The Pandora Curse (Greek Myth Series Book 4) (24 page)

“No,” Zeus answered, “that will not teach Hera nor Nikolai a lesson.”

Hermes flew in front of Zeus and used his shoes to keep him in midair as he spoke once again. “How about punishing Hera’s son?”

Zeus ignored him and paced back and forth. “I have to think of something. I have to find a way to get vengeance on Hera, yet at the same time not let Nikolai get away with what he’s done. He must be punished.”

“Great idea,” said Hermes, smiling from ear to ear. “So what is his punishment going to be?”

“I don’t know,” said Zeus in contemplation. “Mayhap I can banish him to Tartarus and have Hades torture him for awhile. Or mayhap I can give him to my brother Poseidon and let him be tempted by the sirens day and night.”

“What about giving Nikolai to the Furies?” suggested Hermes.

“I have the answer!” Zeus threw his cloak over his shoulder, hitting Hermes square in the chest. Hermes fell to the ground and shook his head. “Furies, you are going to haunt Nikolai’s head, and he will break those vials himself. That way, he’ll get the punishment he deserves for deceiving me, and those pesky descendants of Pandora will keep suffering as well.” He laughed heartily, holding his sides.

Hermes got up and stood beside him. Zeus slapped him on the back and he shot forward, smashing up against a stone column.

“That’s such a good idea,” Hermes told him, picking himself up off the floor.

“Yes,” agreed Zeus. “I am glad I thought of it.”

*  *  *

Nikolai won the horsemanship competition and held his trophy to the sky. He had never had so much fun. And he had Vara to thank for it.

“You are wonderful,” he told her, kissing her on the mouth. “You have made me forget my troubles and realize how happy we can be together.” He looked over to Agatha who was following on Vara’s heels. “How happy we all can be together.” Agatha smiled slightly, but was very quiet since the death of her father.

Vara reached down and took the girl’s hand and together they all walked to the tables set up in the courtyard, to see the people enjoying the food. The scent of roasted duck and boiled cabbage wafted through the air, mingling with the aroma of fresh baked apple tarts and full robust wine.

“Why don’t we stop and have a bite to eat?” he asked. “I am famished.”

“That is a great idea,” Vara said, finding a place for them to sit. She put Agatha on the bench between them.

“Aren’t you going to compete in any games today?” he asked Vara.

“Oh, I think not,” she said. “Since my vices are gone, I don’t have the compulsion to compete nor to win. It does feel good to be more like you, Nikolai.”

A servant placed a small trencher of food before each of them, and suddenly Nikolai felt very, very, hungry. He devoured his food and called for more. The servant wasn’t moving nearly fast enough, and the hunger in his belly grew stronger.

Eat Vara’s food. Eat Agatha’s food too.

It is so good, you have to have more.

Do it. Eat your fill. Call for more wine. You just have to have it. It is so good.

He grabbed Vara’s food from in front of her, startling her so that she dropped the bread she’d been eating.

“I’m sorry, Vara. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I just have to have more food.” He gobbled hers down and proceeded to eat the trencher. Her eyes opened wide as she surveyed this.

“I thought you said trenchers were not to be eaten.”

“They taste so good. I just can’t help it.” He looked to Agatha next. “I have to have more.”

He surprised himself when he pulled the food away from the child. Agatha squealed, and Vara held her close to her bosom in a protective manner. Nikolai reached over and grabbed a tankard of ale from a woman across the table and quaffed it down. The woman gathered her children to her and hurried them away.

“Nikolai,” Vara said in astonishment. “What are you doing?”

“This food is so good, Vara. I have to have more.”

“I think we need to leave the table.” She pulled him away, but not before he had the chance to steal the food from the hand of the man sitting across from him. That man happened to be one of her swordsmen, and he didn’t take kindly to the action. He stood abruptly and pulled his sword, and the remaining people at the table scattered.

“Apologize for what you did,” snarled the man.

Nikolai looked around, then realized the man was talking to him.

“Me?” he gestured with his hand to his chest.

