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They can’t keep doing this—meeting in the dead of night, sneaking out into the courtyard and hiding in the shadows, speaking lowly with their faces only inches apart—and Orpheus knows it all too well. They’re bound to get caught at some point. He doesn’t want either of them to get in trouble, especially her, especially with everything that she has to lose.
But gods, does she look beautiful with her face half illuminated by the dim light of the moon, the both of them running across the manicured grass back to their respective quarters, his up on the top floor and hers in the servants’ quarters below. There’s always a grin stretched wide across her face as she promises to meet him in the same spot next week, especially if they can’t steal a quick chat during the daylight hours of that time apart.
Eurydice insists that it’ll be fine; it’s worked so far, and they’re always as cautious as they can be. The risk is worth it for their midnight tête-à-têtes, the private moments they get curled up in their hiding place just talking for as long as they semi-safely can. But he’s worried despite their successful streak, fearful that their good fortune will deplete itself entirely before they know it, or that they’ll slip up somehow and be discovered.
But she’s right, like she always is. Orpheus can’t bear to stop their meetings when they’re the highlight of his week, and he’ll gladly give up quitting while they’re ahead if it means just a few more hours in her embrace.
~
His father says that the time for him to find a suitor has come, and Orpheus feels his stomach drop with dread. It’s brought up during their morning meal in the most casual and mundane manner possible, like there’s no use even discussing something so simple. Orpheus’ appetite vanishes. He thought that he’d had time, at least a year or two more before anything started to be seriously considered. But the bombshell’s been dropped, and he doesn’t have a choice but to listen as his father lists out some of the options he has available to him.
Orpheus finds himself cursing his royal blood as his father goes on and on. A princess from Macedonia. A nobleman’s son from Athens. A woman who was said to be the most beautiful in all of Greece and was inviting suitors from all over, though his father voiced rather clearly that he had little faith she’d choose Orpheus over the other men, especially with his youth. There were already too many eligible spouses and they were only the people the king could think of off the top of his head. Orpheus says that he’ll think on it before excusing himself to his room.
In his bedroom, he finds Mr. Hermes waiting for him, a look of concern on his face. The older man doesn’t have any specific job, but Orpheus is pretty sure he keeps the entire manor running. A few of his positions happened to be tutoring Orpheus when he was younger and acting as counsel in the present, leading to his practically raising the boy in a home with a careless father and a long-absent mother.
“I’m too late, then?” he asks, seeing the look of panic on the boy’s face and shaking his head. “I meant to give you a warning before your father sprung it on you, but I suppose he was rather eager about the whole affair.”
“I’m only sixteen, Mr. Hermes! I knew that this would come at some point, but I thought that I’d have a while before he forced anything. He has an entire list! What am I supposed to do if I don’t want to be married yet? At least… well, not to anyone my father has in mind.”
If Hermes registered his final sentence, he didn’t show it. He patted his shoulder for comfort, but the grim face he wore and the lack of ensuing advice outlined the very few options Orpheus had. Hermes left the boy alone to think, and to try and figure out how to get out of this arrangement before his father’s wishes came to fruition.
~
Only a few days after Orpheus frantically informs Eurydice of his father’s marrying him off, he finds that she’s gotten herself dismissed. Panicked, he pleads for the story from other waitstaff, disregarding the risk. They tell him that she purposefully disrespected the king during the serving of supper the night before, and had been sent away immediately. She’d promised him that she had a plan, but Orpheus cannot fathom what it could be for her to get herself seen off.
That week he goes to their meeting place even knowing that she will not be there, and sits in the shadows by himself for a longer amount of time than he knows he should. During his walk back to his room one of the guards on nightly patrol spots him, and he endures the following lecture from his father with little more than a sigh. His bedroom door is locked from that point on, but Orpheus can’t find it in himself to be too upset when he has no reason to feel the thrill of sneaking out anymore.
~
He doesn’t hear from Eurydice for a month, and while he has faith in her, he worries that whatever plan she’d concocted had somehow been thwarted. Time moves on, his fate slipping past, and several nights are spent holding back tears at the idea that he’ll never get the chance to see her again. His never-ending hope during the day is much harder to hold onto in the darkness of his locked bedroom, especially with the increasing expectations to find a suitor.
But one night Orpheus is woken by a rapping against his window, and curiosity pushes his fear aside as more knocking comes a moment later. Pulling the curtains aside, he finds himself facing Eurydice, grinning just beyond the glass and waving at him. Shocked, he motions for her to move to the side before unlocking and opening the window, pulling her in and closing it again.
She’s laughing, trying desperately to quiet it with a hand over her mouth. “You know, it’s so much harder to avoid being seen by the guards when you’re scaling a wall, but it is a bit more fun.” Orpheus struggles to form anything coherent, staring at her like she’s a ghost.
“Did I finally make you at a loss for words, Poet? Told you I’d manage it someday,” she teases, and he just shakes his head.
“Eurydice!”
His arms wrap around her tightly, and she leans into his embrace. She laughs again, softer this time, and presses a kiss to his cheek as he finally strings together what he’s been trying to say, a mess of “I missed you” and “I was so worried” and “I love you”s. They move to sit on the bed, though neither is quite willing to disentangle their arms from around the other. Eurydice apologizes for being gone for so long, but tells him that everything is finally almost ready.
