Starcrossed

missed the point.
    “Do you know how marriage was defined in ancient Greece?” Noel said in a calmer tone. “It’s really simple. A virgin goes to a man’s house with the family gathered as witnesses. The virgin and the man share a fire, a meal, and a bed. If the girl wasn’t a virgin in the morning, then the couple was considered married. That’s it. That’s all it took. You’re still a virgin, right?”
    Helen blushed furiously, her jaw dropping. “Yes. But that’s no one’s business but my own!”
    “It certainly is our business. Because you and Lucas have shared almost everything else on the list, all that’s left is the consummation of the marriage. If that happens, then as far as the gods are concerned you will be his wife. If you’re his wife, then that unites the final two Houses. And you know what that means.”
    “War,” Helen said, completely stunned. Her brain scrambled to find the flaw in Noel’s argument—the one thing that would make it untrue—but she didn’t come up with anything. “It’s impossible.”
    “No, it’s ironic. The first Trojan War started because two teenagers fell in love and ran off together, and here are you and Lucas, poised to make exactly the same mistake,” Noel said, her pity beginning to show through her anger.
    “And Lucas knew all this? Right from the start?” Helen asked. She felt strangely numb.
    “From the first moment he saw you,” Noel replied.
    “That explains a lot,” Helen whispered, still putting the pieces together in her head. “I thought he was just old-fashioned or something.”
    “Lucas? No.” Noel laughed, shaking her head at the thought. “But he is honorable, so I trusted him with you. I allowed this to go on because I believed that he would be able to control himself and not do anything that the world would regret. But the cestus changes things.”
    “Why?” Helen asked, suddenly perking up. “I’ve always worn it, and he’s always been able to control himself. And I didn’t exactly make it easy on him, either,” she added with regret. “But from now on I won’t pressure him, and that way we can still be together, right?”
    “And then what?” Noel pleaded gently. All the anger had gone from her once she saw how invested Helen was, how much Helen cared. “You could both stay true to your word and never touch each other, but what do you think that will do to your relationship over time? What do you think it will do to Lucas?” Noel paused and looked at her hands in her lap.
    “It’ll be hard, but we know what’s at stake. . . .” Helen began, trying to bargain.
    “I’ve already been told that I’m going to lose my daughter to madness. I can’t lose my son as well,” Noel interrupted, her eyes wide with fear. “Please, Helen. I’m begging you. Stay away from Lucas. If you get a little distance from each other, maybe he’ll be able to let you go before it’s too late.”
    “You’re talking like I’m going to drive him crazy or something,” Helen said, frustrated. Noel gave her a piercing look that warned Helen not to belittle the situation.
    “The cestus isn’t some silly love potion you can buy at the county fair. This is a relic from the goddess of love herself, and if you don’t think it’s possible for someone to be driven mad by love, it’s only because you haven’t truly felt it yet.”
    “Then I’ll take it off. . . .”
    “You will not,” Noel ordered. “The cestus has probably saved you more times than you can know. Do I need to remind you again how important your life is?”
    They sat staring at each other for a few moments while Helen struggled with her thoughts. She’d read the Iliad , and she’d hated Paris and Helen as much as Lucas had. She saw them as selfish. So selfish that they were willing to watch a city burn to the ground rather than part. But was Helen Hamilton any better than Helen of Troy if she wouldn’t give up the man she wanted when it was required?
    “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?” Helen burst out.
    “Lucas forbade it. He said he wanted a little time and a little privacy, and no one blamed him for that. Relationships are private things.”
    “But we’re not allowed to have a relationship, are we?” Tears tried to make hot puddles out of her eyes. “This isn’t fair.”
    “I know it isn’t,” Noel said, brushing a lock of Helen’s hair behind her shoulder so she could see her face.
    “Are none of us are allowed to