48. A Change In Hierarchy
A Change In Hierarchy
It happened slowly.
As the River Gods grew in power
and the Oceanids diminished in theirs,
a secondary hierarchy
began to form
amongst the nymphs.
I noticed it when I visited Oceanus’s palace
with my parents.
The first thing my cousins did
was grasp my arms
and lead me away.
I looked for Styx amongst
these pearly skinned,
gossamer-dressed nymphs,
each one with glossy silken hair
and eyes that shone
sapphire, ruby, or emerald,
but her amber split eyes were missing.
‘Come, cousin,’ said Acaste,
her waist-length lustrous brown hair
woven with soft grey flowers.
‘You must sit with us
at the favoured seat by
our mother’s throne.’
As she said this,
she pushed aside
the weeping willow leaves
that obscured the view
of Goddess Tethys’s freshwater lake.
The turquoise-and-azure water
shimmered invitingly, as
all along the edges
laughing nymphs played
with dolphins
and tended to silver fish.
In the centre of it all,
was a gleaming throne
made from countless pearls
for Tethys herself,
though at this moment,
the throne was empty,
its beauty incomplete.
Acaste and her sisters
led me there on the backs
of large sea turtles.
I thanked my sea turtle
with a gentle pat on the head
and sat uneasily on
a rock covered with soft moss
while the nymphs asked me
dozens of questions.
‘What is it like to own the stars?’
asked rosy-lipped Amphiro,
taking a fine seashell comb
to my long, untameable hair.
‘I don’t own the stars,’ I told
the gaggle of waiting nymphs.
‘I only help them fall
when they need to.’
Acaste scoffed at my words.
‘Callirhoe said you could melt
the stars at your whim.
That means they are yours!’
I sighed, trying to find the words
to explain that the caretaking of stars
was a responsibility, not ownership,
but just then Styx emerged
from the waters of the lake,
long green hair dripping.
‘Styx.’ Acaste frowned at her.
‘I thought we told you this before
that you are to stay away.’
Styx gave her a smile designed
to infuriate. ‘Did you? I don’t recall.
Your voice is so soft, Acaste.’
Acaste’s frown darkened to
a scowl and the other nymphs
murmured and whispered.
‘This is not your place, Styx.
Mother has chosen her favourites.
You are not amongst them.’
I let out a gasp at this cruelty
and Styx’s eyes met mine,
with a slight shake of her head.
Her smile grew nastier.
‘I may not be one of mother’s
trinkets of the moment,
but I will always be
the first of all of us.
My position is untouchable.’
Her other sisters let out
horrified huffs at this,
but I felt a gleam of pride.
‘Your position once mattered,’
Acaste said, tossing her hair
behind her perfect shoulder,
but that was before.
It is us who are favoured now,
by the Gods and their brothers.
Only beauty counts. And you,’
she said pityingly,
‘are not beautiful.
What match
can you hope
to make?’
Styx’s eyes flashed with fury
as she glared at Acaste
and I stepped off the rock
away from the grasp
of all these nymphs
and their cruelty and smother.
‘Do not speak to her like that.’
I glowered. ‘NEVER speak
to your older sister that way.’
The skies above us darkened
as I dimmed the stars and went to Styx.
The nymphs shrank back from us.
I took her hand in the water.
‘One day, Acaste,’ Styx said,
a tremor of rage in her voice,
‘you will realize the disservice
you have done yourself
by defining yourself by your beauty
and nothing more to speak of.’
With these words spoken,
we swam back through the lake
away from the gossiping tongues
and the cruel beauty that would be
the unmaking of Styx’s sisters.