CHAPTER 10
Valeria was glad for the opportunity to relax while playing badminton with Caleb and Camille. The three of them had laughed when, on several occasions, Camille and Valeria just barely missed hitting each other. Still for once she felt as though she were actually a part of a group—like the families and friends she saw in the park.
Camille tapped her on the shoulder. “Lars wants to start back up in about forty-five minutes. But the weather’s so nice; I suspect we’ll stay outside.”
Sweaty from playing badminton, she wanted to shower before she saw Alex again so she hurried back to the cottage. It was early evening and she found it almost magical to stroll along the wooded path now aglow with trail lights.
Back at Alex’s cottage, she showered and took the time to dry her hair. She actually touched it up with a curling iron and put on a tad more make-up than she had that morning. Valeria looked at her options and chose her white and coral, cotton peasant dress. She slipped on her white flats and headed back up the path, grateful to be going without the prerequisite panty hose that David required.
When Valeria returned, Alex greeted her with a smile that made her glad she had taken the extra time to fix her hair and select just the right dress. If she permitted herself to be honest, she knew she was overly excited to see him again.
“Tavish says we only have a few more days warm enough to sit outside. So, we decided to enjoy it,” Alex reported, as he guided her to the blazing outdoor fireplace.
The rest of the family, including Daphne, sat waiting for her. Daphne appeared to be under control.
Almost looking at Valeria, Daphne said, “I hear I owe you an apology for my…” she huffed, shooting the evil eye at Alex, “tenue. I hope you will excuse…what you may have perceived as poor behavior.”
Valeria had no idea what tenue meant, but she got the gist of the apology. Although, she felt some sympathy for Daphne. If Alex were my lover…Instantly, she regretted that thought when the blood rushed to her face, followed by the most extraordinary sensation of heat coursing through her entire body. She reminded herself that the relevance of the previous thought was that Alex belonged to someone else. She carefully structured her thoughts, knowing that if she were in Daphne’s shoes, she was not certain she could conduct herself so well, either.
“No problem,” Valeria said to Daphne, offering a reprieve to the tension between the two of them.
Lars and Ava arrived, again walking hand in hand. Valeria shivered as the evening’s cool air began to settle in. Alex ushered her to a seat near the fire and said, “Do you want me to get you a sweater?”
Camille offered, “I’ll get her a jacket.” Alex followed Camille inside for a moment.
To Valeria’s disappointment, Tavish sat next to her, his eyebrow raised in evaluation. With no one else talking, Tavish squirmed and then looked at her.
“Ya a duffer?” he asked Valeria with his broad smile-sneer.
“I...uh...” Valeria thought, Oh, God, the set-up has begun. Tavish is making his move. “I'm sorry...what?”
Alex returned, wrapping a jacket around Valeria. His fingers brushed her shoulder causing a wonderful quiver inside. Why did his touch affect her so much?
“Tavish is asking if you golf. Tav, she just might be a very good golfer.” Alex cocked his head to the side in a challenge.
Tavish tucked his head in extreme doubt. “Fo a gull?” he said. “Cudna be.” He huffed an arrogant laugh. Valeria had no idea what he said.
“What about Babe Zaharias?” Alex’s face lifted in amusement.
Tavish waved his arm in dismissal. “The lass carried luck.”
Alex laughed. “Forty-one pro-tour wins and she survived the thirty-six-hole cut in three out of four PGA tours against men.” Alex winked at Valeria. “Tav is an avid golfer.”
“Well, Tavish...I don't think I even qualify as a...what did you call it? A duffer?” Valeria admitted.
This seemed to upset Tavish. “A bloody hacker? I'll be damned!”
Valeria understood that phrase; she had heard David’s associates insulting each other with the phrase “hackers.” It was during her first time on a golf course; out of boredom, she had begun walking the edge of the fairway. David and the course management seemed terribly upset by her actions, and they’d suggested to David that Valeria should not return. David, of course, took it all very seriously. Valeria thought it pretty funny.
