His eyes were frozen on mine. His lips moved.
“You are beautiful,” he murmured to me, raising my hand to press his lips to it.
We turned to Zeus, who said a few words to all of the attendees. The townspeople were in awe of this greatest of Olympians and a hush fell over the crowd when he spoke.
“We have traveled here today to witness my beloved granddaughter, Harmonia, joined in marriage to the brave Cadmus, previous slave to Ares, prince of Phoenicia and now King of Thebes. As Cadmus promised me and Harmonia’s father, they will become a team, working to create a wonderful life. They have chosen to remain here, in Thebes, and so here today, I offer them to you, good citizens of Thebes. They will rule this land and lead you to even greater prosperity. And when they have done all that they can do here for you, they will return to me and live for eternity.”
Zeus turned to me, his silver eyes glinting and serious.
“Harmonia, my sweet granddaughter. Do you wish to become the wife of Cadmus, King of Thebes?”
I nodded. “I do.”
“Cadmus, King of Thebes, do you wish to become the husband of my granddaughter, Harmonia?”
He nodded. “I do.”
“Then I now decree that you are husband and wife. I pray that your union is prosperous and that you have many sons and beautiful daughters . I pray that the Fates will bless you and the Muses will sing to you every night in your dreams.”
Cadmus turned to me, cradling my face ever-so-gently in his hands before lowering his lips to mine in the softest of kisses.
The crowd cheered and clapped and I could hear glasses breaking in the excitement. I didn’t care. All I cared about was feeling my husband’s lips upon mine, the heat from his stare and the silk of his hands across my back. Suddenly, I couldn’t wait until we were alone. A fire had begun in my belly and I knew it would be a slow burn until bedtime.
We turned and faced our guests, then took our first steps as man and wife.
* * *
The stone steps leading up to our bedchambers were longer tonight than they were this morning. Cadmus held my hand and led me along the way and my only conscious thought was to wish we were already there.
It had been a long evening. We had mingled with everyone at the party. I had been hugged, kissed, fawned over and cried upon. Cadmus had been passed around and ogled by every female in attendance. We were both bone-weary.
But definitely not too weary.
Cadmus opened the doors to our suite and I entered, turning to kiss him as soon as our bedroom doors were closed and we were alone.
His kiss was feverish now, not as gentle as it was earlier. But I understood. The fire that had been building in my belly was now consuming my entire body, every nerve ending aflame.
“Let’s go to bed, wife,” Cadmus murmured against my mouth.
I nodded, unable to speak. Instead, I folded into his warmth, his strength. I found that my legs no longer wanted to support me, so I clutched Cadmus. He scooped me into his arms and carried me easily to the bed, lowering me to the silken bedclothes.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered. “I’m a lucky man.”
With the candlelight flickering behind him, I could honestly say that I was the lucky one. The world had never seen a more beautiful mortal than Cadmus. Not even Achilles was as handsome.
Cadmus pulled me to my feet and unbuttoned my gown for me, allowing it to fall in a puddle around my ankles. I stepped out of it and turned back around slowly as he gazed upon me. I stood, completely naked in front of him wearing only my bloodstone. I started to take it off, but Cadmus stilled my hand.
“Leave it,” he said quietly. “It suits you.”
He knelt in front of me, his hands clutched to my back and slowly kissed my belly, my ribs, my neck and then finally, when I was practically gasping for breath, he kissed my mouth once more.
“You were right,” I whispered into his ear before I ran my lips along his cheekbone.
“About?” he asked huskily as he nuzzled my neck.
“You didn’t have to ask me to take off my clothes.”
I felt him smile against my skin and then he kissed me again.
And again.
And again.
“Do you love me yet?” I asked with a smile, but like always, I waited for his answer.
He pulled away from me and looked into my eyes seriously.
“I’ve always loved you, I think,” he answered quietly. “From the moment you shot me in the leg.”
I laughed quietly as I remembered that first day. I had been wonderstruck by him even then.
“So you love me?” I asked again.
He nodded. “Most definitely. I will love you for the rest of time.”
I stared at him. “That’s a very long time, you know. You’re going to be immortal someday.”
“Forever is a long time,” he agreed. “And I’ll love you every minute of it. But let us worry about eternity later. For now, let me love you this night. I promise, I will love you every minute of it.”
“Promises, promises,” I giggled into his ear as he rolled me over on the bed and hovered above me.
“I always keep my promises,” he reminded me as he kissed a trail down my neck.
“Well, you’ve got all night to prove it,” I told him as I ran my hands over his back, his shoulders, his hips. “You said you would love me every minute of it.”
“Oh, I will,” he promised again, kissing me soundly and deeply.
And he did.
Epilogue
I have been told that my story is one for the ages.
I don’t know about that.
My story is one that has contained sadness and tragedy, happiness and laughter, hope and despair. And love. There’s been a great deal of love.
But isn’t that the case for every person, god or mortal? Every life contains laugher and love, while that very same life contains sadness and despair. Someone once said that without rain, there could be no rainbows and I have certainly found that to be true. There is always a balance in life…light with the dark, happy with the sad.
Life is not a promise of constant bliss. Life is a chance. A chance to love, to try, to fail and to try again. Life is about living. If there is any message that you can take from my story, I hope it is that.
Life is vivid and beautiful. You should grab it with both hands and never let it go, even when it seems bleak or gray. Because you know what? Tomorrow or the day after or the day after that, it will be sunny again. And love with prevail.
It always does.
Every love story has a beginning and this was mine.
So long ago, Cadmus promised to love me for every minute of forever. And would you like to know something? He has done exactly that. Our love has withstood time, tragedy and death.