The Last Oracle

by Colvin, Delia

  Valeria smiled at him. “I know, Caleb. And I don’t believe for a second that you would, but let’s wait and see what Doc says, okay?” She so wanted to reach over and muff his hair.

  He gulped. “Yeah, okay. Are you sick?”

  She shook her head. “No, not really. Doc just wants to run some tests.”

  They greeted Ava and Tavish. Mani was noticeably absent. They sat in the living room and chattered about the honeymoon.

  Although things were better with Alex, she noticed that his mind was a million miles away. She would often catch him just staring out at the sea. Perhaps he was just exhausted. He didn’t really seem to sleep much lately. A few times during the night, she thought he was sleeping, only to realize that he had closed his eyes but she could tell that his mind was still racing.

  Valeria felt the tears forming, and again tried to gulp them back. When she looked back up, she saw Camille glance back and forth between Alex and Valeria and then said, “Val, let me help you unpack.”

  As soon as they headed up the stairs, Valeria’s tears began to fall.

  Coming from the kitchen, Ava said, “Hey, girl time! I’ll get the food.” Valeria couldn’t turn to acknowledge Ava. But Camille came to the rescue and offered Ava a subtle shake of the head and a non-verbal, Not now.

  “Trouble in paradise,” Ava muttered before disappearing.

  Once they were alone in the bedroom, Camille closed the door and then said, “Okay! What is going on with you and Alex?”

  Suddenly—and to Valeria’s horror—the tears turned into full-out sobs. Camille held her and patted her back, but Valeria didn’t seem to have any control of it.

  Finally able to speak, Valeria said, “I think he’s...angry with me. I got sick and Alex asked me to take a pregnancy test—”

  “A PREGNANCY TEST?” Camille interrupted in a voice two octaves higher than her normal range.

  With Camille’s response, Valeria felt even more ashamed. She looked down and sobbed and finally said in a small voice, “It was...positive.”

  “Oh,” Camille said. Obviously, this was knew news to her. “Pregnant! I had no idea that was even...possible.” She thought for a moment. “Well, that explains all the new equipment Mani brought in. So what’s the issue?”

  Valeria continued to sob. “I don’t think Alex wants it. And…” her voice trailed off.

  “And?” Camille demanded.

  “And I’m afraid that he thinks I tricked him into getting pregnant. I didn’t even think about birth control! I don’t know how I could have forgotten that. I just…”

  Having actually said the words aloud, the sobs increased. After a few minutes, Camille got up and came back with some tissues. As Valeria wiped her eyes and blew her nose, Camille said, “Val, I can absolutely assure you that Alex would never think that of you! I’m sure he is just in shock at the idea of being a parent—as well as the obvious implication.”

  “Implication?”

  “It…well, it suggests that you are still…mortal,” she said softly. “I am absolutely certain he is just afraid.”

  “I don’t understand. Alex’s parents were immortal and they had two children. I would have thought he would have been a bit excited.”

  Camille dipped her brows in surprise. “I can imagine how that made you feel. You and Alex need to talk.” She glanced toward the door with a glaring fire in her eyes, in what Valeria was certain was a non-verbal command.

  “Please, I don’t want Alex to see I’m upset,” Valeria sobbed. A moment later, she heard Alex’s rapid pace up the steps to the bedroom door.

  Lifting her arms in an attempt to calm the situation, Camille said, “Val, I can assure you that this is all a misunderstanding, and Alex needs to talk to you! You need to ask him about Ian and Morgana.”

  “Val?” Alex knocked on the door hesitantly and then opened it. Alex stood looking incredibly sheepish. He shoved his hands into his pockets, suddenly not certain that his wife wished to see him, and upset with himself that he didn’t even sense that she was upset.

  Camille stood between the two of them, glaring at Alex with her hands on her hips.

  “What have you been saying to your wife? Do you know what she thinks?”

  Alex looked completely baffled by Camille’s silent communication, and Valeria could see that there was a lot of communication going on between them.

  “Will you please talk to your bride? You two talk and then let’s all meet downstairs later.”

