THESEUS, KING OF ATHENS, paced the windswept beach for the hundredth time in twenty minutes. The Red Death was ended; the last of the sick had recovered enough to go home. He waited now for only one other to return. But she remained strangely absent. He began to fear that something had happened. Could she have become ill? Perhaps she was lying in some alley, hurt and helpless? Or perhaps she had decided to return to Naxos. Without him. His heart froze.
Then he heard a footstep behind him.
He turned.
Ariadne stood there, in a green wrinkled robe, her hair tangled, her eyes red. She had never looked so beautiful. He could not take his eyes off of her. At last he said, "You've come back."
"I will always come back to you."
Then she was in his arms.
He forgot everything save that she was his once more. His mouth claimed hers, drinking in the taste of her like a parched man drinking water. "Ariadne." He murmured against her hair. "I love you. I always have."
"Then you forgive me?"
"Gods, yes. A thousand times. I was a stubborn fool. My pride blinded me to the truth. It was easier for me to remain bitter and angry than to admit that you had a good reason for what you did. Phaedra was merely a distraction. But I nearly fell for her, she was that good. It was only when I compared her to you that I realized she was just a pale copy of the original. And that was not what I wanted. Can you forgive me?"
"Of course. You are the other half of my soul. Without you, I am empty. Incomplete." She shook her head. "There is so much I want to say, but words are not enough."
"We never needed words before."
Her eyes widened. There was no need for her to ask what he had meant. She closed her eyes. Then she did what she had not done in five long years. She opened her mind to him, sharing freely all of herself, all of the things that made her what she was. She held nothing back. She felt him stagger beneath the weight of her love, her trust. Then it changed, as he began to share his own feelings and memories. Through the link she felt his fear that he had lost her forever due to his anger and stubbornness. Never. Not even the Fates could keep me from you. And if They could not, why would I let your pride come between us? We are one, as it was always meant to be. I love you, now, forever, and always. And nothing will ever separate us again.
The bond was reformed, a silvery mesh of thoughts and feelings, delicate as lace yet stronger than steel.
Never again would it be broken.
Blinking back tears, Theseus said softly, "I have just one more question to ask you. Will you be my wife, Ariadne?"
She answered in the only way she could. She said yes.
* * * * * *
They renewed their vows the next week. The whole kingdom celebrated. Daedelus came from Knossos to stand in as foster father to Ariadne, and Daphne, Pyrrha's mother, adopted her as her second daughter. Theseus's mother and grandfather came from Troizen to take part in the ceremony, Pittheus exclaiming loudly that Theseus might have let them know a bit sooner. His mother merely smiled and said that she was grateful to have a daughter at last.
Somehow the castlefolk managed to get the great hall ready and yet another enormous feast cooked in less than a day. Rumor had it that they were helped by the sudden appearance of an amber-eyed man. When asked who he was, he said only, "A friend of Ariadne's. Now stand back and let me work. We haven't got all day."
Everyone said it was a miracle. Ariadne merely laughed.
When she spoke her vows, pledging herself to her husband forevermore, she felt the warm embrace of the Mother about her. You have done well, my beloved Daughter. Now you shall have what was promised so long ago, when first you came to me. May you and Theseus know love and happiness, blessed for all your lives, together for all eternity.
Later, curled in the strong arms of her husband, on their bridal bed, the new Priestess-Queen of Knossos and Athens whispered, "I will never forget this day. It was all I had dreamed it would be and more."
"Neither will I," her husband murmured. "I love you, Ariadne."
"That's the twelfth time you've said that," his wife reminded him.
"I know. I plan on saying it to you every morning, so that you never forget it." Theseus told her. "A certain amber-eyed god informed me that I had wasted five years making you miserable, and I had better correct the situation immediately." He then proceeded to do so, slowly and with infinite care, so that there would never be any doubt in her mind that what he said was true.
They came together in a brilliant burst of fire, one body, one, heart, one soul, as each gave the other the love they had so long denied, and they were whole and complete once more. And always would be.
And so they are finally together!!
Next: the epilogue, as you see what happens a few years later.