***
"Ami, will you marry me?"
Ami shrieked with happiness as she stared into the emerald eyes of her lover. "Oh, yes, yes!" she answered, jumping into his arms. He hugged her tightly.
Tears of happiness coursed down her cheeks.
"We'll be the happiest couple to ever rule Thessaly," he said. "My father will take to you. You'll make a fine queen, beautiful and wise all in one."
Ami blushed deeply at her love's assertion. "Zoisite, you're just trying to flatter me," she said shyly.
"Of course not, my love. It's not flattery when it really is true."
***
"Father, Ami has agreed to marry me."
"Splendid!" The king smiled at his son and drew him closer. "When's the wedding?"
Zoisite laughed. "Whenever we feel like planning it."
"As methodical as that woman is? You'll be married in a week."
Zoisite laughed again, exultant over his imminent marriage.
"Now I must go consult the oracle," he said, "just like you did when you got married to Mother, and as Grandfather did."
"You know," said King Lucifer, stroking his chin, "when I first proposed to your mother, Thessaly wasn't quite as prosperous as it is now. And when your grandfather went, it was because Thessaly was not much more than a city. The kingdom is well established, my son; there really is no need for you go to the oracle."
"It's tradition, Father," Zoisite insisted. "You do know that the gods hate broken tradition."
"Yes, but I didn't ask your mother to marry me at quite so dangerous a time," King Lucifer answered. "It's the stormy season, and Beryl's ordered a halt on travel. You'll have to cross the sea to get to Elysian, and that's dangerous at this time of year."
Zoisite shook his head. "Hera's on my side. I'm getting married! She'll allow me to cross safely. I'll sacrifice every day, I swear."
Lucifer sighed. "You are a grown man, and will be king soon," he replied. "It's time you began to do as you wished. I just wish that your wishes were a bit more practical."
Zoisite laughed as he practically skipped from his father's chambers. "Don't worry, father," he said, "I'll be perfectly safe."
*****
"No, Zoisite! Not now!"
"Ami, love, it's tradition in our family to speak to the Delphic oracle when about to enter marriage." Zoisite took his betrothed's hands and squeezed them tightly, smiling at her. "Don't worry. Love and the gods are on my side. They bless those in love, remember?"
"Not now, Zoisite!" Ami insisted. "It's the stormy, rainy season. You'll have to cross the ocean to get to the spaceport in Elysian, the only one doing outgoing flights to the Moon now. A storm could catch your boat at sea and break it to pieces!"
Zoisite chuckled softly, amused not by her words but rather by the force of her love for him. "I'll be all right, I promise you," he said. "Thessalians are sea-faring people. My ship's crew will be some of the best."
"No matter how good they are, the winds have a singular fury," Ami said. "You know my father is Aeolus, King of the Winds. I grew up in a palace close to the sea. I used to watch the way the winds whipped the water during a storm, so strong, fierce! Lightning often set the ships afire and broke them up; many times I've seen the planks washed up on the shore. Can your crew defy the forces of nature?"
"We've sailed through storms before," Zoisite replied.
"Not duing the rainy season!"
"Ami, I assure you, we'll be fine. But I have to go. The Erinnyes would take revenge for me breaking tradition," he joked.
Ami shook her head. "At least take me with you," she pleaded. "I can endure whatever comes to us together."
Zoisite really laughed at that. "Never!" he said. "Although it won't be as dire as you put it, there will be some danger involved, and I won't have my beautiful future wife harmed."
"Better us together than you alone."
Zoisite shook his head, wrapping his arms around his fiancee, his eyes filled with love for her. "I can't do it, Ami," he answered. "I can't allow you to go with me. You must stay here...stay with my family, Ami, and wait for me. It will take me but a short while, and when I return, we'll have the most splendid marriage in the history of Thessaly. The subjects will talk about it for years, decades, centuries!"
Ami smiled a little. "Just promise me you'll come home safe, Zoisite."
"I promise, dear, I promise with all my love – with my soul!"
***
"Prince, would you like us to...my prince?"
Zoisite turned to the first mate, his pale blond hair fluttering in the windy morning air. "Sorry...I'm a bit distant this morning, mate. What would you like?"
"Daydreaming about your fiancee, your highness?"
Zoisite laughed, the laugh of a deeply happy man. "Is it that obvious?" His features darkened, however, when he looked back at the shore. A tiny figure stood on the beach in a solitary vigil. She had sworn to stand on the shore until she could no longer see the ship.
"She was so melancholy when I left."
"Just afraid for your welfare, your highness."
"No, it was deeper than that..." He squinted, trying desparately to clarify the picture of his lover. "It's as if...as if...she could see what was in store."
*****
"Ami! You've been sitting in the conservatory all day. You can't see the ship with that weak telescope, can you?"
Ami giggled a little as she looked up to see Zoisite's personal maidservant. "No," she admitted. "But I can certainly try."
"Don't be so frightened," the maidservant said, bending by Ami's side. She stroked her pale cheek until the younger woman turned to face her. "His crew is well trained – my nephew is part of the crew, and I well know that he's well trained at one of the best academise for mariners. And he's low on the ship's repertoire! They've recruited the best seafarers for this mission, and you listen here – they'll be absolutely fine.
"Besides," she added, smiling mischievously, "if you worry too much, you'll have wrinkles for your wedding!"
Ami's smile widened at that. "I need something pass the days until he returns, so I won't get all wrinkly by the time he returns."
