Psyche

Chapter 43

Psyche's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up. She looked around, and she realized she was in her bedroom back in Eros's palace. The morning sun was coming through the window. For a moment, she wondered if the previous weeks had only been a bad dream.

Suddenly, she sensed a presence. She rolled over and she saw Eros sleeping soundly, the silk comforter covering his body - his probably naked body. She gasped.

"It wasn't a dream," she said softly.

Eros's eyes opened, and he stretched before pulling her into his arms.

"Thank the gods. . .at least the ones that aren't me," he said, "I thought you'd never awaken from that infernal sleep."

Memory slowly returned to her mind. She had been in a field of flowers.

"Your mother wanted me to deliver that box. . ." she began.

He held her close. "It was a trap, my darling. My mother wanted you to sleep for all eternity. She counted on you opening the box and you did."

She squeezed him tight.

"I'm so sorry," she said, "I knew better. . ."

Eros sighed. "Don't worry, darling, you aren't expected to be perfect. You're merely perfect for me."

"I'm sorry about looking at you."

"I'm sorry I was so vexed," he replied, "I shouldn't have been - I just. . ."

She placed a hand on his cheek. For the weeks of her ordeal, she had been so angry at herself for her folly it had not occurred to her that true love meant having to sometimes forgive folly in someone. Eros had, to put it mildly, overreacted.

"I hurt you," she said, "You were angry."

He sighed.

"You have a curious mind. It is one of the things I love about you. Curiosity makes you vulnerable at times. Although, you should have known better than to trust your sisters."

Psyche sighed and placed her hands on her belly. Erik leaned down and kissed her there.

"It is the first time I recall ever reacting with emotion rather than logic, at least not since I was a small child. It was a strange sensation - prompted by protectiveness toward the child."

She spoke the words simply, not intending them to be an excuse but rather an explanation for her out-of-character actions."They said you planned to eat the child when it was born."

Eros looked up and her, incredulous.

"I know it sounds absurd, but the oracle did say you were a monster. How was I supposed to know you had saved me from the monster. I thought your visit to my bedroom was a dream. . ."

With that, Psyche began to ask all the unanswered questions she had about Eros. In return, he told her all the things he had been keeping from her - including the story of his visit to her bedroom and how he had scratched himself with his own arrow.

"What I don't understand," he said, "Is how it was that you could see me. Mortals aren't supposed to see immortals when we choose to veil ourselves in invisibility."

Psyche smiled to herself, remembering Arethusa's words. "I have an answer. The invisibility of immortals depends on we mortals' ability to see only what we wish to see. It's a function of imagination. My mind works - or until recently worked - on pure logic. So, I could see clearly what most mortals could not."

"I assumed it was because we were destined to be together," he replied softly.

"Well," she replied smoothly, "One does not necessarily preclude the other. Perhaps it was fate that my logical mind was able to see through the immortal veil. Arethusa, the naiad for the river in Atlantis, told me this. Although...I do have one question."

"What is that?" he asked. 

"Do you have wings?" 

He laughed. "In one of my many forms. I'll show you sometime..." 

From there, Eros had more questions as to how she had survived. She answered each one with great pride in her accomplishments. She realized that even though she and Eros were as different as day or night. He ruled by emotion; she ruled by logic. She was the air while he was the fire. He was the moon while she was the sun. All of this did not mean they did not belong together. It instead meant they needed each other. Her love for him allowed her, for the first time in her life, to feel passion. His love for her, allowed him, for the first time in his life, to see reason. They complimented one another perfectly.