Oracles of Delphi - Chapters 1 - 6

"Yes, we are thankful for that." 

"I had another nightmare," Aithera blurted out. She hadn't meant to say anything. They'd had so many discussions about her nightmares over the years that they now bored her.  

"Ah," he said. "Do you want to talk about it?" 

"No." 

Theron waited. 

"It was the same sort of dream I always have. Someone is in trouble and I am powerless to help them." She was quiet for a moment. "And yet, there was something different. Something felt different. And then, just before I woke, there was a man...."  

"A man? What about him?" 

"Nothing." She shivered. "It was nothing." 

"It doesn't sound like nothing." 

"Apparently I woke Nephthys up. She believes the gods are warning me." 

"Warning you about what?" 

"Danger. Delphi. I don't know. She seems to believe there is something evil in Delphi, and that I'm going to be caught up in it. But you know Egyptians-always invoking one god or another against some ridiculous superstition. Remember Uncle Demetrious's cook who wouldn't get out of bed if the roosters didn't crow exactly at the crack of dawn?" 

"Yes, an unfortunate superstition for someone in the service of a man like your uncle. I believe the cook ended up in the silver mines." 

"You know what I mean." 

"Yes, we rational Hellenes are immune to superstition. So back to the man in the dream." 

"There's nothing more to tell. I don't remember anything else." 

Theron turned back toward the window and Aithera pulled the blanket tight around her shoulders and joined him. To the east, over the rooftops, she could just catch the edge of the gymnasium and the gleaming temples and treasuries in the Sacred Precinct of Athena. To the west, the valley unfolded below her, a carpet of green cascading down to the water's edge. The city of Kirra, Delphi's port, glowed like a white pearl next to the sapphire inlet off the Gulf of Corinth.  

"A charming little town for pirates," Aithera said. 

"What?" 

"Kirra," she pointed. "Remember all the tales of heroes, monsters, pirates, and stolen treasures that you and Papa used to tell me?" 

"You would charge around the house with a stick and try to kidnap Praxis as he was doing his chores."  

"I imagined I was an Amazonian princess, and he was a prince that had been kidnapped and sold into slavery. I found out his secret identity and wanted to ransom him for treasure. He always played along until one day I told him that the princess was in love with her captive and that he had to marry me." She grew quiet. 

"I remember." Theron watched her, tried to read her mood. 

"I don't think I'll ever forget the look in his eyes. He said he could never marry me because masters can't marry slaves even if they are princes in disguise. I told him he was wrong and dragged him in and asked Papa to tell him so." She bit her lip. "Instead, Papa called me a silly little girl. I cried all night and didn't forgive him for weeks." 

"I'm not sure he ever forgave himself." 

"And now ... I can still feel his hand in mine, still hear him struggle to breathe, his voice ragged. I miss him. I can hardly believe he's been gone so long." 

"I know it's been hard on you and Praxis, waiting, wondering what the secrecy was all about. Why Lysandros asked us to travel to Delphi to on the anniversary of his death. But rest assured today all your questions will soon be answered and everything will make sense." In addition to tutoring Aithera, Theron had been a long-time advisor to her father and had promised he would stay with Aithera until Lysandros' last last wishes had been fulfilled.