The Oracle of Delphi (Greek Myth Fantasy Series) (12 page)

“I am only allowed to give them out to children of the gods. I’m sorry, but I cannot give you a pair for Andromeda.”

“That’s fine,” said Andromeda, settling herself on a log. “You two just go find the Graiae Women and leave me here to rest.”

“Are you sure?” asked Perseus. “I would hate for anything to happen to you while I’m gone.”

She rested her chin in her hands and stared at the glowing embers of the fire.

“Why not? It would be the perfect solution. You would get what you want while leaving me lost in the forest, and then you wouldn’t have to kill the sea serpent after all. All your problems would be solved.”

“Is that what you think?” he asked. Her opinion of him as being so cold-hearted was disturbing. “I told you I would slay the sea serpent, Andromeda, and I won’t go back on my word. But I also told you, it would be after my own mission when I could afford the time.”

She stood abruptly, fists rigid at her sides. Her blue eyes no longer twinkled like stars, but clouded over with a darkness of despair.

“Go find your gray women and everything else you need to help yourself, Perseus. I no longer want to travel with you. I will find some other man - a real hero - to save my village.”

“You will not find anyone addled enough to take on your dangerous task. If the sea serpent comes from the gods, no mortal will be able to kill it.”

He watched her mount her horse, her intention to leave very clear. It had to be a trick, he decided. She wanted him to run after her and fall at her feet trying to please her. Well, he wouldn’t do it. She could play her little games, but he wouldn’t get involved.

“You need me and you know it,” he called after her.

“I don’t need anybody,” she called over her shoulder, leaving him in the wake of her dust.

“She has left,” commented Hermes, sitting back with his feet up on a log.

“No, she hasn’t. She will be back. You will see.” Perseus watched her ride away, the emptiness inside him growing.

“Aren’t you going to go after her?” Hermes raised an eyebrow in question.

Perseus didn’t answer right away. He had actually considered it for a moment. But only for a moment. If she insisted on leaving, then who was he to stop her? Mayhap things were better this way.

“Nay,” Perseus answered. “Let her go.” He mounted his horse, looking one more time in her direction. Any moment now she would be following him again, begging him to slay the sea serpent. Wouldn’t she? “Come,” he said to Hermes. “Show me the way to the cave of the Graiae.”

Andromeda tried for the tenth time to start a fire. She rubbed the rocks and sticks together just like she had watched Perseus do, but still the kindling did not ignite. Darkness covered the sky now, and she felt the chill of night settling in upon her. She shivered and pulled the cloak around her tighter, wishing for the warmth of Perseus’s strong embrace.

She picked up the dagger she had found in the saddlebag, using it to cut the last of the cheese, which she eagerly devoured. Her mind ran rampant with thoughts of wild pheasant and rice, stuffed grape leaves, even rabbit. Perseus had a way of preparing rabbit that put even the head cooks of Thessaly to shame.

She didn’t know why she left him, but at the time it seemed like a good idea. Mayhap it proved to be a test of faith in her eyes. She wanted so badly for Perseus to come after her, but he didn’t. The further she rode away from him, the more she wanted to return. But her pride would not permit her to. Her act of leaving without Perseus following, only proved to her that he did not really care for her. Any man who put his mission above his wife did not deserve a wife at all.

She’d fare better without him, she told herself, but she had a hard time convincing herself it was true. A wolf howled in the distance and her horse stirred anxiously, pulling at his tether. Danger lingered in the air. She could feel the presence of something nearby.

A twig snapped and she jumped to her feet.

“Hello?” she cried, looking around, but the dark night blinded her vision. “Who’s there?”

She saw something large move through the air and heard the fluttering of wings. Then she heard the creaking and snapping of branches from the treetops. She had no time to run as a large predator dropped from above, landing directly on her. She fell to the ground in a tangle of silk and cotton, screaming for her life.

“No! Get off me. Help! Someone help me.”

She beat upon the predator, hoping to kill it with her bare fists. She could not see what attacked her in the dark as her cape flipped up over her eyes. She slid her hand over the ground toward the fire pit, hoping to secure the dagger. When she felt the cold metal beneath her grip, she clutched it and thrust it toward her attacker.

“Princess, what the hell are you doing?” A hand gripped hers, stopping her from striking. She couldn’t mistake the sound of Perseus’s voice, which was music to her ears at a time like this.

