Lives of Alcyone

Chart XLIV a
Crete 2821 B.C.
1 st 2 nd 3 rd 4 th 5 th 6 th 7 th
The relationship of various characters will be seen by reference to the list of dramatis personne, but two or three events of interest
are worth mentioning here. Mizar, the youngest daughter of Mars and Herakles, was famed throughout the whole island for her
wit and marvellous beauty, and, though she was still very young, a host of eligible young men were in love with her. It was an unwritten
law that the daughters of the royal house should not, except under extraordinary circumstances, marry before the age of
eighteen; so on her eighteenth birthday her father receieved four proposals for her, from Sirius, the son of Mercury; Crux, the son
of Brihaspati; Pallas, the son of Corona; and Achilles, the son of Vulcan.
Mars did not know how to decide among all these young men, so he called them all together into his presence and told them to
settle amongst themselves who should have the first right to offer himself to the fair one. The natural instinct of the time would have
been that the swains should fight for the maiden, but this Mars did not desire, saying that they were all as brothers, and that a quarrel
between them sould inevitably weaken the royal house. Pallas proposed that they should decide by throwing the dice, but
Sirius objected saying;
"I will never consent to dishonour so noble a maid by making her hand the prize of a gambling contest. We are
all here together; we are all brothers of the King's house; why should one seek to go before the other, and why should we put the
lady whom we all lovve to the pain of refusing any of us privately? If it please the King, let the Flower of Crete be called into his
presence here and now, and let her say which of us she chooses--if indeed she will have anyone of us whom she has known all
her life, for she may desire first to see strangers from other lands. Have I spoken well, O King?"
" You have spoken well," replied Mars. "Yet before she is called, I must have a promise from all that you will
abide peacefully by her decision, and that there shall be no quarrelling later about this matter."
" That will I at least promise freely and fully, my lord King," said Sirius. "Let me offer yet one more suggestion.
All we are bretheren, as I have said; let us be bretheren in another and different sense. All alike we love your daughter; let us bind
ourselves by a solemn sworn agreement that whoever she shall choose, whether it be one of us or some other, we will loyally
accept that choice, and will remain through all our lives true brothers to her and her husband, ready to render faithful service, and
if need be to yield life itself for her and for him."
The idea caught the fancy of the others, so they all sloemnly swore in the presence of the King to accept her choice and to be ever
at her service; and then Mizar was called. But Mizar had guessed beforehand what was going on, and had concealed herself behind
a curtain in an upper room the window of which looked down into the King's hall of private audience; she had heard what
Sirius had said, and perhaps that may have influenced her choice; or perhaps she had made up her mind long before. At any rate,
when her father concisely stated the case, she shyly gave her hand to Sirius, and then gathering courage from his grasp, she called
to the others, who were turning away in dejection after bowing before the King:
" Princes, hear me! I love you all; I would that I could please you all. I heard your vow of brotherhood, and I honour
you for it. let me on my side tell you that my husband and I accept your service and your friendship. Brothers shall you be to
both of us, and near our hearts, as long as life shall last, and even afterwards, if that may be."
The vow was kept, and no cloud of misunderstanding was ever allowed to arise between the members of that brotherhood. And
Hector (who had also loved her, but, because he was the younger brother of Sirius, had not thought it proper to present heiself
along with him) asked to be allowed to join the brotherhood when he heard of it, and most loyally kept his pledge. Afterwards he
married Dora, but she died in childbirth, leaving him three little babies. He found a foster mother for them in Boreas, the wife of
Nu, a poor man, whose little child had died only a day or two before. A year later Nu also died, and Boreas became a servant to
Mizar, to whom she was deeply devoted.
As will be seen from the table at the end, the other members of the brotherhood also married in due course, though they never
forgot their vow. Much to the sorrow of Achilles, Ophis, his eldest son, was killed in his first battle, when they were repulsing the
attack of an army of marauders from the island of Cyprus.
Before his marriage Sirius had been sent to Sicily on an embassy to one of the rulers there. On that occasion Achilles and Hector
accompanied him, and they had a most interesting voyage, and were much impressed by the wonderful beauty of the island.
Soma and Regulus were the heads of a family of the merchant class, who devoted much of their wealth to charitable purposes,
and so aquired the friendship of Sirius and Mizar, who were also much engaged in similer work. Some of our minor characters
appear in this life as slaves--a rare event in the group of incarnations which has been examined. Soma's son, Camel, fell in love
with Pomo who was one of these slaves, bought her, set her free and married her.
Orion took birth in 2736, in an Arab race in South Africa. His father owned land and flocks, but was at the same time a hunter
and trader. Orion and his younger brother Scorpio fell in love with the same woman. Orion married her, and the younger brother,