Of Gaea Page 12

  He had been waiting patiently since his da had seen Ghita drive away. He would have gone over without Da’s prompting. When Ghita was upset Ari usually was too. Even if it didn’t show he knew she had a wide array of emotions.

  He walked with Ari the few doors down in companionable silence. Kleisthenes stood on the porch and watched. Nasya sat in the porch swing and rocked slowly and easily.

  “I’m going to guess by the way Ghi recklessly drove down the street that you talked to her.” Kleisthenes stated with a smile even as he bent to lift her chair and herself up to the porch.

  “I know the money comes from an inheritance and Lyris hasn’t woken up.” Ari sighed. “That’s about it. Well, and that she freaked out when I mentioned she broke the rules enough for Damia to potentially kill me for unknown reasons.”

  Nasya chuckled softly. “I hope you had more tact than that.”

  “Of course I didn’t say it like that.” Ari scowled at her.

  “Come on,” Kleisthenes held the door open. “Let’s get you settled in.”

  Ari was startled out of sleep by the slamming of a door. Bleary eyed she looked up at her door, but it was still closed and Sasha still lay on the floor next to the bed. He wouldn’t have slammed the door anyway.

  When she looked down to see if he was still asleep his eyes were closed but his hand was fisted over his heart with a dagger in its grip. Where he got the dagger Ari wasn’t sure, but considering there was a shed full of sharp pointy items just outside the patio doors it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

  “Where is she?” Ghita was frantic and very loud. “What have you done to her?”

  “Sleeping,” was Kleisthenes’s tired reply. “At least I hope she is with the way you’re slamming doors. We both know that she’s safer here than anywhere else unless we were in Sparta.”

  “You cannot keep doing this Kleisthenes. Your interference is not helping her.”

  A jaw cracking yawn was his answer. “You’re wrong. Sasha and I have done everything needed to protect her by your rules. It’s you that’s failed, Ghita. You cannot prevent or change what’s going to happen next month.”

  “We’re not in Sparta. Nothing is going to happen.”

  “Has she told you? She hears her. She told Sasha she heard her. You know what that means. Anything you do now is futile.”

  “It’s not possible. It’s not.”

  “Just because we’re not in Sparta doesn’t change what runs through her blood.” Kleisthenes’s voice was soft. “The only thing you’ve succeeded in doing is keeping her in the dark, and even now, she’s not as in the dark as she had been. I have every reason to believe that she will be what she needs to be when the time comes.”

  “I won’t allow it. It’s not going to happen. I have everything in my possession. She has nothing.”

  “She has Sasha and Nasya. She has me. Why do you fear this so much?”

  “She is wild, and reckless like Lyris. She doesn’t have the ability to make the right decision.”

  “I think she’ll surprise you.”

  Ari woke the second time to birds and sun streaming through the window. Surprised, she rolled over to check the clock and bumped into Nasya.

  Ari didn’t remember falling back asleep. After Kleisthenes’s statement Ghita has stopped shouting. She had reached over the edge of the bed for Sasha and his fingers had interlocked with hers. She must have drifted off while waiting for the next bombshell to drop. Apparently, it never had.

  “Good afternoon.” Nasya eyes twinkled. “You have more color. That’s a good sign. I thought you’d like to sit outside some before you had to leave.”

  “I feel kind of like a hypocrite.” Ari took the clothes Nasya handed her. “I mean, I don’t really know… the Goddess, I guess she’s called, but I’m asking her for help.”

  “Do you personally know the police man that stops the robber? Do you personally know the fireman that jumps into a burning building to save a life? In many instances we don’t know who our saviors are until they have saved us.”

  Her logic was… well, logical.

  “I just feel… I don’t know… it’s like asking the neighbor across the street for sugar when you’ve never spoken two words to them before. I’m asking for something without giving anything in return.” Ari held up the white string bikini in the pile of clothes.

  “For purity. Unless you’re planning on letting Leonidas see you naked?” Nasya’s face flushed with mirth. “I thought not. If you’re really worried about it, I can teach you some.”

