92. A Call
A Call
With Pallas and Styx now happily united,
my clandestine meetings with Perses
had come to an end, causing a sadness
I could not understand nor speak of.
As Metis and Leto talked to me,
often I did not hear their words,
they would repeat themselves
until finally they gave up.
What was this strange ache
my body was putting me through?
It seemed undivine, unholy.
I could not understand it at all.
Until one twilight, when I was sitting
on the marble steps outside
my father’s palace, I looked up
and saw Perses walking toward me.
‘Asteria,’ he said softly,
‘may I please speak with you?’
My heart was suddenly ablaze
with something unnameable.
The sight of him had filled
a thirst deep within my bones.
I stood up from the stairs
and smiled, walking toward him.
‘Hyperion has blessed us with beauty.’
He gestured to the rosy and orange sky.
‘Shall we walk for a while?’
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
We began walking away from my father’s
palace. After a few moments of quiet,
Perses spoke softly. ‘I have missed you,
Asteria.’ I opened my mouth to speak
but he shook his head, his face creased
with what looked like worry and… fear?
What could possibly make
the God of Destruction afraid.
‘I have not been able to stop thinking
about you in days. When I close my eyes
it is your face I see. When I listen
to others converse, it is your voice I long for.’
He stopped abruptly and turned to look at me.
His golden eyes were gleaming with such
desire, that I felt a flush creep into my face.
‘Tell me I am not alone. That you too have
some kind of yearning for me.’
He waited for me to speak.
It was strange how suddenly I found my voice.
That all that unnameable pain of his absence
suddenly had a name. Yearning.
‘Perses.’ My voice was a whisper.
‘Thank you for giving this ache
a name. You are not alone.
The stars I care for will tell you
how well I speak of you at night
when no one else can hear my words.’
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
And then, silently, he stepped closer,
brushing my hair out of my face.
His mouth met mine gently at first
and my hands curled around his neck,
pulling him closer.
Beyond us in Nyx’s now darkening sky,
several stars danced, glittering.
A celebration of a love well met.