“Yes, you,” he said, waving his sword. “If you don’t apologize, I challenge you to a fight to the death.”

“I don’t want to fight you.” He turned away.

Show him you are better.

Hit him. Fight him. Kill him.

He should never speak to you that way.

Teach him a lesson.

Nikolai turned abruptly and jumped over the table, knocking the man to the ground. The man got up and waved his sword in the air and then lunged for Nikolai. Luckily enough, Nikolai managed to jump out of the way, and the warrior’s sword lodged into the wooden table coming down directly in front of Agatha. She screamed and jumped to her feet.

“Stop it!” Vara pushed Agatha behind her and reprimanded her soldier. “You have no right to attack an unarmed man.”

She looked at Nikolai next, in disappointment. “What is the matter with you, Nikolai? You’ve never done anything like this before.”

“Well, mayhap it’s time I did,” he replied, liking the way his blood pushed through his veins with the excitement of possibly killing a man.

“Let us go,” she said, taking Agatha by the hand.

“Wait,” said Nikolai, seeing his trophy still on the table. “I want my trophy.” He reached for it, but the angry warrior broke it with his sword.

“Why did you do that?” he asked the man.

“Because you don’t deserve it,” came the man’s answer.

Nikolai surveyed the soldiers lined up next to this man. They all had trophies, much larger than his in their hands.

You deserve them more than they do.

Why do they have trophies bigger than yours?

You want them all. Go and take them.

Take the trophies, take the jewelry the women wear as well.

It will make you very happy.

Before Nikolai could think what he was doing, he grabbed several of the soldiers’ trophies and then started ripping the necklaces from the ladies’ necks.

An all out uproar started. The women screamed and the men pushed. And all of them were after Nikolai.

“It’s his monsters,” yelled Agatha.

Vara motioned to the girl’s old nursemaid to take her. Nikolai’s actions reminded her of her own at one time. This was no place for a little girl to be.

“Take her inside,” Vara shouted to the nursemaid and lunged for Nikolai. She knew there was going to be trouble if she didn’t get him away from the angry crowd fast. She pulled the trophies out of his hand and flung them to the ground. Then she tossed the necklaces back to the ladies.

“Let’s get out of here now,” she said, pulling him by the arm and leading him to the stables. They ran away from the crowd as chaos erupted.

She didn’t stop until they’d entered the stable and hid in one of the empty stalls used for storing the hay. She tried to gain her breath and so did he. After she could manage to talk, she confronted him.

“Nikolai, you’ve got to stop acting this way.”

“I don’t know what’s the matter with me,” he said, holding his head. “I just keep having these urges.”

He looked over to her and his eyes fastened on her chest. She realized that in the midst of the commotion her gown had torn and the top of one of her breasts was exposed. He looked at her with hungry eyes. Lustful eyes. And for the first time in her life, she feared him.

“Vara, I have to have you.” He came closer and she backed up. “Let’s couple right here in the hay.”

He tugged her down into the hay and rolled her onto her back. He didn’t bother with kisses, but his hands started pushing up her gown.

“Nikolai, you don’t know what you’re doing. Stop it.”

“I can’t.” He untied his hose and pulled them down and straddled her at the waist. “I want to plow into you and plant my seed.”

“Plow into me?” She was aghast. Is this the way she had acted while under the curse? It was horrific. She regretted what she was about to do, but it was the only way to stop him.

She raised her knee hard, hitting him in the groin. He lurched forward and held himself, moaning in pain. Vara took the opportunity to scurry to her feet.

“I know what’s wrong with you, Nikolai. You are being haunted by the Furies.”

“No, Vara, I am not. I’m just feeling very aroused today.” He reached out again to touch her.

“Nikolai, stop it!” She pushed his hand away from her, and kept her distance. “Think about it. You have just expressed all the vices that I used to have. The urges you’re having are the Furies tempting you to do wrong.”

He quickly got to his feet and fixed his hose. He held his head in his hands and closed his eyes.

“This is terrible, Vara. I think you are right. Only the Furies could be making me feel like I am going mad.”

“Why is this happening to you?” she asked. “You are not cursed. This makes no sense.”

