Chants to Persephone: The Future of the World Hangs on a Knife's Edge - and Only a Human Sacrifice Can Save It

by Jennifer Macaire

  ‘I have to go to town, you won’t see me until tonight,’ she answered.

  ‘Until tonight, my love. Selena, a little kiss before I go?’ He sounded like a lovesick teenager.

  ‘Of course, Julius.’ She spoke coolly. I could picture them in bed. She would be thinking about where to plant the herb garden while he groaned and panted on top of her.

  I slipped back into a room and peeked out. I wanted to trust Julius, the Roman, but I was afraid that he would hesitate to believe his wife had done anything wrong. I was a stranger.

  Julius walked downstairs, glancing once more at his wife. She didn’t leave until the front door closed and his footsteps had faded away. Then she swept out of her room, robes billowing, and disappeared into the room where I’d awakened.

  She was a cold one. She only uttered an exclamation of annoyance when she saw I was missing. She leaned out the window and studied the ground, then went downstairs. She called loudly to someone as she descended.

  ‘Yovanix, come with me.’

  I heard a man running from the kitchen to join her. I moved to the top of the stairs and looked down. Yovanix was a young man. He wore a bronze slave bracelet and his light brown hair was cut short. He had a moustache but no beard. He was handsome, maybe a few inches shorter than Alexander, and well made. His arms were bare; Gauls were as impervious to cold as the Macedonians apparently.

  As soon as they left, I ran into her bedroom. I searched for some sign of Paul or Alexander … but there was no one. Nothing but a typical, messy bedroom with a rumpled bed and clothes scattered around.

  From outside came the sound of low voices. I went to the balcony and listened.

  ‘She walked into the bushes from here.’

  ‘There’s the rope.’ Yovanix had a melodious voice.

  ‘I see that.’ Selena tapped her foot on the terrace with annoyance. ‘Go and look in the bushes, will you? See where she’s gone.’

  Then it suddenly hit me. They were not speaking Gallic. If they had been I wouldn’t have understood a word. They were speaking Greek. Who were these people? I’d assumed the woman was Gallic. I listened carefully as Yovanix walked slowly toward the bushes.

  He walked in my own tracks, which raised my spirits considerably. Now it would be harder to see that I’d come back.

  ‘The footprints come to this spot,’ he said, standing up in the bush and waving at the woman. ‘But they stop here, and then vanish.’ Fear made his voice high.

  Selena’s face was a study in emotions. Anger, fear, disbelief, scepticism, all twisted her features. She stamped her foot. ‘That’s impossible,’ she cried.

  ‘If she was who you said …’

  ‘Be quiet, fool!’ Her breath made white clouds in the air.

  Yovanix looked around nervously. He kept pulling at his moustache. ‘I think you’d better tell Anoramix,’ he said.

  Selena shook her head. ‘You can’t be serious,’ she said. They looked at each other and finally her shoulders slumped. ‘All right. I’ll tell him, but I can’t go in person. Julius expects me here tonight to entertain his guests. I’ll have to send a message.’

  ‘You picked a fine time to have a dinner party!’

  ‘It can’t be helped. You will be my messenger. He won’t dare harm you, you’re his brother.’

  ‘I’m a slave!’ he cried. ‘I’m no more his brother than the moon is.

  ‘Silence!’ Her rage was a palpable thing. ‘You will go to Anoramix and tell him the goddess has escaped. But the Child of the Moon has been taken to the sacred grove. The men can be the sacrifice.’

  ‘Will the druids accept strangers as the sacrifice?’ he asked. ‘After all, we know next to nothing about them. Except for the woman and the child, the prophecy was vague. Anoramix may punish us.’

  ‘He can’t punish us for trying to obey him. How can one capture a goddess? It’s not my fault if the rope was not properly blessed!’ She started to gnaw on her fingernails. ‘Come into my room. We’ll speak of the message.’

