“Sure,” she replied. “I’ll be right back.” As she moved across the room toward the kitchen, they began making fun of the man again. This time she caught his name. “Primos,” Someone was saying, she wasn’t sure who. Pushing the dull brown and worn curtain aside that separated the Tavern’s dining area from the kitchen, she passed through the doorway. Athea breathed a sigh of relief. I hope Athos doesn’t think I would sell myself.
Athea returned to the rowdy table after collecting six bottles of the rot gut from the tavern’s stores in the basement. During her absence, someone produced a set of bones, and the group of veterans had begun gambling. Judging by his grin, it appeared that Justin was gaining the upper hand in the game.
She felt bad for Constan. Based on the small pile of coins in front of him, Constan wasn’t faring well. With half a bottle in him already it was no wonder. She arrived at the table with the bottles. She didn’t bother with goblets. She knew they would be a wasted effort and likely broken by this group. The men at the table leered and grabbed at her, but she deftly avoided their grasping hands as she delivered their drink.
Time passed slowly for Athea as she tended to her customers. Baltazar and Liana left. With the soldiers satisfied, Athea, at last, turned to look at the rest of the room. All of the other customers save Athos had left. She breathed a sigh of relief. Finally! She turned toward Athos and walked over to his table. “Need anything else, hun?”
“Just your company,” he replied. He is so sweet, Athea thought. She smiled at him and picked a chair close to him as she sat down.
“What is troubling you, Athos?”
Athos paused for a few moments trying to come up with something to say, “Kind of crazy tonight.” He said with a hint of nervousness in his voice. More of a statement than a question.
“Yeah,” Athea agreed. “Usually we don’t get rowdy customers here, but something must be going on. Do you know anything about that?”
“I do,” Athos replied. “I don’t know where to begin.” He took a sip of wine and tried to relax. Athos slowly exhaled through his nose trying to quiet the butterflies in his stomach. Wish I wouldn’t have eaten so fast.
As she waited, Athea started to look a bit impatient with him. Finally, he worked up the nerve to start talking. “Athea, over the last couple of months that I have been coming here, my feelings for you have grown. I don’t know what it is about you, but you have affected me like no other.” A faint hint of a smile began to show on Athea’s face as her lips began to curve upward slightly.
A loud crash erupted from the soldier’s table. Athea grimaced and turned around. Primos was slumped over the table. His bottle had fallen to the floor when consciousness left him and broke. The remaining contents leaked into the cracks of the wooden floor. What a lightweight, thought Athea.
Justin and Constan laughed hard at Primos. Constan turned to Athea and yelled, “Hey lass, bring me some more wine! No more of this rot gut swill, bring me the good stuff!” He exclaimed. Constan punctuated his request by breaking wind into his seat. The other men at the table made mock gasping and choking noises.
Athea sighed, squeezed Athos’ hand, stood up, and headed toward the kitchen. As she did so, she heard coughing coming from the table. She turned around to look at the commotion. Justin, his hand over his nose, looked at Constan and said, “Holy Virgin Mary Mother of God, Constan! Does plague beset thy innards?”
Constan a look of pride on his face said, “Aye!” To emphasize the point, he turned his backside to Justin and broke wind again. Athea shook her head in disgust and continued toward the kitchen.
She entered the kitchen and turned left, carefully picking her way down the stairs into the cellar. Selecting a bottle of the Cappadocian, she grabbed it and headed back up the stairs. The old stairs creaked even under her slight weight. She emerged from the kitchen and immediately wrinkled her nose. What a stink.
She carried the wine toward Constan. She noticed that the pile of coins in front of him had grown substantially. As she approached the table, several hands reached out at her, but she dodged them with well-practiced ease and set the bottle of wine down in front of Constan. She noticed the other bottles were running low. “More of the rotgut?” She asked the others.
Justin belched and said, “No, bring us all Cappadocian!” He emphasized his desire by slamming his empty bottle on the wooden table.
Athea replied, “Of course, boys.”