  Alex was obviously stunned by Camille’s communication. After they were alone, and behind closed doors, he went to his wife and wrapped his arms around her as his mask fell from his face leaving only love and concern.

  “Val, beautiful, I am so sorry! I have been such a…jerk, as Camille so aptly reminded me. But she was right to do so! I’ve been thinking about the situation and completely forgot how…vulnerable you must feel.”

  He pulled her chin up to look at him and she could see the dark circles under his eyes from his lack of sleep. She could also see how disappointed he was in himself. He continued, “I never thought about anything other than how to keep you safe. Never. And I would have never thought that you…tricked me,” he said, as if the idea were the furthest thing from his mind.

  The words, and the look on his face, caused her to feel ashamed of herself, and she couldn’t even look him in the eye. He lifted her chin up again. “I am so very sorry for leaving you with your thoughts. I should have known that by not talking to you, your very vivid imagination would take hold.”

  He took her face in his hands as his eyes filled with love. “You must know that I think only the very best of you. You must know that I...adore you.” He swallowed. “For 3,000 years, I’ve had one dream—to be with you. To be honest, I never dreamed of children, but only because I didn’t believe it was possible,” he said softly.

  “I don’t understand why it would be so...surprising to you. Your parents had two children.”

  Sudden understanding flooded his face. “Oh—Ian and Morgana.” He rolled his eyes and said to himself, “That explains a lot!”

  “After you told me that story, I should have thought about birth control. I should have. I was lectured about my responsibility for years and I...I just didn’t think about it,” she admitted.

  He knitted his brows, clearly upset by her words.

  “Val, I need to explain a few things. Ian and Morgana are my adopted parents. They were oracles and they rescued us. They found me rocking Antonia in the burnt ruins of our war-torn village. I was little more than two years old. Antonia was only a few months old. They are the only parents I remember.”

  “Oh, Alex—how awful!”

  He shook his head. “I don’t remember much of it.”

  “Are there any oracles who have had children?”

  Alex thought for a moment and then drew a deep breath. “No.”

  The reality was sinking in.

  “So...I’m not immortal,” she said flatly, thinking of the repercussions.

  Slowly, Alex shook his head, unable to say the words.

  Finally, finding his voice, Alex said, “That has been my concern. I’m sorry that I didn’t share it with you.” He pulled her up onto his lap and kissed her neck. “As far as birth control—it would have been my responsibility, too.” She glanced up at him and he wiped a tear from her face. “Val, I’ve never considered children, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want them.” He gulped again and let out a long sigh.

  He rocked her in his arms as he swallowed back his emotion. “There are some things that are frightening about this. I have seen the frailty of the mortal body—of your mortal body. I want to believe that you will be all right. I need to believe it. I just…” He choked. “I can’t lose you again.”

  Valeria pressed her lips to his neck and whispered, “You won’t lose me again. And if you do, I’ll come and find you. You’ll see—we’ll be fine.”

  They lay back on the bed, wrapped in each other’s arm
s until the stress of the past two days caught up with them and they both drifted off to sleep.

  CHAPTER 13

  “Hey, beautiful.” Alex woke Valeria gently. “Doc is ready for you—if you’re up for it.”

  “Yes. Might as well get it over with,” she said.

  He led her by the hand down the stairs and into an office that had been turned into a physician’s office. Mani hugged both of them.

  “I’m going to perform an ultrasound. Home pregnancy tests can provide a false positive or be misread. Come and lie down on the table.”

  She lay down as Alex stood by holding her hand. Mani scooted her yoga pants down, revealing her lower abdomen and then squeezed a tube of cold gel over the area.

  “I apologize. I should have heated the bottle.”

  “It’s not too cold,” she said, despite the shiver that ran down her spine.

  Mani pressed the wand to her lower abdomen and moved it around while Alex and Valeria stared at the monitor. Mani zeroed the monitor in on something and Valeria and Alex stared, trying to determine what they were looking at. Mani leaned toward the monitor and pointed with a pen.

