Page 24 of Song of Memories

“My friend!” Orpheus laughed loudly, releasing Eurydice and opening his arms to embrace Perseus. The men embraced warmly, and Eurydice's stomach turned.

“I can see you have finally brought your pretty muse around.” Perseus's expression was lecherous as he shamelessly ogled Eurydice. “Although it is an interesting choice of dress she's wearing. Do you intend to find a woman to take home for yourself dressed as a man, Eurydice?” Both Orpheus and Perseus broke out in exuberant laughter at that. Eurydice's stomach dropped as she watched Orpheus nearly double over with the strength of his laughter.

Why the fuck are we together?

“Who gives a fuck if I do take a woman home?” Eurydice tilted her chin up and looked down on Perseus. “It's not like we haven't all heard the rumors about you and Polydectes.”

“All I ask,” Orpheus grabbed a goblet of wine from a passing servant, “is that if you take a woman home, make sure I get to come too.”

Perseus and Orpheus started laughing all over again, turning away from Eurydice and moving towards another group of drunken men. Eurydice didn't care to follow and didn't care to meet any more of Orpheus's friends.

This entire thing was a mistake, Eurydice thought to herself, slipping away into the crowd and finding a quiet corner of the room to hide in.

I wish Pan were here.

For the next hour, Eurydice mingled with a few of the nymphs and dryads that were in attendance, watching Orpheus from afar. He got drunker and drunker, mingling with men who shamelessly harassed and ogled other partygoers. Eurydice was getting ready to slip out of the back and meet up with Orpheus later when she noticed him making his way to a raised dais at the far end of the room. She knew what was coming as soon as he stepped up above the crowd, plucking a lyre from somewhere within the mass of bodies.

“Attention!” Perseus shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth and getting everyone to quiet down. “The illustrious Orpheus has decided to give us a song, ladies and gentlemen! Let's give him a hand.”

The party exploded as people started cheering, holding their hands up in the air and exalting Orpheus as if he was one of their gods. It was the first time that Eurydice got to see first-hand what sort of fame Orpheus had gotten used to while he was alive. It was daunting; an entire dining hall full of drunks dropped everything, including some of their wine cups, to hear Orpheus.

When Orpheus looked out over the crowd, his expression softened. There was a glimmer of something in his eyes that Eurydice could see all the way from the corner of the room. It sparked a little bit of remembrance in her, reminding her of a simpler time.

That was the Orpheus she remembered, the one who sang to her under the trees and wrote poetry on scraps of paper.

Orpheus held up his hand, and the applause quieted. Everyone went silent. His eyes scanned the room until they landed on Eurydice. He smiled warmly, his attention entirely focused on her. Eurydice's heartbeat picked up, and a blush appeared on her cheeks. She wrapped her hands around herself as her stomach flipped. There was something heady and powerful about having all of Orpheus's attention in a crowded room; the way he looked at her made her feel like the only woman in the world.

Orpheus adjusted the lyre and pushed back some of his hair, taking in a deep breath and preparing to sing. When the first few notes came out of his mouth, Eurydice nearly fell in love all over again. He sounded the way that spring felt to Eurydice. His singing reminded her of fresh flowers and fields drenched in sunlight. It was hypnotic.

“I would much prefer to see the lovely way she walks... and the radiant glance of her face...than the war chariots of the Lydians or their foot soldiers in a race…” Orpheus's words hung in the air, and Eurydice's heart softened. He continued to sing, and the entire crowd was raptured, not a single attendee walking away from the impromptu stage. No one even dared to breathe.

Orpheus finished, and the room exploded in applause once more. He held his hand out towards Eurydice, and she suddenly felt the weight of hundreds of pairs of eyes on her. Her heart jumped up into her throat; her blush deepened. Eurydice, through no fault of her own, was pulled toward the beautiful and wild things; she was a nymph, after all. When Orpheus sang, he was both beautiful and wild, and it was all that pulled her to him in the first place, all those years ago. She felt reckless and wild when he motioned for her to come up on the stage beside him, beckoning her, claiming her in front of the masses of people.

“Please, direct your warmth and applause to the love of my life, Eurydice. Without her, I would not exist. These songs would not exist. Give her your hands as she comes up on stage to join me.”

Eurydice said nothing but smiled gracefully as she moved through the crowds, people parting to make a path for her towards the dais. Orpheus's hand was warm and soft as Eurydice slipped hers in his. He helped her step onto the dais and made room for her to stand beside him. Eurydice opened her mouth to address the room, planning on thanking them for the warm reception, but Orpheus seemed to sense her intention.

He quickly intercepted Eurydice, cupping her jaw with his hand and tilting her head towards him. Eurydice stiffened immediately, still unaccustomed to Orpheus's touch unless she initiated it. Luckily, he didn't kiss her on the mouth, but pressed a firm kiss to her cheek. The warm feeling in her chest disappeared, followed by a sinking feeling in her stomach.

I had no idea that a kiss could feel so much like a rebuke.

The crowd erupted anew at the sight of the affection between one of the Underworld's most famous couples. Eurydice realized what Orpheus was doing with shocking clarity. She was only welcomed up on the stage next to him as a showpiece, as a decoration. He only saw her as a way to boost his own fame, and he kissed her to keep her quiet and give the audience something to talk about.

In front of such a crowd, Eurydice said nothing, but the tumultuous buzzing in her head wouldn't stop. Her opinion about Orpheus changed every hour, and his behavior did too. Only minutes ago, she was won over once again with the memories of how it felt when he sang for her and her alone, but those days were long gone. Could she learn to love a man like this? Was it possible to reconcile this Orpheus with the one that she had very scant memories of?

Eurydice was lost again in the labyrinth of her thoughts, wishing there was someone who could tell her exactly what she was feeling so she didn't need to decode her own emotions.

Orpheus said something else to the crowd that Eurydice didn't catch, and then he launched into song again. Eurydice had no choice but to take another step back and watch Orpheus while she was now stuck up on the stage behind him like a tapestry.

“Your enticing laughter that indeed has stirred up the heart in my chest...For whenever I look at you even briefly, I can no longer say a single thing…” Orpheus crooned out over the audience, driving the watching crowd into a frenzy.

Eurydice spotted Perseus in the crowd, looking incredibly smug as he watched the stage and surveyed his own party.

He must be feeling very smug about this, Eurydice thought to herself. His reputation will surely skyrocket now that he got Orpheus performing with me standing beside him.

Eurydice sensed the thorns under her skin fidgeting and threatening to make an appearance.

Even the flowers in the wild were not objects only to be stared upon for their beauty. They fed the insects and strengthened the soil.

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