Athea headed back to the kitchen, went down into the cellar, and grabbed the bottles. She then turned around and headed back up the stairs, then out into the tavern. She once again deftly dodged the grasping hands seeking out her bosom and backside as she deposited new bottles in front of each of the conscious soldiers. The sounds of Primos’ loud snoring drifted upward from the floor. She let out a slow breath, letting some of the tension escape her. She turned toward Athos and walked over to him. She took the seat beside him again, “Sorry about that, hun.”
Athos replied, “No worries, love.”
Athea’s thoughts raced, Wait a minute! Did he just say, love?
Athos spent a moment collecting himself. “Athea, the reason I wanted to talk with you tonight is twofold. The first reason is the 5th Parthica is going to war-”
Athea immediately jumped to her feet, knocked over her chair and exclaimed, “Wait! WHAT?”
Athos continued, “We just got the orders today. A General Vahan was at the fort when we returned from our march to Mount Hermon. He told us more about what is coming out of Arabia. The threat is more immediate to us than we thought. The Persians mentioned that they had a problem, but now we found out that we have a problem too. They are calling them Bewitched Arab Cannibals.”
Athea’s shoulders slumped at the news, “Athos, the timing of this is dastardly.”
Athos replied, “It is indeed.”
“That brings me to the second thing I wanted to talk to you about, Athea. Over the past few months, we have talked and gotten to know one another. My feelings have grown for you. You are a very beautiful woman, but more importantly, the person beneath the surface is an exquisite work of art.” Athea blushed as Athos continued. “I want to get to know that person better. I want a future with that person.” Athos paused to give Athea a chance to talk.
Athea smiled placed her hand on his and replied, “Athos, I too have felt a growing closeness to you. Unlike most of the men that come here, you are very respectful and sweet. I have enjoyed our talks and want more.” It was Athos’ turn to smile. He turned his hand over grasped hers and squeezed gently. He looked into her beautiful green eyes and continued.
“I’m so relieved that you feel the same way, Athea. I don’t know how long we will be gone. I hope and pray to God above that I will return quickly, and we can resume our courtship.”
Athea replied, “Me too, Athos, me too.”
Over at Constan’s table, the gambling and drinking had degenerated into a game of who could belch the loudest. Athea squeezed Athos’ hand gently, “Well I have to head back over there and see if they need anything. Once we get these drunkards out the door, I can close up and spend some time with you. When do you have to go back to the fort?”
Athos replied, “I have until sundown tomorrow to spend with you.”
Athea smiled and said, “Good, we can spend some time together then. I’ll let Jacob know that I need tomorrow afternoon off. He can get his daughter Juliana to cover for me until you have to report back to the fort.”
Athos smiled broadly, “That sounds great, love, you have answered my prayers.”
Athos sat back and waited for Constan and the other grizzled veterans to surrender to the drink and head back to the fort. To Athos, each minute of waiting seemed like an hour. Fortunately, no more patrons came through the door into the tavern.
Two more soldiers had joined Primos down on the floor when Constan finally stood up and said, “Me bladder is going to burst, boys.” Without waiting for a response, he headed for the door. As Constan eme
rged from the Thirsty Palm into the night air, he stumbled a bit on the stoop taking him down to street level. He took a few steps to the right, pulled out his manhood, and urinated right in the middle of the road. Sighing contentedly he turned back around and re-entered the tavern.
Constan wandered up to the table and finally noticed that two more of his friends had joined Primos on the floor in slumber. He grunted in dissatisfaction and turned to Justin, “Let’s gather up this sad lot and get them back to the fort.” Justin nodded his agreement, stood up, and kicked Primos a few times. Primos stirred a bit, groaned, broke wind, rolled over and resumed his snoring.
Constan shook his head in frustration and turned to Athea and asked, “Lass, can you draw me a bucket of water from your well?” Athea was eager to get them out so that she and Athos could leave. She nodded her head in agreement and disappeared into the kitchen. After a few minutes, she came back and handed the bucket to Constan, “Thanks, lass.” He then dumped the contents of the bucket onto Primos.
