Page 42 of This Divine Revelry

‘Fine!’

The agreement happens without thought – and Dionysus looks as startled to have made one as I am. He blinks as though dazed – but, as he has said numerous times, he’s a god of his word.

‘Oh Fates,’ he says, with dawning horror. ‘We’re getting married.’

I’m tying my life to his – those threats he’s facing would become mine. But that’s nowhere near as terrifying as a lifetime beside Dionysus.

‘Yes,’ I say despondently. ‘Apparently we are.’

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DESPITE MY LATE NIGHT, I wake the moment the sun crests. I always do – Phaedra and my mother too, so the rosy-fingered dawn always makes me think of them. I never made the connection with Helios before, but I think of what Dionysus said. Just how much attention has he been paying to me to notice such a thing? And is this truly a habit from my grandfather? I always thought Circe and Medea were the only ones with any hint of his legacy, but maybe there are other ways immortal blood runs through.

‘If it is you, Grandfather,’ I say to the melting sky, ‘please know it has been noted you sent a chariot to aid Medea’s escape from Corinth but decidedly did not help me off this island. Your favouritism among your grandchildren is quite clear.’

‘Oh, I don’t know about that.’ I turn to find Silen crossing the beach just below the outcrop I’m perched on. ‘We sailed here from Kalymnos, to the east – quite literally chasing the sun across the horizon.’ Even though Silen doesn’t have goat legs to match their horns like some of the satyrs, they still have no trouble climbing up to me. ‘Maybe Helios sent us.’

‘Did he send you now too?’

‘No, that would be Dionysus informing me of certain developments.’

‘Right, those.’

‘Well, you don’t sound particularly pleased, so I suppose I can cross manipulating him to secure his hand off my list of concerns.’

‘Oh, please do. Anything else on the list?’

‘You being as impulsive as he is? I never thought anyone would be able to match it. How are there two people in this world who would hatch an engagement plot in an evening?’

Well, I cannot particularly argue with that one.

‘Look, Ariadne,’ Silen sighs, and comes to sit on a rock opposite me. ‘I’ve known Dionysus since we were children. He’s not had the easiest life. Most of it was spent tormented by Hera and it wasn’t always Dionysus bearing the brunt of her punishment. She’d curse the caregivers, sometimes even kill them. Hermes would swoop in on his father’s orders and shuttle him to the next. All rather turbulent and painful. Dionysus says this marriage is partly for your protection, but it’s been the people closest to him who have consistently been hurt.’

But it’s not me I’m concerned for in that. It’s him – as he said, freewheeling god of revelry and fun, and, the way I’d always suspected, it was to avoid something harrowing.

‘He explained the … particulars of his powers, didn’t he?’ they ask, and when I nod they add: ‘It’s not that I think he’d choose mortality. He loves life and, the Fates only know, he’s fought for it. And it’s not like immortality is all that rare – most satyrs on that beach, myself included, for instance. But godhood is particular. He sees it as a sort of duty. He thinks that if he can rebuild the world, he might one day feel worthy of all that power thrumming in his veins.’

Something in my chest tugs. How did I ever compare him to Theseus? To any of those entitled heroes? Dionysus who sees godhood as a gift to dole out in turn, as a responsibility to those around him?

I could believe in him, I think. Not as a god. Not as a being to worship. But as a person. As Dionysus.

Silen stares off across the ocean. ‘It’s not just Hera. Most kings rule by fear. Dionysus heading into their lands to replace that terror with joy might gain him popularity with the masses, but it’s also earning him enemies among those with power. Right now, the only place more dangerous than where Dionysus stands is by his side. Risks are coming from the Heavens and the lands and Fates only know where else, and you should know all of that before you agree to this.’

‘You’ve stayed,’ I say. Because even if this is a greater risk in the long term, for now it’s protection from my father and Theseus for long enough for me to persuade them not to hand Phaedra over – and that’s all that matters.

‘My father, Silenus, was his – our – tutor. Taught all the kids in our village – and the human children too. I didn’t know Dionysus was a god for a long time. But I knew he was kind, and funny, and an outcast who clung mostly to himself. Which was me too, back then, while I was figuring myself out, just as he was – I think I acknowledged I was some third gender the same week he realized that he didn’t have one at all. And when you’ve become yourself alongside someone … Well, I accepted a long time ago that by his side is a risky place to be. But it’s where I’ll choose to remain for the rest of my life.’

I nod, softening. It is good to know Dionysus inspires such fealty. I may be confused by the number of his followers, but the loyalty I understand.

‘Thank you for letting me know.’ I look back out towards the horizon, and those waves seem calmer. Everything does. ‘But some things are worth the risk. And I think he’s one of them.’

The girls find me soon after.

‘A wedding!’ Myrto exclaims, grasping my shoulders as though if she shakes me enough, some sense might fall through. ‘I have a day to plan a wedding? One singular day! How could you do this to me?’

I wince. ‘Sorry.’

‘No, no, I’m sorry.’ Opora pushes Myrto aside to throw her arms around my neck. ‘I had no idea I was talking about you last night. I never would have –’