Alcina feels as if cold water is rushing through her veins. She stumbles.
“Whatever is the matter, dearest?” cries the prince.
“Nothing, my dear heart, I simply feel unwell. Please, help me away from the water’s edge.”
Once she recovers, the couple continues their ride over the castle grounds, but although Alcina’s arms are wrapped tightly around the prince’s waist, he feels no warmth from her, no ardent desire to embrace.
That evening, the castle hosts a ball. Everyone is anxious to see the prince and his new intended, including the scorned Magdalena. Ever gracious, she curtsies to Alcina then extends her hand to the prince.
“Will you dance with me, Your Highness?” she asks.
As they turn across the gleaming marble floors, the prince becomes aware of the heat from Magdalena’s hands and eyes. He is confused and disturbed by this evidence of her ardour. Away from her lake forever, would Alcina remain a cold water nymph in human form? He glances her way and sees no passion ripple across her blue-green gaze.
That night in bed, Alcina sobs into her pillow. Neither human nor nymph, she is suspended in a haze of loneliness. Her dreams are tumultuous, the wails of her sisters and disappointed notes of her father’s voice swirling around her. Waking in a sweat, she falls to her knees. Arms stretching to the heavens, she prays.
“O, Li Ban, goddess of our fathers, hear your humble servant’s plea.”
The dark bed chamber is suddenly illuminated in radiant white light and there stands Li Ban.
“You called for me, Alcina?”
“Yes, holy mother, I’ve sinned against Heaven and Earth. In my desire to win the heart of the prince I’ve changed into a mortal, but alas, I’m still only half-human. My passion was the price of my love. My prince will leave me for a real woman who will grow warm in his arms and I will languish on land, never able to return to the lake.”
“Dear Alcina, all is not lost. Your plight has won my sympathy and heart. I shall make you fully human, child, but I, too, have my price.
You and the prince will wed. You will produce a son, the heir, and a daughter. But your union will last ten years only. At this time, you must both return to the lake and die. This is the cost of your prayer.”
Alcina prostrates herself on the floor and cries, “Dear goddess Li Ban, I worship you and your beneficence.”
Li Ban stoops and raises Alcina to her feet. “Go child, and enjoy the present.”
The next breath, she is gone. Alcina staggers to her bed and falls into the deep sleep of the innocent.
In the morning she looks with love upon her prince, her eyes shining with unshed tears. She rushes into his arms and throws herself upon him.
“My dearest, my love, I shall cherish you until the end of our days.”