Primos moaned, passed gas, and sat up. He wobbled for a few moments and then tried to stand up. His efforts made him light headed and dizzy, and he fell back to the floor with a dull thump. Constan laughed at him and handed the bucket back to Athea. “Two more times should do it, lass.” Athea once again disappeared into the kitchen and emerged a few minutes later with a full bucket.
This time Justin took the bucket and threw it on someone whose name escaped her right at that moment. The individual awoke and kicked upward with his right foot. The foot found Justin’s groin and with a howl of pain he fell to the floor clutching in-between his legs. Athos, not being able to contain himself any longer, laughed at the comical scene unfolding before him. Athea turned, smiled at him, and said, “Just another day here at the Thirsty Palm. Tis’ always entertaining when you combine drink with soldiers.” She grabbed the bucket from the floor and started back toward the kitchen.
Athea again returned with the bucket, full of water, a short time later. Constan took the bucket, making it a very careful point to stand to the snoring soldier’s side to avoid the same fate as Justin. Once positioned and with dramatic flair, Constan dumped the bucket of water onto the soldier’s slumbering form.
Athea remembered that the soldier’s name was Drak, or Drakar, or something like that. Drakar awoke, he looked around with a dazed look on his face. Finally, he coughed and sat up. He muttered a few confused words and then clarity came to him.
Constan and Justin, playing the role of mother hen, got everyone situated and heading for the door. After what seemed like an eternity to Athea, Constan closed the door behind him. She quickly dropped the wooden board into the two rungs that served as a lock for the tavern. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned to Athos and smiled. “Shall we?”
Athos responded with a simple, “Aye.”
Jacob emerged from the kitchen and let the couple out onto the dark Damascus Street. Athos headed across the street with a mission in mind. He paused and squatted down. Confused, Athea watched him. Athos reached into his pocket and brought out a small piece of the lamb he had saved earlier.
A few seconds later they heard a meow from the alley. After a short wait, Buttons emerged and took the morsel from Athos’ outstretched hand. Athea smiled, “It warms my heart that you remembered Buttons.” Athea squatted down and scratched Buttons between her ears. She purred at Athea. When Athea stood up, Buttons started rubbing herself against Athea’s leg. Athos looked down and grinned at her.
Athea took Athos’ hand, and they began walking down the street. The moon had not risen yet, so the streets of Damascus were shrouded in darkness. Buttons followed them for a short time purring. Losing interest, she headed back to her alley across from the Thirsty Palm. The city was quiet at that time of the night, and they walked up and down the dark streets, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other’s company.
After what seemed like a very short amount of time, but was actually almost an hour, Athos started leading Athea toward the City’s walls. He brought Athea to the spot where Hadad stood guard at night. He looked up and spied a figure walking back and forth, at the top of the wall. Hadad was a darker figure within the darkness of the night. Athos called out to him, “Hadad, how are you this fine evening?”
Hadad paused, turned around and looked down at the couple, “I am well my friend. The breeze tonight from the mountain feels good.”
Athos grinned, “Glad to hear it, my friend. I have brought with me tonight a lady that is very special to me. Do you mind if we come on up and gaze out into the desert?”
Hadad held up his right hand and extended his index finger toward the sky, “I can allow that on one condition, my friend. That you introduce me to your fair maiden.”
Athos chuckled, “You have a deal, my friend.”
The couple ascended the stairs to the top of the wall. Hadad met them at the top. “My friend, this is Athea.”
Hadad grinned broadly, “If my wife were not heavy with child, I would be most tempted to steal you from young Athos here.”
Fortunately for Athea, it was too dark to see her blush, “Thank you, Hadad, and well met.”
Hadad turned to Athos and said, “My friend, I must maintain my guard here, but if you ascend the staircase inside that tower right there, you can get both privacy and a fantastic view.”
Athos patted Hadad on the shoulder, “Thank you so much, my friend, for your sound advice.” Athos took Athea by the hand and led her toward the tower. He gave the oak door leading into the tower a mighty tug. After a few moments, with a grating sound at first and then a long creaking sound the door opened.