  “That is the baby’s heart.” Mani nodded toward the monitor. “Congratulations.” Mani turned the speakers on so that they could both hear the heartbeat.

  Valeria felt overwhelmed and watched as Alex’s eyes had a moment when he allowed himself to dream, before they shifted to fear—followed by the replacement of a pleasant mask and a kiss to Valeria’s forehead.

  Mani went on, “Valeria, since you don’t recall your last cycle, we will monitor the baby’s progress by ultrasound.”

  He moved the wand again and suddenly there was a profile of a baby.

  “See here? Mani said, as he brushed a capped pen along the screen. “You can see the face and nose here. Here are the hands. See, it is sucking its thumb.”

  “Mani, I had no idea that babies grew that fast! I’m probably only a week or two along, right?”

  “The fetus is considerably more than a couple of weeks along. See its fingers and toes? By the size and development of the fetus, I would guess you are about fourteen weeks.”

  “That’s nearly four months!” Alex said. “Doc is that possible? Val just began feeling sick last week. Besides, we’ve been drinking wine and hiking.” His words all ran together in a nervous train of thought. “Oh, and I took her scuba diving!” he said with sudden dread.

  Mani turned off the Doppler and removed his gloves. “The fetus looks fine.”

  “Do you know…what it is?” Valeria asked.

  “I’m sorry, Valeria, I don’t have the expertise to tell at this stage. In a few more weeks it should be evident.” He pushed back the Doppler, and said, “I’ll give you both a minute alone. We can talk more outside.”

  Valeria wiped the slimy clear liquid from her belly. Alex helped her sit up and they went outside and sat in the Adirondack chairs in the courtyard overlooking the Caribbean.

  Mani smiled. “Do you have any questions for me?”

  Valeria wanted to laugh and cry and she wanted Alex to feel like she did. But right now, she would have to be satisfied that he was here with her and loving her—not drowning in potential loss.

  “I have a lot of questions,” she began. “I understand that oracles don’t have children. But Alex is an oracle. So how can this be?”

  Mani thought for a moment, and then leaned forward as he clasped his hands. “You bring up a very good point, Valeria. One that I have no answers for. I don’t believe that we can discount your immortality without input from…others.” His gaze shifted to Alex. “But, it does no one any good to worry about this. We must remain hopeful and we will all do our best to safeguard the health of both you and the child.”

  “Will the baby be an oracle or a mortal?”

  “I cannot believe that oracular visions would pass genetically. There were only a hundred oracles and I believe we would have heard of offspring. But when the child is born, we will test its DNA.”

  “Why is it that oracles don’t usually reproduce?” she asked.

  “I can only believe that when the body is not concerned about death, or populating an environment, that it no longer reproduces.”

  He continued, “Of course, in your case, it is very interesting. Your DNA appears as an oracle and your eye color matches ours. But the fact that you are pregnant is an indication that there is some other force at work in your body. I cannot explain it, but at this point, both mother and child appear to be healthy.”

  Valeria sighed happily, and squeezed Alex’s hand.

  “Do immortals reproduce?” she asked.

  Mani’s eyes narrowed in thought. “The first few generation of gods could reproduce fully, even with other creatures. After that, there was a declining incidence of mixed specie reproductions.

  “Of those immortals who were changed by the River Styx, I personally know of none, except for you, Alex, and Caleb. However, it has been said that Achilles fathered mortal children.”

  “I wonder if because we swam in the River Styx, if it changed our physical make-up?” Valeria asked.

  “I don’t know.” Alex said.

  “Paolo’s eyes are darker than yours.” She thought for a moment. “So are Caleb’s.”

  Alex nodded.

  “Paolo is the son of a god?” Valeria asked

  “Evidently,” Alex said.

  She wanted to know how she could have been pregnant with Paolo. She would ask this question when she was alone with Mani.

  “Alex, you said that because I swam through the River Styx, that I would be immortal, even if the oracle DNA didn’t kick in. So, it looks like—despite the evidence—I am still…mortal?”

