Once Athena left them under the supervision of the hearth tenders, Shara excused herself for a moment. Under the pretense of needing something from her bag, she went back into the lodge. Making sure no one was watching too closely, she activated the special security guard she had attached to the bag before leaving Innerworld. With the guard on, the bag was locked and its weight increased to make it impossible for anyone to open or move it. The contents were far too valuable for her to be as trusting as she normally would be.
The moment she returned to the cookhouse, she was assigned a task. Fortunately for Shara, she was asked to wash a basinful of tubers, something that required no previous experience. Gabriel was put to work turning the spits over the hot fires. It was beginning to look as though they would either be freezing or burning up throughout their journey.
As soon as she thought of burning up, she made a quick mental check of her body's condition then relaxed when she was positive she was perspiring from the heat of the fire and not an inner fever.
Now that she was in the time period she wanted, she was going to be too busy to have to deal with a biological impediment. She sincerely hoped the last time-hop had expelled the unexpected fever permanently.
Shara's gaze automatically shifted to Gabriel. With his back to her, she didn't hesitate to watch the play of muscles in his arms and back as he rotated the spit. His muscular legs were braced apart to keep his balance and the tunic was insufficient to stop her from thinking of the rest of his perfectly sculpted body. On Outerworld he would have been compared to a Greek god, but now she was among the men who were the Greek gods and she considered Gabriel's physique superior.
Not that she was going to allow that incredible body, or his handsome face, to affect her judgment. As long as there was no fever forcing her to give in, she would resist the urge to stroke those muscles or thread her fingers through his silky blond curls, or—
She pulled her gaze back to the vegetable in her hand. Ogling Gabriel was not the way to control her weakness. With a little effort, she filled her mind with her mission.
Because their arrival occurred precisely when all the rebels were gathering, she was reassured about the theory of eddies and flows in time. Athena had said they had two sunrises after tomorrow before the ships departed for Terra. Surely that would be more than enough time for her to test a hair sample of every rebel in the vicinity for a DNA match with Khameira. All she had to do was wait for everyone in the lodge to go to sleep. Any Friends not in residence that night should be at the Summit in the morning. She would have to be discreet but she felt confident that she could accomplish her work without arousing suspicions.
To make sure she didn't miss anyone, her microputer contained the list of the names of the two hundred twenty rebels who were originally exiled to Terra. In order to check off those names, she had to learn each person's identity. While Athena was introducing those on hand, Shara had memorized names and faces but she didn't expect it to be that easy with everyone else in the camp. Though improvising was not one of her strengths, she was determined to find a way to test every single participant in the Friendship movement.
If only she could be sure Gabriel would not interfere. As she scrubbed the skins of a bottomless pile of tubers, she concentrated on how to get around his belief that history should not be tampered with. Reasoning with him had failed. She briefly considered offering the use of her body in exchange for his noninterference. However, she didn't believe he wanted to couple with her badly enough to forget his personal goal of preventing her from altering the past... to say nothing for the fact that coupling with him could influence her thinking instead.
"Drek!" Gabriel shouted, jumping away from the fire and shaking his right arm.
"He's been burned," a woman named Hestia called out. "Get Apollo's case!"
As a little girl dashed into the lodge, Shara dropped the tuber in her hand and rushed to see how badly he was hurt. A bright red splotch on the inside of Gabriel's forearm marked the injured spot and his clenched jaw let her know it was painful. The moment the girl brought out a small chest, Hestia removed a bottle of liquid from it and poured some over the burn.
"That will do until Apollo arrives to take care of it," she assured him. "Until then, perhaps you should help Shara."
He accepted her suggestion as everyone returned to his or her individual chores.
Shara grimaced at the blistering flesh on his arm. "Did the liquid help at all?"
"It numbed the area," he said, picking up a brush and a tuber. He lowered his voice to a murmur meant only for her ears. "It will be interesting to see if Apollo really was a healer, as legend says, or just a good pharmacologist."
Shara leaned toward him and whispered back, "You didn't burn yourself on purpose just to find out, did you?"
"Do I seem that unbalanced to you?"
She cocked her head at him. "As a matter of fact, you do. What the drek possessed you to say we were waiting to be joined?"
He casually looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to their conversation. "It was the first thing that came to mind that made us sound a bit fanatical, like true Friends. Plus we can now use it to explain any sort of aberration, including the possibility that the fever is still with us."
She wasn't at all happy to hear him bring that up but his reasoning did make sense, so she moved on to her next complaint. "Why didn't you tell me about the hand sign and triangle pendants?"
"Frankly, it never occurred to me." He saw a hint of yellow in her eyes. "Are you angry with me, Shara?"
Since such a reaction was uncalled for, given his explanations, she started to deny it when she noticed how intently he was starting at her. He wasn't guessing. He was analyzing the color of her eyes! Her shoulders slumped with the realization that she could no longer keep her feelings private. "How much have you figured out?"
Though he hadn't meant to reveal his one advantage over her, he saw no choice but to tell the truth. "Your eyes are like emeralds when you're pleased or excited about something, olive-gray when you're lying or evading, yellow-streaked when you're angry and an absolutely delicious shade of chocolate when you—"
"Hush! I have no control over the changes and I don't care to wear shields all the time. Normally it's not a problem. Only a few people have spent enough time so close to me that they can read my eye color like that." Now her cheeks were flushed.