“Zeus must have found out I collected all your vices. He’s punishing me for it. That’s why he’s sent the Furies to haunt me. I will never complete the task now. I have failed, Vara. I am so sorry.”

He clutched his head harder and Vara knew just how horrible the pain was. Her heart went out to him. She had to do something.

“You helped me, Nikolai. Now let me help you before it is too late. Tell me what the last task is. Tell me, please.”

“I have no other choice,” he said more to himself than to her. “But Vara, this could be very dangerous. I don’t want to see you harmed.”

“I don’t want to see you go mad. Now tell me what it is.”

“Hera said I must find the chest of Pandora and put the vials inside. Once they are locked away, the curse will be over forever.”

“Forever? Do you mean not only mine, but also the way the vices have affected all of mankind?”

“Yes,” he said, as if it hurt to answer. “Vara, I need to go lie down.”

“Go,” she said. “I will meet you in your chamber. I have something to show you that I think might help.”

Twenty-One

Vara ran to her chamber and pulled the chest out from under her bed. She held the box in two hands to study it. It had to be the box of Pandora. It trembled in her hand and shook as if something was inside trying to get out.

“Foresight,” she said, remembering what was still trapped inside. Suddenly, her curiosity got the best of her. She played with the lock and tried to open it, but it was jammed and would not budge. She reached for her dagger to use it in the process, but it was no longer at her waist. She had left it in Nikolai’s room the day she tore up the tapestry in anger.

“This may be what can help Nikolai,” she said aloud. “Somehow I need to release it from within.”

She tucked the chest under one arm and ran from her room to Nikolai’s. The door was unlocked and she let herself in, seeing the bump under the covers.

It was dark in the room and also smelly. The tapestry covered the window and blocked out the sun. She didn’t want to wake Nikolai, since she was glad he was already sleeping. The Furies took a toll on one’s body and sometimes one could escape their awful haunting, if only for moments, by going to sleep.

She rushed over to the other side of the room, dropping to her knees and feeling the ground for her dagger. She found it and tried it on the lock. To her surprise, the lock popped open.

There she sat in the dark, her heart thumping wildly, her curiosity peaked to look inside. This could be the answer to Nikolai’s problems. She needed to do this.

She lifted the lid slowly, noticing the bright light that sneaked out from around the edges. As if in a trance, she lifted it higher, and some of the light trapped within came out.

A loud guttural sound from the bed made her jump, and when she did, she dropped the lid and it slammed shut. Suddenly, she felt as if she were Pandora, once again releasing a curse to the rest of the world.

“What am I doing?” The light that escaped darted around the room. She’d just released some of the foresight that was trapped inside the box.

The light traveled around the room quickly, and then a spark hit her square in the forehead. She lurched backward and fell to the ground. The rest of the light darted out the window.

She closed her eyes, basking in elation, her entire body vibrating from the spark that had hit her in the head. Then in a mist, she had a vision. She saw Nikolai standing on the top of a cliff, ready to throw himself over the edge. She also saw the vials in his hand. To her horror, she realized he was tugging at the corks.

Her eyes snapped open, and the room seemed so very silent. It took her a minute to realize where she was, and when she sat up in the dark, she knew she had just had a vision of the future. She looked over to the bed and could see the bump beneath the blankets and hear Nikolai snoring.

She had to warn him. She had to stop him before he uncorked the vices and plagued the earth once again. She ran to the bed and shook him.

“Nikolai, wake up. I have to warn you of the future.”

He stirred and sat upright, but when he did, she saw two huge glowing eyes staring right at her.

“Ahhhhhhh!” she screamed, and jumped away.

“Ahhhhhhh!” he screamed back and jumped off the other side of the bed.

She ran over to the window and tore back the tapestry to let the light shine in. There, before her, stood Nikolai’s ugly gargoyle. Not a stone statue at all, but alive and breathing.

She picked up the iron post that held the nighttime candle and used it for protection.

“Who are you and what have you done with Nikolai?”

