This I Know

by A K Clark

  “Not yet, but we will.” The light in his eyes went out. He hung his head, wiping away tears. “Hey, Lander, don’t worry. The man who came is great at his job. If anyone can find her, he can. I will help too.”

  “Can I come?” he asked. I shook my head, my heart aching for the young boy as he realized his inadequacy. He was too young to help.

  “Your parents need your help around here. We wouldn’t want to leave them alone, would we?”

  He shook his head, straightening his shoulders with renewed determination to help if only by staying with his parents.

  “Are they here?”

  “Yes.” He led me to them. Cora’s father was whispering to his wife. He looked up when I entered their living room.

  “Alex, have you heard anything?”

  I told them everything, which was essentially nothing. I didn’t want to leave them distraught but the time had come to go back to the order’s house. It pained me to say goodbye.

  “Thank you,” I said, clutching the peplos they’d given me. “I will send word as soon as I can.” I hugged them all fiercely, giving Cora’s mother an extra squeeze. “We will find her.” My whispered words did nothing to soothe the crying woman.

  Isaias and I returned at the same time. A large muscular hound with long ears followed behind him. She had sleek auburn fur, a long tail, and slightly pointed ears. The dog padded over to Theo, sniffing the air around him. After determining Theo was an acceptable companion, she lay down next to him, resting her head atop her large paws.

  “She likes you,” Darrien said upon his return, bristling when the dog ignored his outstretched hand. “Hm. Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”

  “Darrien, did you find everything we need?” Isaias asked.

  “Yes. I found basic supplies to help us if we end up getting lost. Food and water to make it through the night, a cloth for shelter and the pack.” He pointed to a bag sitting on the ground.

  “I saw no signs of new activity at Milo’s. If they are together, they haven’t come back to his house. Did the family know any more?” Isaias asked me.

  “No,” I said, “we will have to send word as soon as we find her.” We were moving too slow. The day had almost passed and we had no leads.

  “If we find her, we will send word,” Isaias said. His emphasis on if was not lost on me. “We’ll let the dog sit with Cora’s things for a few minutes so she can become familiar with her scent.”

  I laid Cora’s things in front of the animal, scratching behind one of her ears before I stood.

  “We can head to the temple and see where she leads us,” Isaias said, watching as the hound sniffed at the clothes.

  “Does she have a name?” Theo asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Isaias said, frowning.

  I smirked. Had he been too focused to ask?

  “How about Kanέla?” Darrien offered.

  “Like the cinnamon spice? I like it, it reminds me of her fur,” I said, admiring her coloring. Once she was ready, we set off toward the temple. Kanέla worked tirelessly, sniffing the ground as she walked, her tail swooshing back and forth. She enjoyed the hunt.

  As we neared the temple, Kanέla whimpered as she sniffed around, then looked up at Theo in desperation.

  I cleared my throat. “I think she is waiting for you to give her a command.”

  “Oh.” Theo looked down in surprise at Kanέla, who waited. “What do I say?” he asked Isaias. Isaias leaned over and whispered in his ear.

  “Seek.” At Theo’s command, Kanέla broke off into a run, following the scent up the stairs and into the temple. A few moments later, the cinnamon-colored hound returned, heading west. She continued in that direction, passing by the back side of the temple toward a cluster of trees. We tried to keep pace with her but fell behind. She was fast. We followed from a distance, watching her movements carefully so as not to lose track of her. After an hour of walking under the threatening storm clouds and several false alarms from Kanέla, Isaias had Theo call her back.

  “We will start again tomorrow,” Isaias said to the group. When I protested, he held up his hand, signaling for silence. “We can’t go any farther tonight. We have no provisions. I don’t like being unprepared. We will start again tomorrow.”

  We dropped Kanέla off with her master. I petted her, watching as she studied me, eyes full of wisdom. She nestled against my side, as though trying to comfort me. I began to regret leaving her in Delphi; having her with me would ease my anxiety. I thanked her owner, walking away from the dog’s soothing presence with a heavy heart.