"Shara, even without your overly expressive eyes, anyone could probably guess what you were thinking. I told you once, you're not much of an actress. You show your feelings with every part of your body. If it's not your eyes, it's the set of your chin, your posture, the way you move your hands." His gaze slid to her thinly covered breasts. "The way you move your body when I—"
"Please stop saying things like that," she whispered urgently, glancing around for eavesdroppers. "You know how I feel—"
"Oh, yes," he said over the rest of her sentence. "I know exactly how you feel. Like velvet and satin that's been warmed by the sun."
"I'm not listening."
"You promised to be accommodating."
She narrowed her eyes at him then touched the back of her hand to his brow. "You're not feverish."
"You didn't touch the right part of me."
Without thinking of the consequences, she looked down at his lap and her cheeks heated even more. The loose tunic had a small tent formed in it.
He didn't bother to hide his grin. "It's not my fault you look so desirable in that scrap of cloth." He leaned a little closer. "The only reason I got burned was because I kept thinking about what I saw when you bent over to place that stool you're sitting on." Her lips formed an O and he took advantage of her surprise with a quick kiss. "If you don't want me to say things like that, try not to tease."
"I... I... wouldn't, I didn't... not on purpose." His smile told her he was the one who was teasing and she grimaced at him rather than give him the smile she felt inside. She then made an attempt to distract him before she gave
away her true reaction to his teasing. "I think you should know, someone—two people, actually—tried to enter my mind while we were being greeted. I blocked them but I'd say we should assume we're not as accepted as they'd like us to think."
Before he could respond, Hestia came over to take a look at his arm. When she saw how many tubers were left in the basin, she pulled up another stool and helped them out.
The sun had set by the time all the food was prepared. As Shara helped bring it inside, she was pleased to see that the lodge was now filled with people she hadn't met yet. Though they all appeared to be humanoid, and the majority looked younger than her, Shara noted a wide range of differences in their individual features.
There were rather small people with yellow-brown skin, black hair, slanted eyes and prominent cheekbones. There were fair men and women as tall as her and Gabriel with wild manes of red and blond hair and bright blue eyes. Others had skin and eyes in shades of ebony. The most unusual were the men and women whose bodies were covered in intricate tattoos rather than clothing.
As the people started making their way toward the food, Hestia grasped Gabriel's elbow. "Come with me. Apollo has arrived with my brothers."
Shara followed close behind as Hestia guided Gabriel across the room to where Athena and Artemis were speaking to a group of men. One of those men stood out, even amid such a diverse crowd. Noticeably older than those around him, he was of giant stature and physique, with a riot of light brown curls that fell below his shoulders and a full beard of similar springy coils. Beyond the physical, however, there was something so regally imposing about his bearing, he could only be one of two men—Zeus or his brother, Poseidon.
Quickly Shara ran through the legendary family history Gabriel had given her. Zeus had another brother, Hades, who was less dramatic in appearance but had a penchant for fire and destruction. His sisters were Hestia, Demeter and Hera, whom Zeus made his mate once he was free of the moral restrictions of the Noronian Tribunal.
By this time, he had already fathered a considerable number of children with several of his female followers, in direct opposition to the regulated birth edicts of the Tribunal. The twins Artemis and Apollo were born of one of his women. Athena from another. The way he spread his genes around before and after going to Terra, Zeus was a prime suspect in Shara's search for Khameira's rebel ancestor.
"Good eve, brother," Hestia said cheerfully as she approached the group. "I hope that scowl you are wearing is caused by an empty stomach and not a bad day. We prepared all your favorites in anticipation of either circumstance."
The big man hugged her to his barrel chest and loudly kissed her on the forehead. "The day was frustratingly unproductive. The Tribunal has once again refused to hear our petitions and the councilors are afraid to challenge them. I have no doubt your wonderful cooking will bring me out of my foul mood though." He set her away from him as abruptly as he had hugged her. "But if you were truly concerned about my disposition, you would have brought my nectar, as you usually do."
Hestia looked to Athena, who answered for her. "That was my doing, sire. I recommended that no wines be served tonight, as we should all have clear heads for the sunrise meeting. Of course, if you wish—"
"No, no," Zeus said firmly. "You made a wise decision, as always." His gaze landed on Shara and his scow] softened. "Do I dare hope you have come to join our family?"
Hestia spoke before Shara could reply. "Shara, Gabriel, I present Zeus, leader of this commune of Friends. They are newly arrived, brother, but I fear I must disappoint you. They are to be joined soon."
His narrowed eyes cut through Shara's tunic as he scanned her length. "Soon is not already done. Perhaps you will share a cup or two of my special nectar with me tomorrow evening."
Thinking that would be an ideal opportunity to test him, Shara opened her mouth to accept but Gabriel's hand clamped over her bare shoulder and squeezed a warning.
With an easy smile, Gabriel said to Zeus, "Perhaps you'd sleep better tonight if you withdrew that offer."
