Cyrilla's Mistake

Sisters Reunited

Cyrilla loved her mysterious husband and her new life. As promised, Enoc returned to her every night and stayed with her until just before sunrise. She didn’t have to worry about her meals or the pressure to help populate the pride as she had in the past. Enoc provided her with more food than she needed and mating, well… that wasn’t exactly something that she minded anymore. However, she found herself missing her family more every day. One afternoon, Cyrilla lay at the mouth of her cave, pondering life. There was just something that kept her mind reeling, thinking about her family and the life she’d left behind. Enoc explained vaguely that she was no longer permitted in her pride and cautioned her against seeking out her family. He warned Cyrilla that great misery would befall her if she failed to heed his advice. Cyrilla trusted her husband and wanted to do as he wished, but she couldn’t seem to get her family, especially her sisters, out of her head.

Suddenly, the all too familiar sound of her sisters’ laughter filled the air. One moment, Cyrilla was alone and left to her thoughts; the next, her sisters were near.

“My mind is playing tricks on me,” she thought as she settled back down.

Then, there it was again. Clearer than it had ever been in her daydreams, yet somehow exactly the same. Cyrilla resisted the urge to jump and run to them.

“Loneliness has driven me mad,” she thought. “I’m hearing things.”

She heard it again and lunged forward, running towards the sound. It grew louder as she ran, approaching the edge of a large cliff. She peered over and saw them. Eldina and Letira laughed gaily as they romped through the savanna playing tag. Overcome with joy, Cyrilla called out to her sisters as she bolted down the steep path towards them. Without a thought, she pounced on her oldest sister launching all three of them into an uncontrollable downhill tumble. The three of them sat in stunned silence for a moment before the middle sister spoke.

“Oh Cyrilla, I’ve missed you!” Eldina spoke joyfully. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“And alive,” Letira stated. Her disbelief was clear in every word.

“Alive.” Cyrilla paused for a sigh. “Yes, I’m alive. It turns out Father’s dream was accurate.”

Letira interjected, “I'll say, right down to the part where you ran off with a beast and humiliated him.” She looked sadly at the ground. “What exactly lured you into the hyena’s den anyways? I still don’t understand.”

The hyena's den. The words echoed in Cyrilla’s mind. Was that true?

Cyrilla struggled to find her words, the world spinning around her. She needed to get away and process what she’d just heard.

“Girls, I’ve got to go now. Dusk is coming soon and my husband will be waiting for me. Will you meet me here again tomorrow?”

She left without another word.

A Bilateral Plan

Cyrilla’s heart was heavy as her husband slipped in to lie next to her that night. She thought back to the only two things he’d ever asked of her and shuddered. The reality set in. She couldn’t keep her promises; she would never forget her family and now, she wasn’t sure if she should remain ignorant to her husband’s identity. Was he a hyena? Would it change things if he was? So many emotions weighed heavily on her heart as she drifted into a fitful sleep.

Both eager to see their sister’s husband, Cyrilla’s sisters followed her home that evening. They hardly believed their eyes when the god of love himself slipped gracefully into the cave shortly after Cyrilla returned. Eldina was shocked and more than a little impressed. Latira, on the other hand, was furious. Her own flesh and blood was married to a god and living it up, while she slaved away for their pride. She slummed around with lion after hideous ordinary lion and worked for the pride’s food, and Cyrilla was just sitting there being pampered by the god of love?! She knew it wasn’t fair and soon enough, she’d convinced Eldina to agree. Latira was convinced that Enoc should be with her instead. She was going to make her sister regret having ever lied to her and soon, she would have Enoc for herself.

The next day, the sisters convened once again and Latira’s conniving plan was initiated. It was almost too easy. Latira cackled quietly to herself as Cyrilla sauntered back to Enoc. She and Eldina convinced their sister that her lover was an awful beast in disguise. They convinced her that if she didn’t reveal his true identity, his poor intentions would soon be clear and he would take Cyrilla’s life.

“It’ll be simple,” Latira said. “All you have to do is catch him in the daylight and he won’t be able to hide his true identity.”

On her departure, Cyrilla swore to discover Enoc’s identity.

An Identity Revealed

Author's note.

In this story, I really wanted to capture some of the raw emotions I imagined as I read the original. Psyche’s sisters accidentally found her and discovered that her husband was Cupid, the god of love and they became very jealous. I wanted to pull that jealousy into my storyline too, because I think it is an important aspect. In romance stories, love and happiness are obviously important. However, where there is love and happiness, hate and jealousy are undoubtedly lurking in the shadows. I wanted to show both sides in this story.

I also wanted to go more in depth about Cupid's feelings over Psyche's betrayal. In the original, Cupid became angry and flew off with almost nothing said. I chose to add more emotion in mine, because I found that aspect of the original to be a little odd. It felt like there should be more passionate emotion involved than there was. When a man is in love and has been deeply hurt, I picture him exhibiting more than just anger.

I chose to leave the story on a bit of a cliffhanger, because I think it’s a great metaphor for how we feel when we have relationship quarrels. In a particularly bad disagreement, such as the one between Cyrilla and Enoc in my story, we’re enveloped by a whole slew of emotions. We feel pain, confusion, loss, etc. So, I left my story open, with Cyrilla uncertain where her relationship stands.

I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you will come back to read my fourth and finally story soon!

Finish reading in "Forever"!

I hope you're enjoying my rendition of Cupid and Psyche so far! I'd love to know what you think, so leave comments on my comment wall please!

Resource.

Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius, online source. Translated to English by Tony Kline

Photo credits.

Banner photo; online source, www.pinterest.com

Emotional Cyrilla; online source, www.walldevil.com