  22

  Stefan waited for us outside the order’s house.

  “What is it?” Isaias asked, noticing the grim worry creasing his father’s face.

  “It’s Thad…and Chad,” he said.

  “What happened?” Darrien asked.

  “I think it’d be best if Chad explains everything,” Stefan said, his voice strained.

  I shot a questioning look to Isaias, unsure if the we included me. I wasn’t a member. He gestured me over to him.

  “You should come. There may be things about Thad you need to know.”

  “Why would you share anything with me?” I asked, confused. I was a citizen…Thad had threatened me, but it didn’t grant me special privileges.

  “We always inform the Pythia.”

  My back stiffened in surprise. I should have realized it sooner. I was the successor. Goddess above…I was Pythia. But it couldn’t be. I had to help find Cora. I couldn’t stay here while they went off to find her. Someone had to take my place. But who?

  “Pythia?” I asked, disbelief coloring my words. Darrien placed a hand on my shoulder, squeezing it sympathetically.

  “Pythia,” he echoed me, confirming the appointment.

  We’ll see about that.

  I followed Isaias, Darrien, and Theo into the interrogation room I was all too familiar with. Theo, who hadn’t spoken since we ended the search for Cora, sat on the floor. Chad, looking very unhappy, sat whispering to Stefan. Chad glared at me when I stepped into the room.

  “Why is she here?” he demanded. I didn’t know Chad well, but he had always seemed like the nicer of the two brothers. Perhaps I was wrong.

  “She is the Pythia. You would do well to remember your tone when speaking to and about her,” Theo said. His words surprised me and cemented what Zeus had told me days before. We’d all become friends. They had all been more than willing to help me after the break-in, and now, Theo was defending me.

  “Pythia? Where is the other one?” Chad asked.

  “The other one has a name and she is missing,” I said through gritted teeth.

  “Chad,” Stefan said, disrupting the growing tension, “tell them what you told me.”

  Chad sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his muscular chest, jaw twitching in irritation.

  “Thad has been converted.” He spit the last word out, his face pinched with anger as though saying it offended him.

  “Converted?” Darrien asked.

  “Thad is a Christian. He converted to Christianity.” Chad let out a loud breath, frustrated by their lack of immediate understanding.

  “Why is that an issue? We’ve been living in peace with our Christian neighbors in Rome without trouble—”

  Chad interrupted Isaias. “This is different. He isn’t just Christian. He is a zealot.” Chad closed his eyes. “When we were in Larissa for the summer, Thad met a Christian woman who stole his heart and his faith. Since then, he’s been obsessive. He’s done nothing but utter nonsense, talking about my damnation for idolizing false gods.” He met Isaias’s gaze with a cold glare. “He tried to convert me.”

  “How did I miss this?” Darrien asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “He hid it well from everyone. Everyone but me. As his twin, I’m privy to his ravings. I know he’s responsible for threatening Alex in the combat yard.” He couldn’t, or wouldn’t, look at me. “He said he was kidding. But
last night, I found him holding a fox’s paw, and all I could think about was the dead fox left in her house.”

  He pointed at me, leveling a look full of hate at me. I gasped at the revelation. I’d suspected Thad but wasn’t absolutely certain.

  “I asked him about it, and he told me he had taken it off the same fox he used to desecrate your bed.” Chad paused to take a sip of water. “He said God told him to do it. God wanted him to send a message to the heathens.”

  “What message?” My voice was a whisper.

  “Heathens aren’t safe, nor will they ever be. Then he went into his typical ramblings, trying to convert me, but this time when I denied him, he got violent. He tried to force me into something they call baptism. He held my head under water, chanting some Christian prayer the whole time. I broke his hold and came up for air before he drowned me.”

  “What happened when his baptism didn’t work?” Isaias asked, studying his face for any hint of deception. The twins hadn’t been here long, and his distrust of both men was clear.

  “We struggled but I was able to knock him out. I gathered rope to tie him up while he recovered.” Chad looked to Stefan, who nodded his approval.