  I darted into a closet and hid behind a large purple cloak. The closet had a lattice door, so I could see and hear everything. I was sweating and my head felt light. I wondered if it was nerves, hunger, or learning that Axiom, Nearchus, and my husband were slated for execution.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Selena and Yovanix closed the door behind them. I’ll say this for them, they didn’t waste any time. He tore off his breeches; she lifted her robe, baring a round belly and white thighs. Her pubis was shaved, Persian-style. Now I was even more confused. A Gaul, speaking Greek, with Persian habits? Who was she? Yovanix didn’t ask. He took her from behind, bending her over the bed and grunting as he thrust into her. Her face flushed pink. Her breath came in gasps in rhythm to his movements. I closed my eyes, embarrassed to be caught in a delicate situation.

  The noises intensified. Selena was moaning and begging him to go faster, deeper, and harder. I peeked. Yovanix was trying. His face was red and his eyes bulged. His arms tightened around Selena, and he started to shudder against her, groaning deep in his throat.

  I nearly started to giggle and bit hard on my wrist. It was nerves, surely. It wasn’t nice to make fun of people in the throes of passion. I looked at the floor and invented a grocery list, and when I glanced at them again, Selena was lying on her back and Yovanix was busy fulfilling her with his hands. I thought that was nice of him. So many men just roll over and go to sleep. Selena arched her back and started to pant. Then she gave a satisfied cry and sank back onto the bed. Yovanix flopped down beside her, and for a few moments there was a deep silence.

  I wanted to knock on the closet door and say, ‘Hey! Keep talking about where you’ve taken Paul and the men!’ The quiet didn’t last long. Selena got up and stretched like a big cat. ‘Yovanix, wake up. We have to talk.’

  ‘Mmmm.’ He raised his head. His eyes were dark brown, I saw now, and rather sleepy. His moustache trembled. ‘Must I go to see Anoramix?’ His voice was resigned though.

  Selena didn’t even bother to answer. ‘You tell him that the goddess vanished. I only hope he didn’t need her for a specific reason. He didn’t tell us why he wanted her, he only said to bring her to the sacred grove. The boy is already there, and you will fetch the men, is that clear?’

  ‘Am I to bring the men there as well?’

  ‘You’re going to see Anoramix, you might as well take them.’

  ‘But in broad daylight?’

  ‘Hide them well in the straw.’

  ‘Will Sesterix give me the hay wagon?’

  ‘Tell Sesterix that you have orders to fetch a new couch for me, and the straw is to protect the fragile wood.’

  ‘Very well.’

  ‘And don’t forget to remind Anoramix you’re his brother.’

  ‘By the sacred oak, Selena! I’m just a slave.’

  ‘I cannot free you.’ Her voice was sad. ‘Perhaps if our parents hadn’t been so poor …’

  ‘Our parents sold us in order to save us from starvation.’ His voice was bitter. ‘But I sometimes think it would have been better to have starved. At least for me.’

  ‘When I saw you in the market in Massalia, did I hesitate an instant?’ Selena’s voice cracked.

  ‘No, you didn’t. You begged your besotted husband to buy me for you, and he did. Now I am my own sister’s slave.’ Yovanix sat up in the bed and pulled on his clothes.

  Sister? I raised my eyebrows. Well, in these days incest didn’t have quite the same connotation it had for us.

  ‘I’m sorry. I try to make life as pleasant for you as I can.’

  ‘And I do the same for you,’ he said, with a meaningful look at her nakedness.

  ‘Soon you will be free. I promise.’ Selena stood up and draped her arms around his shoulders, pressing her forehead to his. When they were so close together their resemblance was striking.

  After they left the room, I breathed a deep sigh and crawled out of the closet. My legs were stiff, and I needed to p
ee. I looked around for a toilet. There was a metal chamber pot on the floor. It wasn’t very stable, and when I sat on it, it rocked. The newest rage from Rome, I thought, and then sighed with relief. I didn’t bother to empty it; the slaves would do that when they cleaned the messy room.

  I sneaked out of the house and made my way through the barnyard to the stables. I had to find the cart with straw in it and hide.

  Chapter Eighteen

  It was easy. Everyone had gone to do various chores. The buildings were deserted. Selena and Yovanix were in the kitchen. Julius had left. Our horses were missing, I noticed. I found the wagon and crawled into the deep straw. It was warm and almost comfortable.

  Faintly, from the house, I heard furious yelling.

  ‘Who pissed in my helmet?’ It was Yovanix. He wasn’t having a good day.

  It got worse.