“Don’t hit me, don’t hurt me,” the creature pleaded, then got down on his knees and kissed her feet. “I beg you do not harm me again.”

“Again? I haven’t even touched you yet.” She put down the iron candle holder, and stepped back to survey him. “Get up,” she commanded.

That seemed to scare him more. He did as she said, but wrung his long tail in his hands.

“I am not going to hurt you,” she said, this time trying to sound kinder. “You are Nikolai’s gargoyle, aren’t you?”

“Yes.” His eyes squinted, and he dropped his tail and put his hands on his waist. “I mean no. I am a minion of Hera’s and I don’t appreciate being called a gargoyle.”

“Oh, excuse me,” she said with a grin, thinking he was cute in a way. “Do you have a name?”

“Of course I do. My name is Baruch.”

“Baruch? So you’re the funny little green man that Agatha likes to play with.”

“Yes,” he said with a nod. Then his face scrunched up. “No. I may be little and green, but I resent being called funny.”

“What are you doing in Nikolai’s bed?”

“Oh, don’t tell him I was napping in his bed again, please my lady, I beg you. He will not be happy with me.”

He was down on his knees again, and Vara couldn’t stand it. She took him gently by his scrawny little arm and helped him to his feet. “I am not going to tell Nikolai. Now tell me why you are here.”

“Oh, I am afraid I’m not allowed to.”

“Nikolai told me everything,” she said. “I know about the vials and I know about Pandora’s box.”

“You do?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said. “Nikolai is in trouble. I am trying to help him. But I can’t do that if I don’t know why you’re here.”

“Trouble? Niko’s in trouble?” He paced the room as he talked. “I knew I should have stayed at his side like I was supposed to. I should have stuck with him until the mission was complete.”

“So you were helping Nikolai all along?”

“Helping? Who do you think was responsible for getting half your vices into the vials? He couldn’t have done it without me.”

“You?” she said with a laugh. “What could you possibly do?”

That angered the little guy, and he twirled around in a green mist and before her very eyes he turned into an old nag. She gasped and covered her mouth.

“Remember this?” he said. “Or how about the rat you skewered to the table?” One more turn and the horse changed into a rat.

“You - you’re a shapeshifter,” she said in awe.

“I even went as far as being sweat and a dirty lizard,” said the rat. “I shapeshifted into things for Nikolai that I could not stand.” He turned again and there stood Calanthra. “My very least favorite was being a girl and having to kiss that ogre, Zetes.”

She stood speechless as Calanthra’s image disappeared and he turned back into himself.

“So that’s what happened,” she said, putting it all together. “That’s why Nikolai lied to me.”

“He wasn’t s’posed ta tell ya. If Hera finds out, she’ll be furious.”

“Well, Baruch, we’ve got to help him. The Furies are haunting his mind.”

“The Furies?” Baruch held his head. “Oh, that is not good. Not good at all.”

“I’ve had a vision. I saw him about to open the vials and step off a cliff.”

Baruch stopped holding his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “You are lying. You can’t have visions of the future. You are not a seer.”

“True.” She hurried over and grabbed the box and showed it to him. “But I opened this box and some light hit me in the head. I think it is the box of Pandora.”

His eyes opened wide and he took it from her, surveying the lock. “This is the box, all right. Please tell me you didn’t release foresight.”

“Only a little,” she said. “When I heard you snore, I dropped the lid.”

“Well, Niko will be glad to hear my napping in his bed was useful after all. Come on, we’ve got to find him. If what you say about the Furies is true, then that means Zeus knows Hera’s plan. It won’t be long now before it’s all over. I just hope we can save him in time.”

*  *  *

Nikolai rode his horse fast and furious to the top of the cliff. He had left the festival an hour ago, not going to his room to sleep as he’d promised Vara. The Furies kept getting stronger and stronger in his mind, and he thought a swift ride with the wind blowing through his hair would blow them right out.

But he was wrong. There was no escaping the haunting voices from within him.

You must break the vials.

Mankind needs these vices.

This is happiness. Release them to the world over the sea.

All that mattered now was getting to the top of the cliff. He had to uncork the bottles and release the vices. Once he did that, he would be free of the voices in his head.

