Chapter 1 #2
By the time the dusty, ancient grandfather clock at the bottom of the main stairwell struck its chimes for dusk, the two lost themselves in drunken giggle fits.
Tethys’s chambermaids, greeted by rowdy giggle fits and reddened cheeks, tried to suppress the concern they had for their bride with emotionless faces.
Jaide excused herself to the guest chamber she claimed as her visiting rooms to dress, leaving the goddess in the quiet chaos of her manor staff.
As they dressed her in white bridal gowns, Tethys took a pause, sobered by the slow realization that her life was about to change entirely.
Today she was Lady Tethys, free from the confines of another, capable of anything she desired without effect. Tomorrow she’d be Queen Tethys, and the entire realm would sit on her shoulders.
Suddenly the beautiful gauzy white gown with its trailing bust and long, seemingly endless train was her prison garb. And this marriage, her sentence. The pearl buttons holding her captive pinched a bit too tight, and the boning in the bodice was a bit too rough against her skin.
She couldn’t breathe.
The air felt like it was vacuumed from the chamber, leaving her lungs squealing for oxygen.
“Excuse me a moment, please,” she said, rubbing her trembling palms together. The four chambermaids, lowering their horsehair brushes and clips, all nodded their heads and exited, leaving Tethys to her thoughts.
That was dangerous.
She peered out the arched windows overlooking the estate gardens.
A blue jay darted from one flowering dogwood tree to another, pecking at the small, white flowers blooming from its branches.
Two grey squirrels scurried up the old oak tree marking the center of the gardens.
She yearned for the evening mist to dampen her brow and the beams of the day’s last remnants of light to warm her skin.
The sickly sweet stench of wine and perfumes overwhelmed her nostrils, her taste buds, as she sucked in a shallow breath.
Even if only for a moment, she’d allow herself this freedom.
This opportunity to exist outside of the reality chaining her.
Then, a ludicrous thought, like a seedling, sprouted in the front of her mind.
No one would see if she scaled the balcony.
Well, the gardeners might. But did she care? The panic wrapping its unrelenting grip around her throat outweighed being caught by a few green thumbs. She wiped a bead of cold sweat from the nape of her neck.
Tethys sprang to the doors with a solidified decision. Her hands shook as she unlatched the lock and stepped into the fresh evening air. The breeze slithering through the garden’s hedge maze blushed her cheeks a shade of pink as vibrant as the peonies delicately swaying along the garden’s edge.
Yes, this was her decision. She needed a reprieve from the stale confines of her chambers, even if only for a moment or two. The room was folding in on itself, and if she didn’t act fast, it’d crush her to pieces.
No looking back now.
She imagined what a sight it must be to watch as a goddess, fashioned in traditional wedding gowns, plucked, primmed, and proper, scaled the narrow manor siding. She snorted, lips curling into an energized grin, and continued to the ground.
When her white velvet slippers hit the earth, and not a second more, she flicked the ridiculous things off of her feet and took down the path, letting the dewy grass wet the spaces between her bare toes.
The warm, spring air against her face sent her heart soaring as she flew through the gardens, past the fountain, the manicured hedges, and the maze. She continued on, as if she rode the wind, until the landscaped greenery faded into a more wild, unkempt type of beauty.
Racing up the hill, she reached a field of pampas grass, each blade rustling in the wind. Her perfectly placed curls came undone as she paused to catch her breath.
Tethys truly felt alive. She could feel the pumping blood in every one of her veins. Her heart’s pounding rhythm was a roaring boom in her eardrums. Each breath she took, inflating her lungs, sent a current through her abdomen that spread along her limbs like wildfire.
Out here, in the restless sea grasses, the wedding, and all of its weight, lifted. Her lessons with Euda, her position at court, even her sentence of immortality disappeared, leaving just a woman in its place.
A woman with wild golden hair and a taste for the world on her tongue.
Tethys dropped to her knees, the pristine white dress now muddied and stained, pooling around her petite figure.
She closed her eyes, letting the air fresh with budding life, cool the heat from her cheeks.