  For one thing, it started to snow in earnest. The white feathers that had floated gently to the ground yesterday were replaced by buckets of white confetti.

  ‘Zeus snows,’ muttered Yovanix, as he hitched the horses to the wagon. I nodded in satisfaction. He was Greek. Only the Greeks said ‘Zeus rains’, or ‘Zeus thunders’. That could mean that he was a member of the strange sect of Orpheus, which originated in Crete and had spread to Gaul to become a new religion.

  The snow meant the wagon skidded down the driveway. The horses snorted and slid trying to pull it. When we reached the cattle guard, Yovanix jumped off the wagon and started to place the boards across the stones. One of the boards slipped and fell on his foot. He started to curse. I could see everything from my warm hiding place.

  For a minute, I thought he’d broken his leg. That wouldn’t have suited at all; I wanted him to collect Alexander, Nearchus, Axiom, and Paul. However, after wiping the tears of pain off his face and rubbing some feeling back into the bruised limb, he managed to limp back to the wagon and drive the horses through the gate.

  The horses found better footing on the main road. The cattle guard stayed open. The cows would probably escape. I hoped so. I was so angry with Selena and Yovanix that I hoped that every single animal on the farm left.

  We arrived at the village after a short drive. I shrank as far back into the straw as I could as Yovanix made a few stops. At one stop, a man put a large basket in the wagon. I peeked inside. Dried dates. My mouth started to water. I was famished. With a quick look around, I reached my arm over the back of the seat and grabbed a large handful.

  I had eaten half the dates from the basket by the time Yovanix came back. There was a pause when he climbed into the seat. He picked up the basket and looked.

  ‘What the …?’ he muttered. I could hear him shifting his weight, searching in every direction. Finally he said under his breath, ‘If I catch that filthy thief I’ll …’ He didn’t get any further. A man called to him.

  ‘Hail, Yovanix. Where are you bound? May I have a lift?’

  I heard a deep sigh, then he said, civilly enough, ‘I’m going to see Anoramix. But first I have some errands to run for the Lady Selena.’

  ‘Well, just drop me off at the three crossings.’

  I caught sight of the man’s cloak and raised my eyebrows. It was deep red wool, lined with fur, and embroidered with eagles. This must be one of the Roman generals Marcus Quintus mentioned with such reverence. At the trivium he climbed out of the wagon and waved. ‘Thank you, Yovanix. Tell your master I will see him tonight. He kindly invited me for dinner.’

  ‘I won’t forget.’ Yovanix clicked his tongue and the horses moved off. Then he sighed. ‘Bloody Romans. Now I’m late.’ He didn’t dare hurry though, as the footing was precarious. The road wound along the side of a gorge, and I swallowed nervously as we started down a steep hill. Luckily, the brakes held. We made it to the bottom in one piece and took the left-hand fork in the road, the one leading along the riverside toward a large forest.

  When he stopped, I risked a peek. We were parked in front of a temple built along a flowing stream in honour of a nymph.

  I raised my head in time to see Yovanix coming out of the nymphaeum with a figure slung over his shoulder. I held my breath. It was Nearchus.

  Yovanix half shoved, half heaved him into the wagon. Nearchus landed on me. By the time I could speak again, it was Alexander’s turn to be dumped unceremoniously into the straw, and a few moments later Axiom was added to the growing pile of unconscious men.

  Alexander was breathing badly. The men were tied hand and foot, but Alexander also had a rope around his neck that seemed to be strangling him.

  I wished all sorts of evil deaths on Selena and her brother and set about easing his bonds. The knot was tight and my fingers were cold. After pulling fruitlessly on it, I leaned forward and started gnawing. I could loosen it with my teeth. The knot began to give and I sighed with relief. Alexander gasped, and some colour came back into his cheeks. His eyelids fluttered, and he opened his eyes. Snowflakes landed on his long lashes. He blinked.

  ‘Am I going blind?’ he whispered.

  ‘No, why do you say that?’ I kept my voice low.

  ‘Because there are white spots in front of my eyes.’ He frowned. His handsome face had a puzzled expression. ‘Where am I?’

  ‘Shhh, we’re being kidnapped.’

  He sat up so fast he smacked me in the nose with his head. The inevitable happened, my nose started to bleed freely. I tried to staunch it with my hands, but the scarlet flood splashed through my fingers and onto Nearchus’s face. It woke him up.