  Ari nodded even as she motioned for Nasya to turn around so she could change. “Just some basics I guess would make me feel a little better.”

  “You already know the basics. Gaea protects the Faithful.”

  How Nasya ended up on the opposite side of the bed in the time it took to pull the pants on, Ari wasn’t sure, but she felt Nasya’s cool hands at the back of her neck untying and retying the strings to the bikini firmly and in what felt like an elaborate knot.

  “Is that really all there is to it?”

  “Respect. Her and all her creatures. Honor what is given and mourn what is lost as is appropriate. Gaea takes no unnecessary action. She prefers neutrality unless it directly affects those that are hers. Then she is fierce and unrivaled.”

  She helped Ari pull the tunic over the swimsuit. “You will be fine. Show her respect, do not give into fear and remember she protects the Faithful. Everything else will come in time.”

  Nasya made it sound so easy but Ari was skeptical. If it was so simple, why didn’t more people worship her?

  Nasya laughed an easy sound. “The Spartans do, the wiccans, the druids, everything pagan in this world has something to do with our Mother Gaea. Whether She be called Gaea, or Terra, or Ki, or The Great Mother, or Sif and Her names continue. She has many names but it’s not the name that is important, it’s the faith.”

  Ari wasn’t sure if she had voiced her thought or if Nasya had simply seen the question on her face. Ari didn’t bother asking which as it didn’t really matter. The knowledge was what was important.

  “Perhaps, we should walk down and see Leonidas. I’m sure he could explain as he preps for tonight.”

  “I don’t want to get in the way. And from the brief time I spent with him previously he sees me as a huge pain.”

  Nasya shrugged. “He is… insufferable sometimes, but in the end he will always do what is needed. Not necessarily what is right, but what is needed.”

  “Isn’t that the same thing?”

  Nasya let Ari use her as support to slide into the wheelchair.

  “Not at all. Would you say killing a man is right? But if that man had, oh, I don’t know, killed for sport don’t you think it’s necessary?”

  Ari bit her lip. “You’re saying that life isn’t really about wrong or right.”

  “Gaea only interferes if it’s necessary. Do you think She cares for wrong or right? Or do you think She cares for protecting what is Hers and preserving the peace.”

  Ari frowned as she mulled it over. She really didn’t see anything wrong with the idea. Once again, Nasya’s logic was reasonable.

  “Come, I’ll walk you down to Leonidas. I’ve heard from Sasha,” Her tone became wry, “That Leonidas forbade him from coming tonight.”

  Ari sighed. “They don’t get along at all, but I haven’t had the courage to come right out and ask Sasha why.”

  “There are guilds in Sparta that work much the same way castes did in ancient times. Those born of a specific guild rarely raise themselves to be more than that. Sasha was supposed to be a simple scholar. Of course all Spartans are taught the ways of battle, but Sparta is not always at war, thus the castes separate the men during times of peace. The Politicians of each Guild are, of course, at the top.”

  She paused as Ari fumbled to get the wheelchair over the doorjamb to the back porch. There was no ramp on the front of the house, but there was one out back. Ari heard Nasya’s sigh
before her wheelchair was given a swift and firm nudge.

  “Anyway,” Nasya continued as they started moving again. “The politicians believe they are at the top. The Envoys of Gaea actually keep the Faith and the balance. The thaumaturges are under them, then the merchants, the agronomist, and lastly the scholars. Well, not completely last because the laborers and indentured are at the bottom. Sasha, by birth, is very close to the bottom of the totem pole. In the case of Leonidas, he is Envoy and Priam is a thaumaturge child he was best friends with in school. Their childhood friends Achilles and Hektor are politicians’ children of varying rank. Technically above Leonidas, and technically not. It’s a complicated system. You can see how Sasha would bear the weight of discord being placed with Kleisthenes.”

  “That’s unfair.”