The couple stepped inside the tower. Athos, wanting to make sure Hadad didn’t get in trouble, pulled the door shut. The room went immediately pitch black. Despite the loss of vision, the inside of the tower felt faintly damp and warm. Athea giggled nervously and squeezed his hand. Athos said, “The stairs were over to my left when I shut the door, love. Keep hold of my hand, and I will feel for them.”
Athea replied with a simple, “Aye.” After a few moments and an, “Ow!” When she stubbed her toe, Athos found the stairs and began feeling his way while slowly leading Athea. The couple came to the top of the stairs.
“Please stay right where you are at, Athea. I will locate the door.” Athos, careful not to go off the edge of the stairs or the stone landing, felt around for the door. After about a minute he located the door and then the metal circle connected to a rod driven into the wood. With a sharp tug, he opened the door.
A breeze that felt a bit cooler than the inside of the tower blew in from the outside. Athea saw Athos silhouetted in the doorway and joined him. Together they stepped out onto the top of the tower. Athos took Athea by the hand once and led her to the edge looking out across the desert.
The moon, still low on the horizon, was bathing the desert in a reddish glow. The light had not quite reached the walls of Damascus. Off in the distance to the east, a caravan made camp under a stand of palms. The occasional noise could be heard from their camels, and the folks gathered around the camp fires. Closer in there were hundreds of campfires from what could only be other units of the Army come to Damascus to march west with the 5th Parthica. The occasional sound of laughter came from the direction of the many campfires.
The red light from the moon painted the desert and made the sands glow with an eeriness Athos hadn’t seen before. He kept feeling a cool breeze tickling the hairs on his neck. He turned and discovered the source of the cool breeze. Twenty-five miles away the triple peaks of Mount Hermon were silhouetted by flashes of lightning. A very low and dull sounding rumble of thunder could be heard coming from that direction.
Athos looked up at the heavens and prayed silently to himself, Thank you, God, for this perfect moment. The natural beauty you have given us this evening is amazing. Athos ended the prayer by making the sign of the cross.
“What was that for?” Athea asked.
“I was just thanking God for this perfec
t night.”
Athea smiled. They sat down on the edge of the tower. Their legs dangled over the side. Athos put his arm around Athea. They both sat for a while and just took in the view. Neither of them wanted to spoil the moment with small talk. The moon’s red pigmentation began to fade as it ascended above the horizon. The rays of light from the rising moon were slowly tracing their way across the walls of Damascus.
After many minutes had passed, Athos turned to Athea and took both her hands in his. “Athea, I do not know what the future will bring, but right here, right at this moment, I am the luckiest man in the world.”
They both moved their heads toward the other, and their lips met. At that moment a ray of the rising moon landed on the couple, illuminating them as they shared their first kiss. Hadad’s eyes followed the ray of moonlight and found the couple at the top of the tower joined in a kiss. Good for you my friend.”
Athos awoke, a loud noise outside had disturbed his slumber. The dim light from outdoors of the morning sun shone through the cracks in the room’s shudders. Athos pondered for a moment. Was that the light of the setting sun? I’ve never been in this room before. He could hear the steady breath of someone sleeping beside him. He became aware of something warm pressed up against his back as he laid on his side. He looked over to see who or what it was. Athea, still wearing the same clothes she wore last night, was snuggled up against him in slumber. It wasn’t a dream!
Memories from last night flooded into Athos’ conscious thought. The Thirsty Palm, the walk, the kiss. After the kiss, they sat down on top of that tower and talked long into the night. Athea led him back to her room. They shared a goblet of wine and talked some more. It wasn’t long before their eyes grew heavy and they drifted off to sleep. Athos noticed the light coming in was growing dimmer and dimmer. The sun must be close to setting. “The sun must be close to setting!” he exclaimed out loud.
Athea awoke, startled at the sudden noise and the presence of Athos in her room. For a moment she seemed dazed and confused. When clarity set in, she smiled at Athos, and then worry came across her face as she realized immediately that it was very late in the day, “Athos it is nearly sunset.”
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