Shadows on the Aegean (50 page)

T
HE
M
EGALOSHANA’A
ARRIVED
. Every nineteen summers the fields and hills of Aztlan were covered with the visiting clans. Azure, saffron, and crimson
tents scattered across the green hillsides like overgrown flowers. The wind died and the sun shone hotly on the golden-topped
Pyramid of Days.

In fourteen days, the Aztlantu world would change.

Events were scattered throughout the days, in accordance with the prophecies and charts of the Daedaledai and the cycles of
the moon and sun. Tonight, a feast. Tomorrow, the first race for mother-goddess. Though only the Olimpi ever won, hundreds
of young women raced in the hope that they might catch the eye of the Golden.

Once the mother-goddess claimed her position, then the Rising Golden was tested, first in the bull dance and then in the pyramid.
Then he was
Hreesos
, his predecessor was
athanati
, and the people were blessed in the blood of the bull. More feasting and later, when the sun and moon, Apis and Kela, were
joined in the sky, the new
Hreesos
would be conceived in a ritual for women and
Hreesos
only.

The feasting had no end or beginning, Coil Dancers were free, wine flowed like seawater, and the Aztlantu congratulated themselves
on their good fortune to be born on these islands.

Beneath them, the earth churned; their fortune was changing.

C
HLOE FELT THE EXQUISITE TENSION EBB AWAY
and collapsed on Cheftu’s chest.

“You,” he said, trying to catch his breath, “have developed stamina.’

“Almost kill you?” she said with a smile. “Desserts will do that, you know.”

His eyes closed, and Chloe looked at him in astonishment. Cheftu went to sleep? Immediately? He must be exhausted from working
so late every night. This festival time would be a good holiday, she thought. No students, no corpses, just a vacation.

Pulling away from his body, she noticed that he’d stopped being shaved Egyptian style. When in Aztlan, do as the Aztlantu
do? Chloe grinned and got out of bed, covering Cheftu. She would go see Selena, who was more than freaking out at her new
responsibilities. Then meet with Sibylla’s clanspeople, who never wanted more than “just so” anyway.

She had no memories regarding Sibylla’s clan chieftain duties. Sibylla herself had disappeared. Chloe had apparently absorbed
her, though it wasn’t flattering to see herself as a psychic vampire. She kissed her husband’s forehead and bounced out of
the double doors.

“Do not forget tonight,” she whispered.

He muttered, and Chloe laughed.

The
Megaron
was filled with torchlight and the smell of flowers. The night was hot, and Chloe felt perspiration building up where she
touched Cheftu. They looked as Aztlantu as the rest, and Chloe grinned at Cheftu’s visible effort to keep his eyes above the
necks of the many bare-breasted women moving around the room.

Chloe twisted the skin on his arm, and he glared at her. “Stop it!” she hissed. He frowned, then tried to look innocent. “I’m
your wife,” she said. “I’ll always know what you are thinking.” They walked toward their respective clan tables and, with
a quick hand squeeze, separated.

The feast was elaborate and exquisite: lobster, shrimp, crab, squid, cucumbers, figs … all seasoned and placed in arrangements
before her. Chloe glanced over her shoulder and saw Cheftu walking away, Dion beside him. She turned back to her conversation
with Selena. Acrobats flew across the pavement, some playing the bull and some enacting the bull dancers. They juggled grapes,
then clay
pithoi
, and finally two of
Hreesos’
newborn sons.

The Golden Bull rose, and the court grew silent in fear, admiration, and respect. “Citizens of Aztlan! My brothers, my sisters,
my lovers.” That got a laugh. “My fellow clanspeople! To Kela, the voluptuous earth goddess! Celebrate her life and love tonight!”
Zelos’ toast was slurred and full of good humor. Serfs appeared to refill the many rhytons.

The mood was expansive, sensual and carefree. Selena excused herself to pursue the stag Adonis, one of Dion’s castoffs, and
Chloe found herself alone, picking at congealing seafood and wondering why she wasn’t satisfied. She still didn’t know why
she was here. This was nothing like Egypt, she had no guidance, no clear path.
Just enough freedom and rope to hang myself
. It was a discouraging thought.

She shook her head politely as
Hreesos’
gaze fell on her. Phoebus inclined his head and turned to kiss a dark-haired nymph at his side. She was a dead ringer for
Irmentis, Chloe thought.

