The Sisters Return

Sun had scarcely begun his journey when Thomasina suddenly awoke. She knew how to get rid of Psyche and take all the riches for herself and Calla.

She woke her sister and shared the plan with her. Calla was ecstatic. The two sisters embraced, then dressed hurriedly and were on their way to the mountain.

When they arrived, they called out Psyche's name. She heard, then sent Favonius to bring them. Carrying two people of such evil was not to West Wind's liking, but he did so. When he set them down at the palace door, he hoped that when he took them back it would be the last time he had anything to do with them.

The two sisters rushed into the palace, shouting, "Psyche! Psyche! Are you all right? Sister! Where are you?

When Psyche heard their voices, she came running. "Oh, sisters! I am so happy to see you!"

Thomasina was shrewd. She was content to spend the day chatting with Psyche about their childhoods and other inconsequential matters. If anyone had seen the sisters as they lay beside the pool and chatted after bathing, he would have thought no sisters had ever loved each other as much as these three.

Supper that evening was quite sumptuous, with course following course of melon balls, lobster tail, lamb in mustard sauce, perfumed rice, and wild peas in a lemon butter sauce. All of this was accompanied by the finest wines, and the meal was completed with fresh, ripe strawberries dipped in chocolate.

All three sisters looked like they were in a drunken stupor from the rich food, wine, and dessert. Thomasina and Calla had not, however, eaten as much as Psyche. They were as alert as deer ready to run at the snap of a twig. Thomasina and Calla exchanged looks: now was the time.

"Little sister," Thomasina began softly, "tell us again about your husband. I know you mentioned him last time, but I can't remember what you said."

Psyche was so groggy from all she had eaten and drunk that she could not remember what she had told them. "He's ... he's ... a, well, a merchant! He must travel a lot, of course, which is why he is not here to meet you."

Thomasina and Calla looked at each other again. Last time Psyche had said her husband was away hunting.

Calla reached over and took Psyche's hand, squeezing it softly. "Oh,poor Psyche!"

Psyche looked concerned. "Why do you pity me, Sister?"

"We know the truth, and we are disappointed that you would not confide in us, your sisters who love you so much."

"I-I-I have no secrets to hide," Psyche said, unconvincingly.

Now it was Thomasina's turn. "We are hurt that you mistrust us so."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"When we were here before, you told us your husband was away hunting. Now you tell us he is a merchant."

"He ... he is both," Psyche responded weakly, and then she started to cry. "Oh, dear sisters! Forgive me! I did not mean to lie to you. It is just that —" She stopped as she remembered what her husband had made her promise. But at that moment, he seemed so far away, she wondered if he were actually real.

"Go on," Calla said softly

"I do not know what my husband does. And worst of all, I have never seen his face."

"How could that be?" they both asked.

"He comes at night, makes love to me in the dark, and leaves before the sun comes up."

Thomasina sighed deeply. "It is just as we feared."

"What did you fear?" Psyche asked eagerly.

"When father told us that the god Apollo said you were to be married to a monster, we asked Father to tell us more about this monster. He could not. He said he had been so devastated by what Apollo had told him, he had not wanted to know more. We upbraided him for not protecting you."

"Early this morning," Calla continued, "Thomasina and I went to Apollo's temple ourselves and asked him to describe this monster you married." She stopped.

"Please go on," Psyche pleaded.
The two sisters sighed dramatically

"What Apollo told us was so awful I am reluctant to repeat it," Thomasina said. "After all, look at you. You live in the finest palace in all the world, with more wealth than you will ever know what to do with. You have invisible servants to carry out your every command. You eat the finest foods. Would that our husbands provided for us half as well. If our husbands did for us as yours does for you, we would not care what they looked like."
Psyche burst into tears. "Sister. Why do you torture me? If you know something, it is cruel not to tell me. I have spent so much time trying to imagine what my husband looks like. Please. What did Apollo say to you?"
Thomasina looked at Calla. "Should we say what we learned?"

Calla hesitated. "I don't know. Our sister is delicate. I would not want to be responsible if we spoke and her heart was so startled by our news that it ceased beating."

"Stop it!" Psyche screamed, beyond herself with fear now. "Tell me this moment, or I shall call West Wind to remove you and keep you from coming here ever again."

"Very well," Thomasina said. "But we warned you." She paused, then went on. "Your husband comes to you in the guise of a man, but he is really an enormous snake with large jaws. He has a body that could wrap itself totally around you from head to foot. Worst of all, he has a bulging neck filled with poison."

"Oh no!" Psyche cried.

"I fear there is worse."

"What could be worse than what you have said already?"

"Only this. Your husband pampers you now. He will continue to do so as long as you do not bear him a child."

"Why? What will happen?"

"His favorite delicacy is a woman near the end of her pregnancy." Psyche shrieked. "Oh no! No! No!"

"What's wrong?" Calla asked.

"He just told me that I-I am carrying his child."

"But how could he know?"

Psyche, weeping, shook her head. "I don't know. I don't know."

Thomasina couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was working out better than she could have dreamed.

Psyche, tears flowing down her face, hugged her sisters. "Thank you for telling me the truth, but now I am confused and frightened. Please tell me what to do."

Calla answered. "The moment Thomasina and I left Apollo's shrine, we began talking about that. We agreed that there is only one solution. Get the sharpest carving knife you have. Hide it in your bed. Tonight, after the monster makes love to you and falls asleep, light the lamp. Then take the knife and cut off his head. And do not be afraid. Thomasina and I will be close by, and when you have done the deed, we will hurry in and help you get away with all your treasures."

With tears still pouring down her face, Psyche nodded. "Thank you, Sisters! I do not know what I would have done without you."

Slowly, Psyche walked away.

When Thomasina and Calla heard Psyche close the door of her quarters, they gathered as much jewelry as they could from one of the rooms, then hurried out the front door of the palace.

Favonius saw Thomasina and Calla looking around as they hurried across the palace grounds. He picked them up, though they were even heavier than before.

"What do you think is going to happen when Psyche sees her husband?" Calla asked her sister.

"If I know our little sister, she will be so frightened, her husband will look like a monster even if he is not."

Calla laughed. "She probably won't even look at him. She'll try to stab him with her eyes closed."

They laughed.

"She doesn't have the nerve or the strength to kill anyone. If she tries, her husband, whoever he is, will awaken, see her with the knife in her hand, take it, and kill her."

"And then he will come looking for us to blame."

"Which is why we must not go back to our parents' palace. That is where Psyche's husband would look for us. Let us return to our husbands and offer to give them some of our jewels in exchange for divorces."

As Favonius put the sisters on the mountaintop, they did not know he had heard every word. He wanted to warn Psyche but knew she would not believe that her sisters, her blood kin, would be so deceitful and treacherous. Thomasina and Calla, however, deserved to be punished for their evil. Favonius would find the way to do that.

Chapter end