“Perseus?” She pulled the cape away from her face, studying his dark form sprawled on the ground next to her. Positioned on his stomach, while she lay on her back, their legs tangled over each other. “Perseus, it really is you!”

“Who did you think it was - a harpy come to attack you?” His lips turned up in a slight grin and she felt the sincerity of his smile.

“Well what in the name of the gods were you doing up in the trees in the dark? And why didn’t you make your presence known instead of scaring me half to death?”

“I’m not quite used to the operation of these blasted shoes yet. I had a close encounter with an owl, which set me off balance, sending me into the trees. I can honestly say I know how it feels to be a bird.”

She recognized the shoes on Perseus’s feet as the winged ones Hermes gave him.

“You flew here?” she asked in astonishment. “In the dark?”

He pushed up to his knees, helping her right herself. “I couldn’t very well find you without them. After all, you had an hour’s head start in the opposite direction.”

He helped her to her feet, and she realized she still had the dagger in her hand. She looked down to it, wondering why he had come after her. Could it be he really did care for her? Mayhap she had been wrong about him.

“Ah, that’s what I’ve been looking for.” He snatched the dagger from her hand and slid it into his belt.

“You … you came after me just for the dagger?” she asked.

He ran a hand over his hair to smooth it, and fiddled with the hilt of his sword. “Well, I’ve grown rather accustomed to it.”

The realization was just too much for Andromeda. She had hoped he came for her, but now she could see it was not true. Why did she expect anything different from the man? Why couldn’t he have grown accustomed to her instead of the meaningless dagger?

“Well, now that you have your dagger, why don’t you leave?” She turned back to the fire pit and tried again to light it, but to no avail.

“I could. But I think mayhap I would like to rest a bit first.”

He reached out and gently took her hands in his, placing them on her lap, then started a fire as easy as if he were a god.

“Well, rest someplace else. This is my campfire.”

“Not so.” He settled himself on the ground and crossed his ankles in front of him. The winged shoes glowed brightly in the light of the fire. Any evidence of dust or smudges were gone and instead they looked like new. “After all, I did start it. It doesn’t seem like you were having any luck.”

“I was doing just fine until you came along.” She paced back and forth in front of the fire pit.

“I’ll take that as an invitation to stay the night.”

“The night?” A sudden jolt dashed through her at the awareness they would be alone. Together.

“What’s the matter, Princess? Afraid to spend the night with your husband?”

Her husband he may be, but she didn’t owe him anything. If he’d come thinking she would throw herself willingly at him, then he didn’t know her well at all. She had kept both her life and heart purposely guarded from him.

“If you have come for another … romp … you can just get the idea right out of your head.”

“Romp?” The word amused him for some reason, and she found herself a bit unnerved by his laugh. “I hardly think of our coupling as a mere romp.”

“Really.” She remained standing, scrutinizing him, wondering what thoughts ran through his mind. “Well, then how would you describe it?” she asked curiously.

“Sit down, Princess.” He patted the ground next to him, a puff of dust rising to meet her. “I think this would be good conversation for around a fire.”

She didn’t agree, but found herself sitting at his request. She made sure not to be near enough to touch him, pulling her cloak around herself to shut out the harsh night chill.

“Yes?” she asked, staring into the fire.

“Princess, like it or not, we are married. We did what we had to do to move us forward on our quest.”

“Move
you
forward,” she reminded him. “I am still no closer to my goal than when I first met you. For all I know the sea serpent has already swallowed every villager in Thessaly.”

“Well then, mayhap you need to go back to Thessaly to see what has happened since you left.”

“You would like that, wouldn’t you? Then you would be free to go on your way and I’d stop pestering you to help me.”

“I didn’t say that, Andromeda. I didn’t say that at all.”

The use of her actual name touched a chord in her. She liked the way it rolled from his lips like a sweet, sensual caress. He moved closer, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. His head bent toward her, and he rested his cheek against the top of her head.

“I would like to get to know you, Andromeda, but you keep your life so secret. You are my wife and yet I know nothing about you. Please tell me about your homeland.”

She leaned back against him, letting him wrap his arms around her. His embrace encompassed her in a circle of warmth. Together they watched the flames jumping up toward the sky, lighting up the area around them.

“First tell me what you did with your horse. And Hermes.”

“Hermes took my horse up the mountain to the cave of the Graiae Women. He awaits my return.”

“Won’t he wonder what has happened to you?”

“He’s a god. I believe he will know.”