Seeing that this might be just the angle she needed to get out of Tavish’s possible interest, Valeria added, “Yes! And it’s been recommended that I give it up permanently.”
Alex broke into his beautiful, rollicking laugh that made her smile as Lars called the group together.
“Where were we?” Lars asked.
“We were talking about Cassandra’s symbolon,” Alex said, his eyes meeting hers with a luminous intensity that caused her heart to stir.
Lars sighed happily, overly relaxed. “Go ahead, Lexi.”
Alex sat on the small table in front of Valeria that doubled as a stool. The glow of the fire shimmered over Alex and gave her heart a pleasantly painful little lurch. Get a grip!
“Apollo knew that Cassandra’s symbolon would come for her and if she were already married, it would lead to tragedy. If Aegemon was able to keep Cassandra from marrying, by a secret agreement with the king, eventually Cassandra would find her way to her symbolon. So, Cassandra was pronounced a virgin priestess.” Alex lifted an eyebrow. “Disappointing more than one perspective suitor, I might add!” He leaned forward. “Incidentally, Cassandra, as far as I have researched, was the original virgin priestess.”
“Really?”
“Val, earlier you asked if all oracles were immortal. Lars is going to expound on that subject. Are you familiar with the term ‘Achilles’ heel’?”
“A weakness?” Valeria noticed the expression on Alex’s face. Evidently, this was the discussion that Alex had objected to.
Lars stood. “So, the story goes that Achilles’ mother gained access to the River Styx when he was an infant. The River Styx is the river that runs into the underworld and carries the dead to their proper location.
“She held the baby Achilles by his heel and dipped him into the river, making him immortal—everywhere except his heel. And, of course, an arrow to his heel was how he was killed during the Trojan War.”
Valeria shrugged, wondering what this had to do with anything. “Okay...”
Lars continued, “I don’t really know if that story is factual or not. But it applies to us. As oracles we are immortal. However, we can still die. Our first death is called our ‘Prima Mortis.’ The way in which we die in our Prima Mortis is our Achilles’ heel. If we die that way again, we die like mortal humans. At least, that’s what appears to be true.”
Lowering her brows, Valeria said, “I’ve noticed that your age differences are not the same as they are in the vision. In the vision, Alex was about ten years older than you Lars, but now you seem close to the same age.”
Valeria did her best to ignore Alex so that she could concentrate. “So, you must stop aging when you have your first death. Your…what did you call it? Prima Mortis?”
“Yes.” Lars turned toward Alex. “Alex we agreed. It’s time she heard it.”
With a sigh, Alex nodded and Lars continued, “When Apollo left—we refer to it as when he faded as he is immortal and certainly alive on some other plane. In any case, Aegemon went after the oracles. As we said earlier, we didn’t know the rules of our immortality and I don’t believe Aegemon did either. He captured those of us he could and after years of hard labor, he took us out to sea and had our hands and feet bound and then tossed us into the sea.”
“Most of you were drowned?” Valeria shook off a chill.
Lars nodded. “I was able to evade Aegemon’s troops until I was thirty.”
“Camille, you said that Ava is searching for your husband. What does that involve?” Valeria asked.
With her face steeled
, Camille said, “In the sea, there are several possible outcomes, primarily hypothermia and drowning. There’s a strong chance that Jonah didn't die. At least, that’s what we’re hoping.
“Ava didn’t drown initially, so she can search the sea. The rest of us mostly stay clear of the water.”
“Alex...” Valeria could see that this was a difficult discussion for him. “Did Aegemon drown you?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Alex responded, keeping his face down.
Lars spoke up, “Well, that’s probably enough information for tonight.”
Camille grabbed Valeria’s arm. “Come on! We’re having a girls’ night!” Ava and Camille escorted Valeria a few steps before she glanced back to look at Alex, who was in a deep discussion with Lars and Tavish.
Walking the lit trail to the cottage, Valeria had a touch of excitement. She would have loved to have spent more time with Alex, and she felt awful keeping Ava from her time with Lars. But Camille had convinced Valeria that Ava did whatever she wanted to do. Plus, Camille was quite certain that when Lars and Alex finished their discussion, probably in the wee hours of the morning, Ava would sneak off.
