Psyche

Chapter 6

Had they been paying attention, Nikolas and Psyche would have heard a peculiar splash as they walked away from the brook. Arethusa, the naiad who had indirectly prompted Zeus to grant Psyche her beauty, had burst forth from the brook, hovering just above the water. She spiraled forward so her face was near the ants.

"What just happened here?" asked Arethusa, who glanced over at the prince and princess now kneeling in a patch of milkweed.

"The child saved us from her sister," said the ant. "The black-hearted princess was going to use the glass to burn us to death. The younger princess fought for us, even taking scratches that broke the skin and bruises which will mar her pretty face and arms."

Arethusa looked down at the ant, and she remembered well the curse Zeus had put upon the vicious Princess, which was collaterally a curse on her younger sister. Arethusa was impressed by the child's bravery and caring for creatures smaller than herself.

"We are very grateful to the child," said the ant, "and we shall let our queen know that the human Princess Psyche is in our kingdom's favor."

Arethusa nodded. "I shall remember as well. I have a feeling that Psyche will need much watching over if she is going to grow to adulthood with her good nature intact. I cursed her with beauty, and later, I have heard tell that Aphrodite was jealous of that beauty and so cursed the girl with intelligence"

The ant nodded. "She is in our favor," repeated the creature. "She is in our favor. She is in our favor." Ants liked to repeat themselves, a trait that Arethusa found quite endearing.

"And," she said, "To reward your people for that gratitude, I shall see to it that no frog from my brook makes a meal of any of you for ten generations." Arethusa looked up in the sky. 'I'm afraid I have no domain over the birds."

The ant prostrated itself an ant gesture of thanks. "It is more than enough," replied the ant. "It is more than enough. It is more than enough." 

Arethusa watched as the line of insects disappeared into their mound. In the distance, she watched Psyche and her brother smiling as they carefully observed the butterfly cocoons without harming them.

"I'm deeply sorry, Psyche," said Arethusa, whose love affair with Zeus was long over, "and consider yourself under my protection as well."

Unfortunately for Psyche, there were gods far more powerful than a naiad like Arethusa, including the foul-tempered and jealous Aphrodite, but the naiad nevertheless resolved to atone to the little princess for her own actions. It was the least she could do.

Beyond that, Arethusa also noticed that Prince Nikolas, who shared a sense of compassion with his baby sister, had grown into a very handsome and charming young boy. In a few years, he would be an attractive young man. She grinned and flapped her wings furiously in delight, before turning around and plunging back into the water, her mind spinning furiously.

"It's been a great while since I had a love affair with a mortal," thought Arethusa. "I wonder if Eros would do me a favor. I'm sure I have something to offer him in return."