  “That’s Sparta.” Nasya jumped over something Ari didn’t see. “There is a master guild, The Grand Masters’ Circle that runs all of Sparta. They are a sort of monarchy among Sparta. Kleisthenes is at the top as he owns the land the Spartan city and village sit on and are paid a tithe for its use and exchange for safety and yada yada. It’s more technical and complex than that but you get the idea.”

  The door to Goddess Ink chimed when they entered. Ari didn’t recall it doing that on the first visit but she had been distracted.

  The space was still as splendidly open and bright as the first time. Still, no one sat behind the counter. Before Ari could voice her opinion on the lax security she heard the tap, shuffle, pause that was too hard to disguise as anything other than Leonidas’s walk.

  “I am not taking any clients today,” He began as he came through the curtain then frowned when he saw Nasya and her. “You’re early. You don’t need to be here until sundown.”

  “Um…”

  “I thought,” Nasya cut in, “she could talk to you while you’re preparing. You’ll still need her measurements and such right? Or however it is you do inks?”

  He scowled at her. “And her payment.” His smile made Ari uneasy. “I was distracted last time and forgot to mention the fee.”

  “Use this.” Nasya tossed something at him that he was forced to catch before it smacked him in the face.

  Even from the distance Ari could see the gold label of a credit card. “Nasya…”

  “Don’t worry about it, Ari. I don’t use it for anything but books anyway.” Nasya smiled. “At least now it’s going to good use.” She stepped towards the door. “There’s no way to max it out Leo, so don’t bother trying. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Remember, what you promised Leo.”

  “Sasha has my ring.” He muttered obstinately but Nasya was already gone.

  They faced off in tense silence for a few moments before he sighed.

  “Can’t be helped.” He leaned on his cane. “Follow me.”

  “My chair can’t fit in your hallway.” Ari interjected quickly before he could begin to walk away.

  He cut a glare at her and studied the wheelchair. “Do you always have the habit of stating the obvious?”

  Ari lifted her chin just barely. Leonidas smiled amused in return. He hadn’t missed the gesture.

  “Not the hallway, Ariadne.” He shuffled slowly behind the counter and she followed cautiously.

  When the wall slid back at his touch she clenched her jaw to keep it from dropping. Ari hadn’t noticed it before, and even studying it now, there was no way to discern the pocket door. It blended perfectly into the wall.

  “It’s ingenious.” She examined the joints as she rolled through. “It’s…”

  Her voice failed as she took in the next room. The heat of it hit her first, so extreme that in seconds her tunic was plastered to her with sweat. In all her life, she had never seen anything so beautiful. It was the largest solarium she had ever witnessed outside of the internet.

  Ari moved slowly, studying everything. It looked and felt like an exotic jungle. Flowers rioted along the walkway in explosions of color. Hanging pots spilled over with vine plants, and trees reached up to the ceiling blocking out some of the sun in shaded patterns.

  “It’s beautiful. You have your own little Eden here.”

  He chuckled. “Thank you. I used to be able to maintain it myself. However, since, my handicap developed, I’ve had to bring in gardeners to do most of the work.”

  How could such a cynical man own something so ridiculously beautiful? It proved life was neither what it was expected to be nor people either.

  Ari reached out to touch a flower and Leonidas’s hand grabbed her before she could touch.

  “Nothing in here is technically poisonous if used correctly. However, I would advise against touching the exotic flowers until you know what they are.” He let her hand go. “She’s a type of eater plant. Her petals have a toxin in them. A bug lands, gets paralyzed then falls to the open mouths of the pods below at ground level.”

  Ari glanced down; the pods looked deceptively like shallow pools of water. Probably the plant’s version of stomach acid. Ari shuddered. The flowers had lost some of their beauty.

  The path opened up to a circular courtyard the size of her house. Patterns of shade curiously decorated the stone pathway that had her looking up to investigate. The glass above them was domed and clear, the sun rested on a gold line to the west. Around the base of the dome various scenes were painted. Ari couldn’t make out the paintings so she had to guess from the shadows on the floor.