  “Val, we have been trying to answer the riddle of your immortality for some time. What we do know is that you are an oracle, but for some reason, your body is still not behaving as a typical oracle. It also takes two to make a child and so, for that matter, neither is mine,” Alex said.

  “Looks like we’re just in time,” Lars interrupted, as he and Ava entered through the screen door and pulled up two chairs. “It’s time we talked about answers,” he said as he stared at Alex for a moment, who hesitantly nodded. Ava stroked Valeria’s arm and winked. Tavish entered behind them and pulled up a chair backwards; sitting down, he nodded to Valeria.

  From upstairs, they heard Camille holler down, “Lars, don’t start without me! I told you I would be ready at four o’clock. The rest of you are early—for once!” Camille teased.

  Lars smiled. “I’ve heard that before.”

  “This is a family meeting?” Valeria asked, as Caleb lumbered in and sat down with Charlie next to him.

  Camille entered and excitedly hugged Valeria. “I’m so excited that you’re pregnant! I hope it’s a girl!” she said, as she sat down on the other side of Valeria.

  Lars, as usual, got right down to business. “Val, we need to get some answers. Part of Alex’s concern has been about your health, and the health of your child. And if you aren’t immortal yet, we need to fix that. There is only one person we know who may be able to shed some light on this situation. His name is Myrdd.”

  Valeria looked at Alex. “Yes, he was the first oracle.”

  Alex nodded. “That’s right.”

  “I thought he had been executed in Delos.” she drew in a deep breath remembering how she’d almost been beheaded.

  Suddenly, things got very quiet. Valeria glanced at Lars and saw his intense focus on Alex, as if their non-verbal communication was taking place. Immediately, she realized that this was the discussion Alex had said would need to wait until after the honeymoon—evidently the honeymoon was over. She felt the tears well up inside her again and she pushed them back.

  “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Mani responded, “Valeria, do you recall our discussion about the council when you were in the hospital?”

  Valeria thought for a moment, and then she remembered. She had been in the ho
spital in Manhattan recovering from dehydration when Doc had told her the story of his symbolon, Lita, and also about Myrdd.

  “This council, with Jeremiah, was not always the way it is. At one time, when it was led by Myrdd, was a council who sought to expand understanding and reduce the prejudice between the immortals and the oracles, and to improve the world with our gifts, as Apollo had intended. Jeremiah was able to gain power with accusations that Myrdd had violated sacred agreements. As a result, he was executed.”

  “Melitta began a petition to remove Jeremiah as the council head. I was away when it was presented at the next council meeting, 500 years later. She was executed, along with all of the other petitioners. My name was on that list.”

  “I don’t understand how they…I mean, they are—were—immortal. How did they…”

  Mani looked away for a moment, and she could see that he didn’t want to discuss it with her. Then he turned and looked her straight in the eye. “They were beheaded.”

  Valeria’s eyes widened. “Alex, what did Myrdd do?”

  “He was accused of bringing a mortal into Delos. He didn’t challenge the accusation so it is likely true.”

  Trying to make sense of this, Valeria asked, “How would Jeremiah know about these rules of oracles when you don’t?”

  Lars sighed and lifted a hand. “There are those that weren’t pleased with the creation of oracles. Of course, there is Aegemon, but there are others. Some of the gods were upset, as were the Fates. It’s also possible that Jeremiah has a link to Hecate—a goddess of the underworld with secret powers. Or possibly he is linked to the Fates—maybe a combination.”

  “But if beheading was not Myrdd’s Prima Mortis, he should’ve recovered in twenty-four hours, as you did.”

  A cloud moved over them blocking the warmth momentarily, and Valeria shivered lightly. Alex brushed his hand along her arm and then said, “Val, we don’t know where or how Jeremiah got this information, or how he managed to discover these charges against Myrdd. As far as why Myrdd and the others haven’t been recovered—the predominant theory is that, besides their Prima Mortis, there is one other condition where oracles don’t recover, and that is when the event that created the ‘death’ continues. It has long been believed that Jeremiah stores the head and the body apart so that the ‘condition of death’ continues.”