Zeus's laughter echoed through the lodge. "You not only look like my son Apollo, you must have his courage as well."
"Actually," Hestia said, raising her voice to turn everyone's attention to her, "Apollo is the one I brought Gabriel over here to see. He was burned while helping at the hearth."
As Apollo moved to Gabriel's side and Hestia made the formal introduction, Shara could see the resemblance between the two men. After she obtained Apollo's genetic codes, it would be interesting to compare them against Gabriel's. They were both golden specimens of manly beauty and yet there was something remote about Apollo. Gabriel was so much more... touchable. Her fingernails dug into her palms to keep her hands from following the route her mind had taken.
Apollo held Gabriel's forearm as he examined the burn. Gently his fingertips stroked the blistered skin. In a surprisingly soft, melodic voice, he said, "Please close your eyes and picture your arm as it was before the accident." Gabriel did as he was told. "Now hold on to the image of the healthy skin tissue until I tell you to open your eyes." Apollo placed the palms of his hands over the burn and closed his fingers around Gabriel's arm.
Shara wondered what Gabriel was feeling. After an initial muscle twitch when Apollo enveloped the injury, Gabriel visibly relaxed except for a slight wrinkle of concentration on his brow.
Barely a few seconds passed but it seemed much longer. No one around them spoke or moved until Apollo removed his hands from Gabriel's arm and stepped back with a confident smile.
No evidence of the burn remained.
Delighted, Gabriel flexed his fingers and rotated his forearm. "I had heard reports of your skill, Apollo. I'm honored to have experienced it personally. Thank you."
Apollo nodded. "And now perhaps we should discuss how you appear to be more of a reflection of myself than my twin sister."
"Speak of whatever you wish," Zeus grumbled, "but let us do it with food before us." Holding out his huge hand to Shara, he said more pleasantly, "You will sit by me, lovely lady. Your guardian cannot object to that much."
Although he said nothing, Gabriel's expression suggested he objected very much. She assumed he had a good reason for not wanting her so near Zeus but she could think of no polite way to refuse. Thus, she accepted his hand to walk beside him.
Platters of food awaited them at one long table where no one had sat down yet. As soon as Zeus was seated at its head, however, the benches were soon crowded. Shara sat to his left, as he directed, and Hestia sat next to her. Apollo and Gabriel were situated a few feet away on the other side.
Hestia introduced those Shara had not met before, while everyone filled their plates. All the people at the table were followers of Zeus and resided in the commune. Most were related to him in some fashion.
When Hestia finished identifying each person, Shara could not resist commenting, "Your brother has certainly done his part to enlarge your family."
Hestia shrugged. "You must not judge him by the standards of average men. He has great appetites and believes in appeasing them."
Shara noted the mountain of food Zeus had piled in front of him but she understood Hestia was not referring only to that.
"He is determined that our family will spawn a great dynasty. Unfortunately, he is having to do it almost singlehandedly. None of his sisters have a desire for power, nor have we proven fertile thus far. Our absent brother, Poseidon, keeps to himself most of the time. Though he has sired only a string of mutants with his mate, Amphitrite, he has taken no other women to his bed. And Hades..."
Shara followed Hestia's glance down to the other end of the table where Hades sat. He was dark in coloring and personality.
"Hades supports Zeus but he has his own ideas of how changes should be accomplished and he has yet to father any children. Of all Zeus's offspring, only a few have added children to his ranks. Apollo prefers to spend his private hours alone or with young boys. Athena and Artemis have taken vows of purity... though I
do not believe what they do in the privacy of their cells would be considered totally pure by some."
Shara returned Hestia's knowing smile and encouraged her to continue sharing her family's secrets. The woman apparently loved to gossip and Shara was mentally recording every detail. When Hestia ran out of tidbits about her own family, she went on to talk about the leaders of other factions of Friends who were temporarily in residence—the barbaric Odin and his mate Frigga, the dark-skinned beauty Isis and her competitive brothers, Osiris and Set, and Scot, the eccentric leader of the tattooed clan.
Listening attentively to Hestia, Shara failed to block a mental probe for several seconds. Though unfamiliar with this type of telepathy, she was now certain that it was as individualized as fingerprints. This was the gentler of the two intrusions she had felt earlier. She looked at all the faces around her but none gave away anything.
The touch had been so brief and light she didn't think the person would have been able to glean anything before she blocked the probe but it was impossible to know for sure.
She held her breath, waiting for someone to alert the others that she and Gabriel were not what they claimed to be. Time passed but no one pointed an accusing finger at her, nor did anyone attempt another probe.
The conversation grew louder and more animated as the platters of food emptied and were cleared away. All had their own ideas about how the Summit should be handled and what direction the majority of the Friends would vote to take. Shara noticed how Gabriel fingered Beauty and moved it from one angle to another as different people spoke. The light in his eyes let her know he was ecstatic about the historical recordings he was making.
Shara was asking Hestia a question when she felt a warm pressure against her leg. She shifted in the small space available without crowding Hestia. When Zeus moved as well, she was certain the contact was not accidental, even though he appeared to be totally involved in conversation with Athena.
GABRIEL (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 4) Page 12