Chapter 7

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Lord Whats-his-name was delighted to have won the Suitor Games — finally. He had been worried somewhere in the middle there. But things had gone well, he’d made it through, and now Cydippe would be his. 

Cydippe seemed rather pleased with him too. 

As Cydippe’s wedding rapidly approached, Aglaura came to help with the preparations. 

That cast a bit of a shadow on Cydippe’s joy. Nothing seemed to please Aglaura. 

Somehow they all made it through the grand occasion and for weeks afterward the kingdom talked about how beautiful Cydippe had been as a bride and how lucky Lord Whats-his-name was. 

It had all been exceptionally exciting!! 

And exhausting. 

The kingdom went back to the regular flow of visitors for their beloved Psyche. 

Oh, that’s right!

Psyche! 

They should probably start working on her wedding. 

But who could possibly be worthy of their magnificent Psyche? 

Should she have a Suitor Games too? That had been rather fun. 

Let’s first take a look at the list of suitors, shall we? 

She does have a list of suitors, doesn’t she?  

Actually, no.

No? Well, perhaps it’s just that no one feels worthy of Psyche. She’s beautiful, kind, loving, and perfect in every way. Maybe suitors found her intimidating?

The king and queen hosted a number of grand receptions to introduce Psyche to the most powerful kings and noblemen from near and far. 

Surely one of them must be interested.

Sorry, no.

No?

Well, perhaps some of the regular kings and rulers of other lands then. 

No. They aren’t interested either.

Hmm… 

Where was Cydippe’s list? Was that still floating around somewhere? There had to be some fairly reasonable candidates among them. 

They aren’t interested. 

What? No one wants to marry Psyche?

No one.

Impossible. 

The good king and queen, now concerned for the future of their youngest daughter, threw all of their time and attention into figuring out what was wrong with Psyche. There had to be someone who would do well — and be willing to marry — their beautiful, wonderful, and worshipped daughter. 

None of their efforts seem to help. 

It was time to bring her sisters. They had both done well and as more recent veterans, would likely know exactly what to do. 

Psyche was struggling to find a suitor??

Cydippe and Aglaura were only too happy to help.

The two sisters hurried home and got busy making Psyche the most desirable — well, at least the second most desirable — no, the third most desirable — woman in all the land. 

As the two evaluated their sister, it was rather gratifying to discover that she really had a lot of catching up to do. All of those years shirking her duties as a princess had taken a toll. 

Psyche was pulled into the study of the arts, the sciences, and the mind-body bond. She was yanked into the finer points of dressing and grooming, walking gracefully, and making men turn their heads. She was given strict instructions to diet — no, not  on pomegranates and fig leaves — but by using meditative eating. And every lady needed to be engaged in regular – no, not rigorous – exercise. 

Nothing seemed to work. 

What was wrong with Psyche? 

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