Camille added, “Don’t worry; the others will be keeping an eye on us!”
Valeria still wondered what was up with that. But frankly, she had never had a real girls’ night with women her age…and as far as Valeria was concerned, these were two very extraordinary women!
CHAPTER 11
Ava swung open the door of the cottage and pranced in like she owned the place. Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “Let’s see if I remember where Alex hides his really good wines!” She disappeared for a few minutes and then returned with a couple of dust-covered bottles. She wiped them off and poured three glasses while Camille continued explaining that they really shouldn’t be drinking.
The fireplace was already ablaze as Camille, Ava, and Valeria grabbed their glasses. Valeria sipped the wine and couldn’t believe how good it tasted. Ava raised her glass in a toast, “To friends!”
Valeria felt tears begin to well, but swallowed back the emotion with the extraordinary wine. “Ava, I don’t want to keep you from Lars tonight, especially when you’ve been away so long.”
“Don’t worry about us! Lars is going to be busy most of the night with Alex and Tavish.” Ava looked to Camille and Valeria with a smile. “Besides, I’m here to get the scoop!”
They clinked glasses and drank again. Glancing through her glass, Ava took a long look at Valeria and then took on a conspiratorial expression. “So…without Daph here to influence your response, tell me exactly about how it happened with you and Alex.”
Valeria noticed Camille roll her eyes at Ava. “How what happened? Do you mean how I met him?”
Ava leaned back. “Yeah, tell me everything.” Seeing Valeria’s concern, she added, “Don’t worry, I won’t repeat a word.” Then, Ava settled back on the floor next to the sofa.
“Well,” Valeria started, “Alex saved me from being crushed by a car.” Ava nodded as if she didn’t care about that part. Valeria went on, “I…well, I decided to go to lunch with him, or was it breakfast?” She thought about it and then her face lit as she remembered their time together at Sarabeth’s, and on the flight, and in Verona...
Ava leaned forward. “That’s the part I want to hear about! What caused that smile?”
“Really, we just talked,” Valeria said innocently. “Actually, I guess I mostly talked.” She paused. “Well, we both talked about books and how much Alex likes Walden and—”
Ava picked up the copy of Walden that Valeria had dropped on the table when she’d come back to change for dinner. “Exhibit A!” Ava said, waving her hand. “Yeah, yeah, yeah! And then?”
“Well…” Valeria took another sip of wine. “Then we…uh, let’s see. Oh, yes! Mani came and gave me a transference. And then Alex walked me back to my apartment and told me I needed to pack.” Valeria thought and then added, “Or something like that.”
“Okay!” Ava’s eyes got big with irritation. “I’m looking for details! You know…when did he make his move?”
Shaking her head with pretended irritation, Camille knew there was no silencing Ava. Valeria was taken aback. “Make his move? I don’t know what you mean…Alex wouldn’t do that! He’s way too much of a gentleman!”
Ava’s jaw dropped as she moved forward and glared at Camille. “What is wrong with kids today?” Ava’s eyes narrowed in disbelief. “You mean he hasn’t made a move?”
Embarrassed, Valeria wondered what had caused that question. She suspected that her feelings for Alex must be obvious. Maybe in this culture running around on your spouse was acceptable, but it wasn’t in her world. And Valeria couldn’t believe it would be all right in Alex’s either. Obviously, Ava hadn’t gotten the whole story. “No. Why would he?”
Again, Ava turned and looked at Camille with absolute disgust. Valeria realized she needed to jump in. “Tell me about you and Lars. How did you meet?”
Snuggling into the back of the sofa, Ava began, “Well, we both had been having fun with a number of…well, I guess you don’t need to know about that.” Ava looked up with a spark in her eye. “Oh! I know. So, I had seen Lars on the beach in Paxos.”
“Paxos?”
“An island off the western shore of Greece,” Camille added, while Ava gave her a look that said Camille was interrupting her flow.