  “You made a tough but necessary choice, son. Any of us would have done the same.”

  “Where is Thad now?” Darrien asked.

  “He’s in the other room,” Stefan said. “I had to knock him out to stop his screaming. Thad is a strong fellow. He almost escaped the ropes.” Stefan explained he wanted to question him when he woke, but he might need a few men to keep Thad restrained. Isaias sat with Chad, drilling him for more details. The rest of us went to the kitchen in search of water, still parched from our search for Cora.

  “We need to find Cora,” Theo said, echoing my thoughts.

  “We can’t resume searching until sunrise. We have time to help Stefan with his interrogation,” Darrien said. I stifled a yawn as he looked at me. “You need to rest. You can use my bed.” Trying not to blush, I followed Darrien to his room. His bed was one of two fixtures in the room. He led me straight to it.

  “Sleep for a while, Pythia. You need your strength.”

  “Don’t call me that. I’m Alex, just Alex.”

  “You’re Pythia as well, but if it bothers you, I won’t use it,” he said, sitting next to me on the bed.

  “It’s fine…I, I never planned to be Pythia. Cora is still Pythia,” I said weakly. I’d grown tired of being sad. Would it ever stop?

  “We will do our best to find her.” He gave me a quick hug. I caught his hand before he moved out of reach.

  “Stay with me?” I asked. I wasn’t ready to be alone. It wasn’t fair of me to use him like this, but we’d already shared a bed once. What harm could come from one more time?

  He agreed to stay. The last thing I remembered before drifting off was the light touch of his fingers soothing me as he rubbed my back.

  I was falling through the sky, clouds rushing past in a blur of white and gray. I looked down, noticing a sea of trees rushing to meet me. I twisted to avoid a branch, about to open my mouth to scream when I jerked to a stop suspended a foot above the ground. I stepped down. Gravity slammed into me, knocking me down.

  When I finally stood, the scene had changed. There I waited outside the chamber. Milo exited the curtain, carrying someone. No, not someone, Cora. I screamed at him, but he didn’t look up.

  “Stop it. Let her go!” I slapped at him but his movements never slowed.

  He couldn’t see me. Didn’t feel me hitting him.

  Cora’s head hung back, like he’d knocked her unconscious. I ran after Milo but began falling again. The clouds rushed past faster this time. I didn’t bother screaming, realizing this was a vision. This time I was prepared for the rush of gravity when I stepped to the ground.

  I stood outside Milo’s house. When I entered, I heard the sound of hushed conversation and started toward it. I moved slowly through the house despite being invisible, peering into the bedroom to discover Thad talking with Milo. I couldn’t understand their words but they appeared to be arguing.

  Before I could move closer, I was falling again. Only this time, I stopped on a cloud to rest weightlessly next to the sun.

  “Apollo?” I asked with my mind, letting the rays of the sun caress my skin.

  “Pythia.” Apollo’s velvety voice filled my mind.

  “I’m not Pythia.”

  “Aren’t you?” he asked.

  “Cora is still alive. She is the rightful Pythia,” I said with conviction.

  “The speaker lies,” he said.

  I groaned in frustration. “Can you give a direct response for once?”

  A hand gripped my arm, forcing me to turn and face the person it belonged to. My eyes tracked over the hand, the arm, and the face of its owner. Apollo. I swallowed; he had never appeared in my visions. Ever. It almost hurt to gaze upon his beauty.

  “I’ll answer you, but you must listen, for I will only say this once. The Theater of Larissa holds what you seek. There is one called Constantine who turns our people against us. Others who believe in the god are of pure faith, but there is a darkness tainting his soul. Corruption is rampant. I fear for our people.”

  “How do we stop him?” I asked.

  Apollo gazed at the clouds, like they held the answer. “Follow the exiled, free the seers. Fulfill your destiny.”

  “Well, that was vague.” A bitter laugh escaped me.

  “The speaker lied. Cora is not the choice of the gods, you are.”

  “How? Cora has always been more in sync.”