  “We’ll do your tattooing in here. No one will interrupt and the circle is already protected. No one that does not belong to the Goddess will be able to enter once the circle is opened.” He gestured to what looked like a really long, low table in the center of the circle. “You can sit there if you’d like.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He stopped in the process of walking away. “I’m going to go get what we’ll need for tonight and bring it out here. Remember what I said about the plants.”

  Ari watched him shuffle away, leaving her in the company of potentially dangerous plants. Truthfully, the plants were more than thirty feet away from the center of the circle but she still eyed them warily. With her luck, one of them was probably some kind of moving vine eater thing that had a boa constrictor move as its favorite form of attack.

  Unable to bear the heat any longer Ari pulled her tunic over her head and wiped her face with it. Then she rolled it up neatly and made a pillow on the bench. Ari received a surprise when she gingerly moved over to the bench.

  It moved and creaked, and rattled like bamboo. If she could have jumped up in surprise she would have, instead she closed her eyes and counted to ten to make sure it didn’t collapse under her. When she laid down on it, it moved like a bean bag chair and conformed to her shape. Which was really cool. Ari rolled over to her stomach and it moved with her and conformed to her new position. She instantly wanted one of her own. It was the most comfortable thing she had ever reclined in.

  Ari stayed on her stomach and studied the shadows on the stones in front of her. As the sun moved so did they and it was very nearly like watching a movie. A tree stood by itself then it looked like a woman stepped up next to it. Since the sun wasn’t moving very fast that’s all she could really decipher.

  “I see you’ve gotten comfortable.”

  Ari glanced up to see Leonidas pushing a three leveled cart. Bottles of dark liquids and clear ones, a case of needles, some white clothes, and varies antiseptics and jelly like substances covered the shelves. A folder sat on top of everything else pinned closed with a paper clip.

  “I want this bench.” Ari stretched lazily. “It’s super comfy.”

  “Have Sasha make you one. You can’t have mine.” He sat in her wheelchair that still remained next to the bench. “I didn’t want to mention this in front of Sasha, but what you want to do… it requires we do things the old way. Ah, the Japanese call it tebori, but we’ll be doing it in a safer manner than they do. It requires me to do your inking by hand and with inks made from the plants you see around us. The
needles are also natural; nothing that isn’t of Gaea can be used for this.”

  Ari smiled despite what he was telling her. “Sasha would disapprove.”

  “Sasha is more a pain in the ass than anything else.”

  “Why do you belittle him? He’s always been my protector.”

  “You remember as a child you’d play dress up?” Leonidas pulled the folder from the cart and the book from beneath it. “Sasha is nothing more than that. When the Guild gets their hands on you, and trust me, they will eventually, Sasha will be removed from your life.”

  “No one is doing anything with Sasha.”

  “You say that now.” He sighed and then looked her square in the face. “Listen, carefully. If we were in Sparta, Sasha would have never been allowed to even speak to you. Such is his rank. You would have been protected by an Envoy or someone higher. Not a lowly scholar but Kleisthenes found you first and for reasons unknown to me, fostered Sasha.” He leaned forward. “In Sparta, Ariadne, you would not know Sasha existed and when you go back, he will cease to exist.”

  It was unimaginable. Ari couldn’t… a life without Sasha was not something she wanted to contemplate. It wasn’t something she could do. Everything she had was drawn to a single person. Ari felt the very real fear and the very real panic. “Why am I so important?”

  He must have seen her expression because he leaned back and sighed. “It’s possible… very, very unlikely, but possible, that he could be assimilated into an envoy house or higher. He could be made a member of someone else’s house. Only then would it be possible for him to stay with you.”

  Ari tensed. Every muscle in her body went completely rigid. “Sasha stays with me, always, or I go nowhere with no one.”

  Leonidas studied her face and laughed. “The Guild has no idea.” He took her hand, pried her stiff fingers open and kissed the palm. “You will be unexpected.”

  “I hope so.”

  He released her hand and opened the folder. “Let me show you what we’re doing.”

  “Will you teach me what it says? How to read it?” Ari wasn’t even thinking about the tattoos anymore but of Sasha.