“I’ve got a little house for us and everything,” she explains, “up in the woods a while away from here where they won’t think to look for you. We can work odd jobs in the town below, I’ve already got some, and you can work and sing for people once the search dies down. Nobody will recognize you there. We can save up for a lyre like the one you told me Mr. Hermes taught you to play when you were younger, before your father took it away because it reminded him of your mom or whatever. We can do anything we want! You’ll be free!”
She stands up and then kneels in front of him, taking his hands in her own with the widest smile he’s seen on her face yet.
“You’ve told me so many times that you want to get out of here, even before your father decided that you’ve got to be married off to the best possible contender. Will you let me do that? Help you get out of here so that we can start our lives together outside of this place? We don’t even have to get married, you know I don’t care about any of that, we can just… be? I don’t know, I’m not the one out of us that’s good with words, but how about it?”
They’ve kept their voices down, just in case, but Orpheus can’t help the vehement “Gods, please!” that bursts out, surging forward to wrap her in a hug once again. Eurydice giggles and wraps her arms around his neck as he peppers her face with kisses. “That sounds absolutely wonderful! I love you, I love you, I love you, ‘Rydice. We’re gonna do it all, just you and me!”
The next hour passes in a blur, the couple excitedly planning and preparing, running through every detail. When it’s time for Eurydice to leave, they’d decided that Orpheus will be ready to go in several days, anything he needs or wants to bring in a bag for when she comes back to get him. They part with one last kiss, both beaming at how close their Elysium is.
~
In the next days Orpheus finds himself actively trying to dial down his elation so as not to draw any suspicion. While he’s nervous about leaving the only place he’s ever known, he can’t wait to escape from the manor and everything that comes with it—his father, who never truly cared for him, only raising him to be the heir to his throne and treating him as a painful reminder of his mother, who’d left before he’d even turned five; the expectations and a life that he’d never wanted, thrust onto his shoulders because of his heritage; the way he was shackled to that place, never allowed to experience the outside world or truly live.
There are a few things that Orpheus is saddened to know he’s leaving behind, too, but he doesn’t know how to say goodbye without risking his departure, so he decides that it’s for the best to simply leave a note.
A note he is in the process of writing when Mr. Hermes unexpectedly walks into his room on the evening of his leaving. Orpheus yelps at the sight of the man, jumping up from his desk and guiltily trying to hide the paper. His former tutor raises an eyebrow, looking at him and then to the bag sitting on the ground beside the window, stuffed with clothes and some other personal items.
“Going somewhere?” Orpheus panics, trying to come up with any plausible excuse and drawing a blank.
Shaking his head, he begins to insist, “Mr. Hermes, it’s… it isn’t what it looks like? Oh gods, please don’t tell anybody, I swear I’m not—”
“It’s fine, Orpheus. I’m not going to give you away. I was just wondering if I’d get a farewell before you went.” Hermes is smiling sadly, and Orpheus sighs from relief before running forward and embracing him.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to say it, or if you’d tell anybody else. I was writing you a note, actually. Thank you for everything, Mr. Hermes. I just… thank you.”
“Of course, kid. You’ve got a plan?” Orpheus nods, explaining, “We’ve got a house far away, and we’re going to figure it out together. Myself and Eurydice, I mean.”
Hermes chuckles, guessing, “The girl who was sent off last month? I thought there was something up with the two of you. I wish you both the best of luck, and if anybody comes looking for you there, simply have your girl tell them you aren’t there. Your father will most likely offer a prize for your return, and nobody else knows that you two are connected, so I very much doubt they’ll search the house. I will stall the discovery of your disappearance for as long as I can tomorrow, so you should make it a good ways before the search party heads out. Hopefully this will help as well.” He hands the boy a small pouch, the sound of its contents giving away that there was a rather reasonable amount of money inside.
Orpheus just thanks him again, adding it into his bag to take along. Hermes gives one last smile before exiting the room, the last rays of sunset shining through the window. Orpheus sits on his bed, his veins seemingly thrumming with excitement as he prepared himself for the wait for Eurydice.
He didn’t have to wait quite as long as expected. Only an hour or so after night falls, his window opens and Eurydice enters his bedroom, grinning widely. She helps him strap his bag onto his back and takes his hand.
“You ready?” she questions. Orpheus nods, laughing.
“You know, this reminds me of the fairytales I used to read. The knight always had to scale the tower to rescue their love. Except with us the rescue involves getting away from the castle, not returning to it,” he muses. Eurydice hums in agreement. “Everybody loves a good plot twist. I’m pleased to be your knight in our story, Poet. Now let’s get a head start on our happily ever after.”
She helps him down the building, ensuring that he doesn’t fall and isn’t seen by the guards. They make it to the first level of the manor and run out of holds, but Eurydice doesn’t seem worried.
“Now we jump,” she whispers, promptly launching herself off of the roof. Orpheus’ eyes go wide, but he follows her lead, taking a breath before jumping. He gasps as he lands in a large pile of hay, Eurydice quietly laughing beside him. They take off together, and the walk is a long one, a far way away from the manor like Eurydice had promised, but they walk side by side, hands intertwined as they trek on until sunrise, when they finally stop before their home.
It’s a tiny cottage situated in the woods, and Orpheus can’t help but think it’s perfect. The town is only a short walk away, but it’s private and cozy, and Orpheus turns to Eurydice with an expression of pure joy. She beams at his reaction before pulling him inside to show him around.
“Welcome home, Poet.”