The curse of obligation faded for a heartbeat or two and she lavished in the chaotic beauty of the natural world around her.
Unlike Venia and its perfectly structured grid with manicured landscaping, this—this was the continent in all its wild, undisturbed glory. She stretched her neck to see just below the curve of the horizon and the waves of the eastern sea lapping against a jagged, rocky cliffside.
Maybe one day she’d jump from those cliffs.
Maybe she’d find herself passage across the sea and reach the furthest charted boundary.
Maybe she’d cross that point to discover what treasures lay just out of her reach.
Even being one of the immortal children, she wasn’t taught everything about this world.
It grew and expanded and molded into something new as time crept by.
Sometimes she questioned if the primordials even knew what lay beyond the horizon.
The primordials.
Tethys’s throat went dry. What would her father, Obscuros, Darkness himself, think of her now?
What would her siblings think? Noble Polaris, always following the rules, or Altair and his silent wisdom.
Of all, what would Procyon think? She sucked in a breath, the scene of their council unfolding in her mind.
The Patron of Dawn was a role only she could fill. They’d continue to hammer nails into this coffin of responsibility. They’d continue to hold her beneath the weight of the world until she acquiesced.
Tethys quieted the tears rolling down her cheeks. She hoped they’d leave streaks in the full face of powder her chambermaids spent an hour perfecting. Collecting her skirts, she rose and started her return to the manor.
Back to the fate that had been decided for her.
? ? ?
Later, when the temple bells rang, she exited the carriage parked outside its perfectly-pristine marble steps. The mere hours before when she’d descended these steps felt worlds away. Nonetheless, she held her chin high and gathered her skirts at her sides.
This was for the best. This was right.
She would do and be what was expected of her.
Because this life was her only life. And like her siblings, she was fated to live it for the rest of time.
Tethys smoothed her satin wedding gown as she reached the marble landing.
The grand doorway was framed in white roses, a train of petals like a towline to her unstoppable future.
Time was a funny thing when you had an abundance of it. Some days it felt slower than melting ice. Other days, it raced by like a hare’s frantic pulse. Today, though, it halted entirely. As if this moment was a mural, its artist immortalizing the candid scene for generations to come.
This was for the best. This was right.
Tethys swallowed the bile now thickening the back of her throat and glanced at the white velvet slippers secured to her feet.
Her skirts swished beneath her with each stride.
It took three horrified chambermaids to scrub the muddied hemline clean again.
Now only a faint stain left evidence of her intended escape.
With one final inhale, she walked through the double doors.
A booming orchestral symphony greeted her as the guests scattered among the temple pews rose to their feet.
Their eyes branded into her, some with curiosity, some with pity.
Others offered cold emotionless disdain.
The mortal Venian council had been nothing shy of frigid when Tethys made her arrival.
Unfortunately, with the insidious passage of time, their bitter dispositions spread like a toxin throughout the rest of highborn nobility.
Unlike her siblings, whose power secured their title, only this marriage carried hers.
Even in her own damned realm, her own damned city, only this marriage secured her role as queen.
Tethys bit the soft, inner flesh of her cheek until the faint taste of blood coated her tongue.
The audience’s curious gaze branded into her, but she kept her own fixed on the grand dais at the opposing edge of the room.
This was for the best. This was right.
One day, maybe the Venians would realize the sacrifice she’d made today.
Her desire for a future filled with love and warmth met its executioner the moment she crossed the threshold and the traditional wedding ceremonies began.
For now, she’d rather they despise her than burn the damned continent down. After all, this union was for them.
The vastness of the temple’s interior always took Tethys’s breath away.
Carved pillars stretched hundreds of feet high, holding the weight of a curved ceiling.
Two monumental statues of muscular stallions, entangled in vines, guarded an ornate gilded altar.
Just as they were forever ensnared in their vines, Tethys, too, was bound to this duty.
A role she’d been born into. A role that sunk its talons in and refused to let go.
The processional carried on and fiddle strings scraped themselves against Tethys’s sobering headache. Was she underwater? All sound, save for her own pulse, was muffled, muted.