  ‘AarrghhHHH!’ he yelled, sitting up and trying to struggle. Finding himself tied hand and foot caused him to panic. He thrashed about, kicking Axiom in the groin, which made the poor fellow bleat with pain, although his eyes stayed shut.

  Yovanix hauled on the horse’s reins, stopping them, and he turned around, a horrified expression on his face.

  ‘So much for the element of surprise,’ I said resignedly.

  I leaped up. Flinging my arms wide, I bellowed in English, ‘I hope you realize how lucky you are because if I had a sword right now you’d be a shish kebab!’

  Blood spattered off my hands and flew onto his face and chest. The effect was pretty much what I’d hoped for. His eyes rolled up and he keeled over.

  Alexander sat up straight and stared at me. ‘Shish kebab?’

  ‘A spur of the moment curse,’ I said, shrugging.

  ‘Well, it worked. You killed him.’ Nearchus, his hands still tied behind his back, leaned over to look at my handiwork.

  ‘He’s not dead, but he’s going to wish he were.’ I acted fast. Faints only last a few seconds. I took the rope that had been around Alexander’s neck and tied Yovanix, like a dog, to the wagon. Then I tied his hands behind his back.

  ‘Poor fellow.’ Alexander was busy unbinding his own knots. ‘He’s got a nasty cut on his leg.’

  ‘Serves him right.’ I turned to Alexander and flung myself into his arms, knocking him over backward.

  ‘Oooff.’ It was Axiom. He woke up and glared at us. ‘May I ask what you’re doing in my bed …’ He broke off and looked confused. ‘Who tied my feet together? Hey! This isn’t my bed!’

  I started to cry. ‘You were on your way to be sacrificed! All of you were! They still have Paul! I have no idea what they will do to him, but I’m frightened. Oh, Alex, hold me!’

  He did. He was sweet, he didn’t quite laugh at me, although I heard him chuckle. ‘You are a funny woman. Always brave in the face of danger and then bursting into tears when it’s all over.’

  ‘Look who’s talking. Who always faints when the battle’s finished?’

  ‘My wounds are usually being cauterized.’ He sounded tetchy, but he grinned. ‘At any rate you’re here, I’m here, and we’ll find Paul as soon as the slave wakes up.’

  Yovanix was having a very bad day. He woke up and found himself tied to the wagon. Three angry men and one furious goddess stood over him. He wouldn’t answer our questions. All he would stutter was, ‘I c-c-can’t tell you.�
� ‘Well let me tell you something,’ I said, patience exhausted. ‘First of all, it’s not nice to make love to your own sister.’

  Axiom made a disapproving noise. ‘That’s quite disgusting,’ he said. He was a Jew, and they had strict laws about that sort of thing, even back in those times.

  ‘Secondly,’ I went on. ‘If you do not lead us directly to Anoramix, who, as I happen to know, is your brother, you will regret it for the rest of your very short, extremely pain-filled life.’

  ‘How do you know all this?’ he shrieked.

  ‘That’s what I’d like to know,’ murmured Alexander, with a puzzled look in my direction.

  ‘And thirdly, you’re going to tell us all about your religion, the druid, and the sacrifice.’

  ‘Anything else?’ he whispered.

  ‘Most important of all,’ I said putting my face very close to his. ‘I want to know where my son is, and how I can get him back. And he had better be in perfect health, or I promise you the most horrible, dreadful torture …’

  ‘Uh, that’s enough, Ashley,’ said Alexander, pulling me away. ‘He’s going to faint again.’

  ‘Put his head between his knees,’ I said. Then I smiled wickedly. ‘Your hair smells awful, did someone piss in your helmet?’

  He fainted.

  When we finished untying Nearchus and Axiom, they stretched their legs, got their circulation going again, then urinated against a tree. I gave them the rest of the dates which they devoured.

  Yovanix woke up again and had a few moments of the shakes before finally consenting to all my demands.

  ‘We must go to the sacred wood,’ he said.

  ‘Where is the boy?’ I asked.

  ‘He’s safe, I promise. No harm will come to him. Anoramix thought that with the moon’s child, he would be able to control the stars …’ His voice trailed off.