“Are you not afraid you are wasting too much precious time sitting here?”

“Andromeda. The time I spend with you is not a waste.”

She heard the words but should she believe them? Still, it made her happy to think he cared enough to take the time to get to know her. She snuggled deeper into his arms, laying her head back against his chest. The sound of his rapid heartbeat only added to her own excitement. This is the way it should be between man and wife.

“As you already know,” she said, “I once was thought to be the successor to the oracle. My parents, King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia took me to the Oracle of Delphi as a baby and left me there with the priestess.”

“But you did not stay,” he filled in the blanks for her.

“No. Not long, anyway. The priestess decided I would not be her successor and called for my parents to take me home.”

“Why?” he asked. “Did something happen to make her change her mind?”

“I don’t know. All she said was that I could be the next Oracle of Delphi, but she would not allow it. There was something - or someone else out there for me. My parents never gave up hope. They saw to it I never married, and made sure my virginity stayed intact so I would still have the qualifications should the priestess decide to call upon me again.”

“That is why you were still able to sit on the throne in the cave. At the time, you still qualified for the position.”

“I suppose.”

She couldn’t help but think of the awful experience in the cave. Her stomach lurched at the thought that she had almost fallen into the pit. If it had not been for Perseus, she could very well be gone.

“Thank you for saving me from the oracle. Even though it was your fault I was up there to begin with, I do appreciate your loyalty in saving me.”

“It had nothing to do with loyalty, Princess. I didn’t want you to fall into the pit any more than you wanted to go.”

He raised her chin up with his fingers while her head turned to stare into the depths of his hawk-like eyes. Feelings stirred inside her, and the urge to couple with him ran strong tonight. His lips lowered over hers and lingered. She opened her mouth for him like he taught her, and their tongues danced in a beautiful mating rhythm. Her eyes closed to the gentleness of his caress, and once again she surrendered.

“Tell me,” he said. “Why don’t you just give the sea serpent the offering suggested by the oracle? If you did, you would not need anyone to slay it. I have heard a sacrificial offering often pleases the gods. Perhaps once done, Nereus would call his sea serpent home.”

Her eyes popped open and she pulled away. The thought scared her more than the oracle itself.

“What did the oracle suggest you sacrifice? If it is animals or grain your village is short of, I can see to it you get the proper amount. I have coin earned from fishing on Seriphus. While the king thought to take just about everything we earned, Dictys and I often sold our catch to other fishermen we met on the sea.”

“I don’t need your coin,” she told him, wrapping her arms around herself. “What the oracle suggested is not even an option. The only way to stop the sea serpent sent by Nereus is to kill it.”

“But why?”

“I really don’t wish to speak of this anymore. Perhaps we can talk of something else.”

He nodded slowly, sitting forward, breaking up kindling, which he threw upon the fire. “Well then, why don’t you tell me what happened when you sat upon the oracle’s chair?”

His questions unnerved her. She wasn’t eager to speak of her experience on the chair either, but she knew if she didn’t, he would persist in questioning her.

“Sitting atop the chair was frightening,” she told him. “For one moment in time I knew everything and everyone’s future. I saw the whole world. I saw entire lives flash before my eyes so fast my head spun.”

“Did the oracle speak to you?” he asked. “Your eyes were closed and your body jerked, but yet your lips seemed to be answering someone. Someone besides myself.”

“Yes,” she agreed, “it did speak. It wanted to take me to the depths of the bottomless pit where I would become one with the spirit of knowledge.”

“Is that why you almost fell in, Princess? Did it pull you toward it?”

“No,” she said, staring into the fire. “I almost fell in because I stepped toward it of my own free will.”

“I don’t understand.” He finished up with the kindling and pulled her back into his arms. “Why would you want to end your life?”

If he knew what was in store for her once she returned to her village, he would not be asking this question. When it came to ways of dying, falling into a pit seemed mild compared to being swallowed alive by a serpent of the sea.

“It doesn’t matter,” she told him. “I am here now and that is all that counts.”

“Aye,” he said, rubbing his hand over her back in small circles. The feel of his hands on her body relaxed her. “So, tell me. Did the oracle happen to mention anything about where to find Medusa?”

Suddenly everything was clear to her. His act of concern belied the fact he searched her mind for answers to help himself. She removed his arms from around her, standing and making distance between them.

“That’s why you saved me from falling, wasn’t it? You cared nothing for my life, only the fact you may lose the chance of learning your precious answers.”