  “The Pythia isn’t always chosen for the ease with which she speaks to the gods. We know some of what the Fates have in store. What we saw of Cora’s fate did not please us.”

  “What did you see?”

  “Limitless possibilities. The Fates don’t share everything with us. I cannot answer your question.” Apollo looked beyond me. I turned to see what he was looking at but saw nothing. By the time I turned back, he’d left.

  “Apollo?” I asked aloud, then once more in my mind.

  “They need you. Remember what I said, Pythia,” he whispered before the realm disappeared.

  “Alex?” Darrien was shaking me. I peered up at him. Anxiety filled his eyes. “What is it, Alex?” He searched for injuries, but I stopped him.

  “I’m fine. Is Thad awake?” I asked as he helped me sit up. I allowed it though I didn’t need it. His hands lingered longer than necessary, and my mouth curved up. I thanked him for the help. Darrien got the hint and let go, regret replacing the worry in his eyes as he stepped back to a more respectable distance.

  “He is. We’re going to question him now,” he said.

  “I need to speak to Stefan.” I followed him as he led the way to Stefan and the man who had betrayed us.

  23

  I told Stefan, Isaias, and Darrien what Apollo had told me. Stefan’s grim face turned angry as I spoke, his eyes flashing with barely contained rage when I mentioned Thad and Milo’s meeting. Darrien stood behind me, his presence reassuring as I stumbled over the bits about Constantine and Larissa, or how Apollo told me to follow the exiled and free the seers.

  When I told them about Milo choosing Cora as Pythia against the wishes of the gods, Isaias gave me a startled look, realizing the implications of my words. The speaker did not seek the gods’ guidance. Milo had made me the successor when the gods wished me to be the Pythia. It didn’t matter now since I became Pythia the moment Cora turned up missing. The revelation had me convinced Milo had conspired with Thad. To do what, I wasn’t yet sure.

  “I don’t want to stay behind as Pythia. I’d like to see if Cicely would take my place.”

  “Appoint a substitute?” Stefan asked.

  “Only while I’m gone.” I worried they’d make me stay behind. “Cicely would be the best for the job. She wouldn’t frighten the customers like Ilinor.”

  The men were silent, each considering my words. Isaias rubbed his jaw in cont
emplation, tracking Darrien’s movements as he inched closer to me. His support helped me stand taller under the scrutiny of Stefan, who paced the room, rubbing the kinks from his neck.

  “The Theater of Larissa?” he asked incredulously, stopping in front of me, dropping his hand from his neck in frustration.

  I shrugged. I was as lost as he was. “I think…” I ventured, unsure of the words as I spoke them, “Milo is taking Cora to Larissa. The gods don’t always give direct answers, but he said we will find what we seek there.”

  Isaias nodded his agreement. “We’ll make plans to leave for Larissa after we deal with Thad.” Darrien grunted his agreement, rustling my hair with the force of the expelled air.

  “Cicely?” I pressed. I wouldn’t stay behind.

  “If Cicely agrees, you can come with us,” he said before doling out orders.

  He assigned several tasks to me: food, ointments and tonics, and wine. He gave me the easy tasks, but I couldn’t find it in me to complain. It kept my mind occupied, leaving little time for me to think about Cora. After gathering the supplies from the market, I’d head over to see Cicely.

  When he finished giving Darrien his orders, Isaias looked at me with worry furrowing his brow. “Can you ride?”

  “Of course,” I said, my shoulders tensing. Why must everyone always question my abilities?

  “Good,” he said before turning to discuss strategy with Stefan. When I stepped out of the house, I breathed in the cool air. I hadn’t realized how stifling the rooms had been.

  I visited Mrs. Mager’s booth first, picking out several loaves of bread for the journey. A wicked smile tugged at my lips when I spied goat cheese. I pushed Darrien out of my mind as I finished getting the medicines and wine. I stopped to say goodbye to Kanέla before leaving the market. Sadly, she wouldn’t be making the journey with us. She bumped my hand with her snout when I kneeled down to scratch the top of her head a few times. She whined when I stopped.