"What better way for a bride to spend her days than by weaving her bridal gown?"
Ami's countenance brightened, and she threw her arms around the maidservant. "That would be wonderful! Will you help me, Eos? I've never woven a bridal gown before – but I want it to be the most beautiful gown ever worn! I want Zoisite to be filled with rapture when he sees me dressed in it. I want to make him happy and his voyage worth the trouble."
"Then, girl, we must look at bridal cloths," she replied. "Let's go!"
*****
Zoisite lounged in the captain's office, staring at a picture of Ami. All was going well; the voyage to Elysian would soon be over, and he would be able to return home to his beloved. He was lonely for her – wished to hold her in his arms.
"Pining over a lost love, your highness?"
Zoisite jumped at the voice, the chair he had leaned back crashing to the floor. He scuttled away from the desk on his back. A hideous woman was seated on the desk, hair wild, clothed in furs, lips blood-red.
"Maenad!"
"Crying for the loss of your love, your highness?" she repeated maliciously.
"My love is fine and well, waiting for me at home."
"Your Ami is dying."
"No!" Zoisite pounded his fist against the board of the ship. "She was perfectly fine when I left! She is well!"
"You broke her heart with your leaving!" The Maenad pointed a bloody, accusing finger at the prince. "She dies from heartsickness caused by you!"
Zoisite turned pale, eyes widening. "No," he whispered.
"It is not just. The Erinnyes have promised to bring curses upon your head."
Zoisite let out a cry.
"Why waste both lives? You know the mandate: a soul for a soul." Her lips curved into a malevolent smile. "Sell your soul by the Styx to the Underworld and, by the Styx, hers will be saved." She held up an ethereal, illusory white sheet.
A contract for his soul.
Zoisite nodded fiercely. "I'll do anything to save her life! I swear by the Styx to give my life for Ami's!"
"Fine and good," the Maenad said, smirking. The contract exploded with bright light, and when it faded, Zoisite's name appeared on the bottom of it. "Word is bond. The Erinnyes' storm shall come tonight and sweep your life away. Your soul will belong to Erebus. Your beloved will live."
"That will kill everyone on the ship!"
The Maenad broke into uproarious laughter, disappearing from sight.
***
"Batten down the hatches!"
The first mate ran across the decks, dodging huge hailstones, calling instructions to his crew. A fierce hurricane had suddenly started, and the boat was rocking perilously, ready to toss them overboard – already a few young men had been dashed into the stormy seas.
After seeing that everyone on the ship had a duty to do, the first mate ran to take his report to the captain.
The mate found his princely captain standing at the side of the ship in the exact spot he stood while waving goodbye to his young lover, tears streaming down his eyes as he stared vacantly over the sea.
"Your highness, it's dangerous by shipside! Come underneath so you won't get swept under!"
Zoisite shook his head, then turned to the first mate. His eyes were brimming with fresh tears. "It was as if she could foresee the future."
The first mate lowered his eyes.
"There is no hope."
"No, sir. This is a rocky area. I'm surprised—"
He was cut short by the violent jolting of the ship. Both men were thrown to the floor. Zoisite skidded across the deck, ramming into the massive mast in the center of the ship.
"—we haven't hit a rock-mass yet," the mate yelled, his eyes filling with tears. He crossed his heart.
Zoisite shook his head. Christians.
The rest of the men were crying out – calling to the gods they called patrons in the Greek pantheon. Zoisite even heard calls to Jesus, Allah, Buddha...he tried frantically to call to mind a proper name in the sea of screamed deities. But as the ship sank lower into the raging maelstrom tossed by the hurricane winds tossing inside the rock circle the ship had drifted into, he could only think of one:
"Ami..."
*****
"Your wedding gown is turning out beautifully, Ami. In a few days it will be ready to try on and altered!"
Ami smiled brightly. "Thank you for your kind compliments. I'm an average seamstress, I'm afraid."
"You're a natural." Eos patted the young lady's head. "Get some sleep now. If you sew anymore today, your hands will fall off!"
Ami laughed. "I'll go to sleep, Eos – as soon as I say my nightly prayers."
Eos smiled. "Good night, then."
"Good night."
As the older woman left, Ami carefully folded her bridal gown into the jeweled trunk that her father had purchased for that specific purpose. She then knelt by her bedside, folding her hands and bowing her head in supplication to the gods.
"Hera, guardian of women and marriage," she prayed, "and Mercury, god of travelers, hear my pleas. My love, Zoisite, journeys across the treacherous ocean to see an oracle about pressing matters. Please protect him in his quest."
***
"Poor wife...look, your husband is here." The dream-god, commissioned by Hera, whispered into Ami's ear with the voice of her beloved.
Ami tossed in her sleep. "Zoisite..." she mumbled.
"Do you know me or is my face changed in death?"
"Death...?"
"I am dead, Ami."
"Dead..."
"Your name was on my lips when the waters overwhelmed
me."
"Waters..."
"There is no hope for me anymore. But give me your tears. Let me not go down to the shadowy land unwept."
Ami moaned, stretching her arms out to capture her betrothed and clasp him near. "Wait for me! I will go with you!"
With a start, she woke to the sound of her own cries and sobs. Wretched, she rolled from her bed, thumping heavily to the floor, wailing for the death of her beloved.
"Could I stay here when his dear body is tossed about in the waves?" she wailed. "I will not leave you, my husband; I will not try to live!"