyche looked at her, trying to calm her growing fears. 

“It’s time,” an attendant announced.

Both sisters stepped back and looked at Psyche.

“We worked so hard,” Aglaura sighed.

“If only things had gone differently,” Cydippe said.

Psyche managed a smile for her sisters. 

It would have been nice to have enjoyed a different kind of wedding. 

But this was the way it had to be. 

This was the only way to pacify the wrath of the gods. 

The sisters brought her in for a hug before forming a line out of the room.

The bride and her sisters made their way through the palace. Her sisters’ husbands joined them and they all stopped in front of Psyche’s parents and Apollo’s oracle. 

The oracle nodded and they all followed him into a solemn procession into the courtyard. A large crowd had gathered. They began forming a line behind the royal procession.

Everyone wanted to see Psyche off. 

The procession grew as they passed Psyche’s dismantled shrine. No one would be leaving gifts or tokens there anymore. They passed the school and the main square, all empty. 

The whole town now followed Apollo’s oracle as he led the procession to the highest hill. 

As the oracle reached the top, he stepped aside and made space for the king and queen, Psyche’s sisters and their husbands, and for the bride herself. The oracle directed the crowd into a sort of receiving line. They formed an arc so that each person could bid Psyche farewell. As they passed, there was an air of a lasting goodbye, as if laying a loved one to rest. 

It took a while for the whole of the crowd to make their way through. Even so, Psyche couldn’t help taking a special moment with the majority of the villagers. She would miss them dearly and she wanted them to know how much they meant to her. As the last of the villagers descended the hill, the oracle turned to Psyche.

It was time to leave her. 

The king and queen each gave Psyche a hug. Her mother lingered tearfully. 

Then one last hug for her sisters. 

Finally, Psyche faced the oracle. 

“It matters not what mortals think. We must honor the will of the gods. You are to stay atop this hill until your husband comes. No matter how long it takes, you must not leave this hilltop,” he said.

“I understand,” Psyche said. “And I willingly accept.”

She watched as her mother, father, sisters and their husbands, the oracle, and the final attendants made their way down the hill. 

No one glanced back.  

Psyche let out a sigh. Nothing to do now, but wait. 

She looked around for somewhere to sit and found a large boulder. She felt grateful for the lengths of fabric of her dress, for they made a small cushion to sit on. She wasn’t sure whether she should remove the veil, so she left it on. Her nose itched slightly and she tried to scratch it without disturbing anything. 

She sat like a princess on the rock for about an hour and then found herself beginning to slump. She straightened as she heard something in the nearby brush. Two stray sheep, unaware of the gravity of the situation, were racing each other to the top of the hill. The sight of them through the veil made her smile. Oh, to be like sheep, without a care for husbands or veils or sitting up straight. She was half-tempted to join in their play. 

Another hour passed and she was getting tired. She counted the nearby flowers. She counted the nearby rocks. She looked at the clouds and imagined a city way up there, filled with laughter and light, and none of this nonsense. The cloud city had no king, no queen, only people who cared for each other and helped each other with the work of moving and forming clouds. 

She soon found herself on the ground, resting her veiled head on the rock. The veil was uncomfortable, but at least it kept her face warm. 

It was getting dark and starting to get cold as well. She gathered her dress to warm herself and made a little nest against the rock. Nestled there, she soon fell asleep. She dreamed peaceful dreams. She dreamed she was floating, flying. She could see the village, the palace, her family. They were soon out of sight and she continued flying. 

It grew darker as she entered a deeper, more restful sleep. 

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Chapter 13      Chapter 15