“We were both doing the bathing beauty thing. You know, not actually getting into the water. Finally, I said, ‘Are you a chicken or are you actually going to get in the water with me?’ Of course, I didn’t know he was an oracle at the time.” Ava dropped her head to the side, her face lighting in memory. “After a little…well…fun, we saw each other at the Council meeting. Ours was a love born out of…well, great sex! Fortunately, we enjoyed everything else too.”
Ava gestured to Valeria. “So, your turn!”
Realizing it was time to halt the discussion of her and Alex, Valeria began, “Actually, I’m engaged to a diplomat named David Wiley.”
“No!” Ava contested, looking as if she doubted the information, while Camille silently sipped her wine.
“Yep.” Valeria nodded attempting to convince Ava. “Three years now.”
Ava looked skeptical. “I don’t see a ring.”
“That’s because David and I have decided that there’s no hurry. People like to rush into things! No, David and I are taking our time,” Valeria said, feeling very relaxed about her presentation.
Ava was refilling their glasses when they heard a knock on the door. “Food!” Ava ran to the door and returned with several bags. Valeria and Camille followed her to the kitchen and dished out what Valeria recognized as American-style pizza. Emptying the other bag, Ava held up a giant bag of popcorn.
“You bought popcorn?” Valeria asked.
“Ava doesn’t cook, as I mentioned earlier.” Camille laughed.
They ate as the fire roared and Ava poured the wine freely. “So, tell us more about this diplomat…what’s his name? Oh, yeah, David!” Ava tossed a couple of kernels of popcorn in the air and caught them in her mouth. Valeria thought popcorn and wine was an odd combination.
“Well, I met him at the hotel across from the U.N. where I have—I mean I had—a floral account. He saw me and sent his assistant over to ask me to join him. And…I guess that’s about all,” she said, her mouth already feeling a bit loose from the several glasses of wine and the friendship.
“I want the juicy stuff!” Ava’s eyes lit up as she tossed a few more kernels of popcorn in the air again and caught them with great accuracy.
“Juicy stuff?” Valeria asked.
“Tell us how he proposed!” Ava said, as Camille leaned forward to listen.
Valeria thought for a minute. “You know, I don’t…I don’t really remember. Hmmm...” She glanced up in thought. “I guess it was just decided.”
Ava rolled her eyes. “So, how did he sweep you off
your feet? Tell us about the seduction?”
“Seduction? Oh, no! I’m not going to talk about that!” Valeria wondered in horror, is that what girls talked about?
Ava opened another bottle of wine and refilled their glasses. “Camille, tell me about Jonah!” Valeria sipped the wine and it was even better than the last bottle.
Camille’s eyes softened with the memories. “Alright. Well, Jonah and I found each other because of our eye color. Let’s face it; there aren’t many of us, especially of our skin color, who have our shade of blue eyes!”
Valeria suddenly realized that Ava and Camille had the same eye color as Alex and Mani. “What is the deal with your eye color?” she asked, feeling braver from the effects of the wine.
“I don’t really know. But all true oracles have the same eye color,” Camille said, sipping her wine.
“Except for Daphne. Her eyes are green,” Valeria recalled.
“Yeah, she likes to be different. Thanks to Bausch and Lomb, she can be.” Ava offered. Then she signaled for Camille to continue while she refilled all of the glasses.
“Jonah and I had both been courting others. But even in those days, there was so much drama with mortal relationships.
“Finally, one day I just said, ‘Jonah, I think the reason nothing ever works with anyone else is because we belong together.’ You know how when you try to mix friendship with love, it doesn’t always work? Well, with us, it was just…” Camille sighed, finishing, “…wonderful!” She nodded as if that was the end of her rendition of how she had met her husband.
An hour later, having more wine than she should have—while listening to great stories of Camille and Jonah and Ava and Lars, and hearing them both talk about previous lovers—Valeria’s courage came forward.
“You know, David was my first—well, first and only. But...he really isn’t the romantic type! Not like…well, not like Alex. David’s more the thinking and planning type…about everything. And I do mean everything!”
The Sibylline Oracle Page 11