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Her quarters kept her safe from strangers. Safe from the
hate of a populace who wanted her head even before the
deadline passed. They were afraid, and their fear gave
them a kind of fever that made them stupid. The high
rooms kept her safe from their hate. Safe from the harm
of the Nereids, who longed for her blood.
She found that out the hard way.
Yes, her rooms were well appointed.
They were also notoriously difficult to reach.
Andromeda's private abode was high above the ground,
with a balcony that overlooked both a great garden, and
then the sea. The entire palace overlooked the sea. Her
parents kingdom was vast, and powerful. The wealthy
and powerful ruled it, and kept it for their own.
She would look on it all, sometimes, for the little bit of life
that was left to her, and realize that for as much potential
as this great World Apart ever held, it held little for her.
She had known sorrow here. The sorrow of an unfulfilled
life.
Which was now destined to be a brief one.
A world she had surprisingly little use for needed her to
save it. Irony, again.
Was it so bad, then, that she would be sacrificed to save
it? Would life spent with a loveless prince-who-would-beking be so very much better than the harsh destiny that
awaited her? She wasnt sure. Even though she knew
what the answer should be, she wasnt sure.
would find her. Of her parent's horror, when they saw the
mark. Of her princely fiancs subtle rejection.
"You! How are you here?" She did not ask who he was.
She did not need to. He was her salvation, or so it had
felt, for a time.
But her rooms were meant to be unreachable. She was a
princess, after all.
"There is always a way, for the determined," he told her.
Something winged flew across the moon. A winged
horse? No. Not possible.
"You saved me. Rescued me, after my attack."
"You were bleeding. I had to get you to safety. That
voice, again. It was resonant, and deep.
But the demand for her ransom had been made the next
day. Hed risked himself for nothing.
She shook her head, touching her fingers to the lone
desecration of her beauty. "It was a wasted effort. But I
thank you for it. They will send me to the monster in little
more than a week.
"Ten days. Ten days can change your life, Andromeda."
He made no move to enter the room. She was not certain
if she liked that or not.
"They will change mine." Her tone was rueful. "In the
most... permanent way."
"Would you escape, if you could?" He indicated the wide
parapet. He had gotten in...
"No.
Roses. The word held some wonder, for him, for some
reason.
These dont need to worry about getting too much sun,
she smiled a little. You can take them with you wherever
you go. And remember me. For after. She was nudging
him away from his quest.
He tucked her roses inside the pouch, and draped it
around his neck.
I will wear it for luck, when the time comes, he told her.
No. He must not do that.
Perseus Her tone held her warning. You risk much
just by being here. If they even caught you..." The
warning melted into worry. She still did not believe he
would be triumphant.
"If they catch me, they will kill me. But I think we both
understand that it is worth it."
He would not use the word love. But she knew he was
feeling it. They had been together for six days. They had
nearly finished reading Homers masterpiece.
"You must go. She said it sadly, but the stubborn look in
her eyes was firm. You must go and not come back.
This is folly, though I have adored it. But this is too
dangerous for you."
Her voice reflected concern. He marked that, pleased.
So she was falling as in love as he was. Good.
"Does a princess care so much who lives or dies?" he
asked.
"This one does," she responded, realizing for the first time
how true it was. Before, the lives of other people simply
existed. She was not unsympathetic. But neither did
she feel a part of them, a part of that life. Her royalty
had separated her, as wealth often does.
Now, ironically, she did feel things in common with
others. Her ladys maid was pregnant, and her back hurt.
Her lyre player, Orpheus, was pining for a lost love. All of
it mattered, now. All of it. It had taken her a long time to
understand that. But she finally did.
"There are things I must do, he told her. Things to help
you. You may not see me again for a while. Perhaps not
until the last day."
"No!" She did not want him to return. On the other hand,
she hated the thought of never seeing him again more
than any other thing she could think of. Her emotions felt
confused, and her will to send him away was slipping as
low as the china moon that hung in the sky.
"This place is ours. He indicated her terrace. But you
must return to your world without me, Andromeda. It is
all right." his voice trembled a bit with a sadness he could
not quite conceal. "It is where you are meant to stay. I
will still be near; I will still watch over you. Go back into
your rooms. Close the doors of the balcony, and lock
them tight."
"Why?"
"Because that way, it is you who will leave me. I would
like to give you that choice, at least."
It was a choice she didn't want.
"Do not let this act of kindness destroy you, my son," his
careless father had intoned. After all, part of you is a
god. But the other part of you is a man.
I am in love with her, the son had told the Sky Father.
This girl she can bring you only unhappiness, his
very flawed parent had advised.
Then I will be unhappy! Perseus had snapped, his voice
a low growl.
Zeus message was clear. Women were faithless. And
rich, beautiful women were more faithless than most.
Zeus should know. He'd bedded enough of them, and
been a faithless consort himself.
Perseus shunned the advice, which he viewed as both
well-meaning and misguided. Zeus' life was not his.
That did not necessarily give him the right to claim her,
however. By the time his plan was secure, he was certain
they should stay apart, no matter how much he loved her.
He did not mean to go back to see her, therefore. He told
himself he wouldn't. He wept for the choice, and bore it,
for as long as he could. The days away from her felt like
months.
The suitor she did not want, Phineus, visited her, in the
daylight courtyard of the palace. He was wealthy. And
shallow. And he tried to convince her to have an affair
before death took her. She rejected him.
Though he told her he would not give up on her, and
would not be dissuaded, she bid him part from her royal
presence.