Destined by Jessie Harrell

agreement? Chara was headed off to be a queen. Not a princess even, but the queen of a powerful City. Of course it was good for Sikyon – the more friends we had, the better. But the feeling of wanting to be sick was too powerful to stay there. I couldn’t see her off. Not like this.
     
    Trudging back to my room, I climbed into bed with one of my favorite tragedies, Oedipus Rex. Maybe I could convince myself that his life was more screwed up than mine. Not that it should make me feel better, but I liked the idea of not being alone in having a messed up family. And if I didn’t find solace in the scrolls, at least I could count on my bed to wrap me in comfort until the soggy emptiness of the past couple days subsided.  
     
    I hadn’t been reading for long when I heard a soft knock. Mother nudged the door open, but waited in the threshold to see if I’d invite her in. I did.
     
    “Andreas?” I asked.
     
    “Gone,” she answered. “Apparently Corinth isn’t willing to pay through the nose for a sharp-tongued princess.”
     
    Thank gods. At least one thing I’d done this week had worked out in my favor .
     
    Mother sat on the edge of my bed and patted my knee. “How you holding up?” she asked.
     
    “Do you care?”
     
    Yeah, it was rude, but the last time she’d really spoken to me, she was hysterical with the news that her daughter had been adopted by Aphrodite. Then she’d shunned me just as much as Chara these past few days. She wasn’t getting back on my good side just by showing up.
     
    “Psyche, don’t be like that.” The lines around her eyes creased. “You’ve always been the understanding one. Try to see things from our perspective.”
     
    “What perspective is that?” I tossed the scroll down to the foot of the bed and began waving my arms at her as my voice perched on the edge of a yell. “The perspective that you decided to sell off your daughters because we’re at the peak of our bride price, even though you promised Chara she had at least another year? Or the perspective that you just let Chara dance off to a wedding without even knowing who her husband is going to be?”
     
    Mother didn’t answer, so I scooted off my bed, unable to stand sitting next to her any longer. “How am I supposed to trust you?”
     
    She sighed, long and heavy, as if weighing the possible responses. Finally, she said, “You knew about Chara, huh? Why didn’t you tell her?”
     
    Now it was me who didn’t have an answer. I didn’t want to admit I’d been too afraid to act. That the looks from Rasmus and Father had frozen me. That I’d convinced myself Chara’s temporary happiness would be better for her than the truth.
     
    “I know, Psyche,” she said. “Things aren’t always as straightforward as they seem.”
     
    Keeping my back to her, I rearranged the perfume and lotion bottles on my vanity. The sudden sense of losing everyone I cared about, even Aphrodite, nearly overwhelmed me. She hadn’t been back since our fight and I missed her sprawling herself across my room, playing with my hair, letting me try out every new fragrance I got on her first. Did our girl chats not mean anything to her? Was she missing me at all?
     
    When the lily scent of the last lotion I’d used on Aphrodite hit me, I had to swallow back a sob that threatened to choke me. How had my life gone so completely wrong in just four days?
     
    To keep from crying, I jerked my hair into a tight braid, pulling harder every time I thought I felt tears forming. And I focused my attention back on Mother. “Whose idea was it to let Chara go like that? Tell me it wasn’t yours.”
     
    In the mirror, I saw her looking down at her clasped hands. “Not mine, no; but I’m as much to blame as anyone. I didn’t stop it.”
     
    I spun around to face her head-on. “Why? What possible reason could you have for tricking her like that?”
     
    Mother’s eyes snapped up at my accusing tone. “Have you seen her the past few