He reached the top and dismounted his horse, rushing to the edge of the rock. He untied his pouch and brought forth the vials in his hand. He would release them all at once. He would grab the corks and pull them all at the same time. The faster he did it, the better. The pounding in his head was heavy and dense. The urge to do as the voices instructed was undeniable.

“Nikolai, wait!”

He thought he heard Vara’s voice. That was impossible. She never could have caught up with him. She had gone to her chamber. She wouldn’t be here already even if she did find out where he’d gone.

“Nikolai, please, don’t do it.”

He looked up to the sky and there he saw Vara riding a winged horse. A horse that had an odd tint of green to it. He knew at once it was Baruch. They landed behind him on the rock. Vara dismounted, with a large bag thrown over her shoulder.

“Please, Nikolai. Let me show you what I have.”

The horse changed back into Baruch, and Nikolai felt an urge to kill the little traitor.

“You betrayed me, Baruch. Why did you do it?” he snapped.

“Niko, listen to the wench. She has Pandora’s box.”

His hand stilled over the stoppers and he watched as Vara pulled a chest from inside the bag.

“It’s too late,” he told them. “I no longer care. I am going to release the vices into the world. Then the voices will leave my head.”

“That will only make them stronger,” Vara warned him.

“Then I will jump from the cliff and end my life. That is what the voices are telling me to do.”

He turned back and grabbed hold of all the corks of the vials at once. He pulled them upward slightly, and red, orange, yellow, green, and black smoke leaked out around the sides of the corks and swirled above him. Vara’s hand shot forward to grab the vials and stop him, and his instant reaction was to keep her from touching them so she would not be consumed.

He pulled them away so she couldn’t reach them, suddenly being brought to his senses. He quickly stuffed all the corks back into the bottles. The smoke stayed inside, all except for the little that had been released.

“Nikolai.” Vara stood there with tears in her eyes.

Nikolai pushed the vials back into his pouch and lay them on the ground. Then he took her in his arms and held her tightly. His head stopped pounding. The taunting, haunting voices had stopped as well. The Furies were gone. Everything was quiet again.

He kissed her passionately, holding her, never wanting to let her go. “Thank you, Vara. Thank you,” he cried.

“What?” she looked up to him with her beautiful silver eyes. “Why are you thanking me? You were the one who put the corks back into the bottles.”

“But if it wasn’t for your love, I would have destroyed everything. I couldn’t think straight, Vara. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“I know,” she said softly, rubbing his hand in hers. “I have lived my entire life that way. Now I only regret I cannot undo all the damage that I’ve done.”

“I would have let all the vices escape, Vara. That’s what I’d planned to do.”

She looked at him quizzically, and her curious nature returned. “Then why did you stop?”

“You were going to touch the vials to cork them back up. That’s what brought me out of the trance I was in. You knew how dangerous those vials were to you. You knew that if you touched them you would die. Yet, you did not hesitate to give your life for the better of mankind.”

Tears streamed from her eyes and he wiped them away with his thumb.

“I thought I was going to lose you, Nikolai. I knew that I would lose you no matter if I grabbed the vials or not. That is one thought I could not live with in my head for the rest of my life. I love you. I was not going to let you plague the world and live with that guilt like my ancestors have been doing for centuries. Neither would I let you jump from that cliff because of the voices in your head. I knew the Furies would leave once they knew they failed. So I had to make sure they failed.”

“Well, this is all so sickeningly beautiful,” said Baruch from behind them. “I hate to interrupt, but I think you should know, I feel Hera’s anger. She’s coming.”

“Hera?” Vara raised her eyes to his and he could see the worry. They had no time to exchange words because in a blue flash Hera appeared atop the cliff.

“Baruch!” she yelled.

“Yes, Hera. I’m here, Hera.” The minion shook uncontrollably, and Nikolai wanted nothing more than to help him if he could. He got to his feet and brought Vara with him.

“You have deceived me,” she said.

“No, I haven’t . . . not really,” said the minion squeezing his tail in his hands.