A gentle caress of her shoulder made her turn. “Are you well?” Chloe asked as Cheftu sat down. “You were gone so long I was
afraid you’d slipped through a portal and were now in JFK’s time.”

“I was needed,” he said, avoiding her gaze.

“The dancers will be here in a moment,” she said. “The acrobats were good. Not quite Cirque du Soleil, but impressive.”

“You speak in riddles,” he muttered. “Has everyone seemed well?” he asked clearly.

“Well, do you see that tall lady over there, the one with the pierced—”

“Aye, I see her.”

“Well, before the second course she and that gentleman over there were—

Coil Dancers, without snakes, began to writhe before them. The women danced around the fireplace in the center of the room,
twisting and turning, their pupils pinpoints in their eyes from
kreenos
. Chloe joined them, spinning and swirling, enjoying the freedom of the movement. Since purloining Sibylla’s skills, dancing
had become a lot of fun.

Her stomach began to cramp and she sat down, motioning for water. Maybe the wine was upsetting her system?

A while later, Cheftu sat down next to her. “Why are you not dancing, Chieftain?”

“Not in the mood,” Chloe said. “I overate, I think.”

His gaze was tender but quick. “Go rest, then, belov—er, Sibylla.’ He smiled over his cup. “As Spiralmaster, I command it.”

“I think I will,” Chloe said, rising. She
really
didn’t feel good.

“Do you need to be tucked in?”

Chloe shook her head.
“Just
tucked in, though.”

Immediately Cheftu’s gaze sharpened. “What happened?”

“I ate too much,” she said, then clapped her hand over her mouth and exited through a side door.

As he held her head, smoothing her hair while she threw up, Cheftu asked her about what she had eaten. Anything that she alone
had eaten? Chloe couldn’t remember; the thought of food made her sick to her stomach. Again.

“I think you were mildly poisoned,” Cheftu said. “It wouldn’t take much to weaken your body a little, throw your system into
turmoil.”

“Why?” Chloe croaked.

“Ileana.”

The name was answer enough. As Chloe rested between bouts, her face cold with sweat, she became even more determined to beat
the Queen of Heaven. Anyone who would poison just to win a competition was not fit to be a ruler.

She laid her head on the pavement, nice and cool. Cheftu stroked her head. “Shall I take you to bed?”

“Only if you promise to hold me,” she said, sniffling.
God, I hate it when I’m weepy!

“Eee, ma chère
,” he said, lifting her into his arms. “Do you think I am a beast? You are unwell—”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I just didn’t want you to leave me alone.” Chloe snuggled closer to him, feeling safe, secure,
and comforted. He kissed her bowed head and started up the stairs.

“I need a witness, Sibylla.”

Chloe rubbed her eyes, then covered a yawn. “It is late, Selena. Can this not wait?.”

“Revenge has its own schedule,” said the new Kela-Ata.

Chloe sighed. “Let me get a cloak.”

“We can do it here,” Selena offered. Thinking of Cheftu sleeping in the next room, Chloe declined. Her relationship with the
Spiral-master was a secret she wanted to keep. She threw a cloak over her running shift and followed Selena down two floors
to her apartments. Selena walked into the cleared room, and Chloe propped herself against the wall, wishing for a toothbrush.

Selena chanted to Kela, drawing elaborate patterns in sand on the floor. “You must defend my body while I am away,” she said.

Chloe yawned again. “Defend?”

“Aye. While I spirit travel.” She looked up at Chloe. “I mean no offense, but I do not want to wake up with a changed appearance.
I don’t want to be like you.”

“My gratitude,” Chloe said dryly.

T
HE PATTERNS DRAWN
, Selena stepped into the center, bowing to each of the four elemental points—fire, water, wind, and earth—then sat down,
naked and crossed-legged. From the satchel around her neck she withdrew poppy gum and placed it under her tongue, reciting
the formula that would help her
psyche
leave her body temporarily. Feeling her body grow heavier, Selena loosened her grip on the flesh, fastening a silver noose
tightly around her spirit self. Selena’s
psyche
flew across the black skies, then sank into the palace building, passing through walls and ceilings like heavy air. She floated
over her quarry and spoke, bringing him into the state between waking and sleeping.