93. The Vow
The Vow
It was my own fault, truly, that I did not
want to keep Perses a secret from my parents.
In fact, I wanted to shout my love for him
from the top of the palace, the cliffs.
But as the eldest daughter,
I knew my first duty lay to my parents.
So I told Perses that I would speak
with my father first and tell him
I had chosen my consort. I went looking
for Coeus in his halls but my mother told me
that he was visiting Oceanus again,
so I ran immediately to his palace gates.
When I arrived at Oceanus’s chambers,
I saw my father and the five eldest River Gods
gathered with Oceanus around his great map.
‘Father…’ I said breathlessly, ‘I have news.’
I felt the same way I did when I was a child
and I would joyously interrupt my father and uncles.
My father smiled at me widely.
‘As do I, daughter.’
I paused, confused. Had Perses
already spoken to him?
Instead, my father gestured to the oldest
of the River Gods, Achelous, a handsome God
who had an ink-dark beard, glittering dark
eyes, and the body of a great bull.
‘Achelous has asked for your hand,’
my father told me. ‘And I have said yes.’