The Pandora Curse (Greek Myth Series Book 4) (25 page)

Hera threw a firebolt at him and it struck Baruch in the side. Smoke went up and he moaned.

“Yes, I have, Hera. I apologize.”

“What did he do?” Nikolai demanded to know. He strode closer to his mother, as Vara went to stand by his horse.

“He told the girl who he was. Not to mention he helped you find your father.”

Nikolai had always felt distant and uneasy around his mother, but today he was furious, and that gave him the courage to confront her.

“Why didn’t you tell me you turned Father into a snake?”

Hera put her chin in the air. “He deserved it. He was a snake to come to Olympus and try to confront me. No mortals are allowed there and he knew it. He had to be punished.”

“Change him back,” Nikolai demanded. “I want my father back now.”

“Why should I?” she challenged him. “You haven’t succeeded in your task. I’ll do nothing for you.”

“I collected all the vices,” he told her, “just as you instructed. And Vara did not know what I was doing until after the last vice was locked inside the vial.”

“You did do that,” she said. “But you just uncorked some of each vice into the world. Plus, Vara let some foresight out of the box as well.”

“You did?” He looked at Vara and she mouthed the words, I’m sorry. Things were not looking good.

“I cannot touch the vices or the box since they were constructed by Zeus,” Hera admitted. “But if you find a way to get the vials locked inside the box without letting any more foresight escape, then I will change your father, pitiful as he is, back into human form.”

“That’s impossible,” Nikolai protested. “I can’t do it without help.”

“Have all the help you want,” she said, clicking and flicking her long nails together. “You will not be able to do it, and therefore I will not change the snake into a man. Now, I’ll be off to concern myself with more important things.” She raised her hand to dissipate, but Vara stopped her.

“Wait!” she called. “Please don’t leave yet. I have an idea.”

Nikolai hurried over to her where she was comforting Baruch, who was still holding his side.

“Vara,” he said. “There is no way to open the box without foresight getting out. The task is impossible.”

“Not with Baruch’s help, it isn’t.” That made Baruch moan again. “Didn’t Baruch shift into sweat at one time?” she asked.

“He did,” Nikolai answered. “Why?”

“The chest is sealed and foresight is a thick white smoke that can only get out if I raise the lid. Baruch can turn himself into water. He can drip through the cracks and get inside without us having to lift the lid.”

“That will do you no good,” intervened Hera. “The vials are thick. You have to lift the lid to get them inside.”

“True,” said Vara. “But if Baruch goes into the box, turns into a vial and traps the smoke of foresight, then we can open the box and put in the vices without having to worry that foresight will escape.”

“You are brilliant!” said Nikolai, giving Vara a huge hug. “That is an excellent plan and I know it will work.” Then he looked over to Baruch. “Will you do it?”

“You do, and you will no longer be my minion,” warned Hera. “I will not let you stay in Olympus if you defy me once more.”

Nikolai waited patiently as Baruch rubbed his side. The minion looked to Hera and then over to Vara and Nikolai.

“If I do it, will you let me stay with you?” he asked Nikolai.

“It is fine with me, as long as it is with Vara.” Nikolai looked over to her and she smiled.

“I think I owe it to you, Baruch. After finding out how mean I was to you, I need to make amends,” she said.

“All right, I’ll do it.”

“Good.” Vara put the chest in front of him and he sat atop it, turning himself into water. He leaked inside and they heard thumping and rumbling from within. The box shook and Baruch cursed several times. Finally, he called out to them.

“All right, I’ve got it contained and it wasn’t easy. Foresight saw it coming.”

Both Nikolai and Vara laughed and then Nikolai gathered up the vials, and took a deep breath, carefully opening the lock and lifting up the cover.

Vara stood over his shoulder curiously peering within. There, just like instructed, was Baruch in vial form, with the beautiful white bright light of foresight contained within.

“Foresight looks so beautiful,” Vara commented. “I can’t imagine it would really be a bad thing to let it out of the box.”

“Don’t even think about it,” Nikolai told her, carefully laying the vials one by one within. “If everyone knew what was going to happen, they would constantly be living in the future. They wouldn’t be happy. One can only be happy by living in the present.”

“You are right,” she said. “I am sorry I even mentioned it.”

Nikolai closed the lid and replaced the lock and then gave Baruch the word that it was all right to come out. The minion leaked out of the chest and then turned back into his normal form.

“Thank you, Baruch,” Nikolai said, feeling as if he could finally breathe again.

“Yes, thank you,” added Vara, kissing the minion on the cheek.

Nikolai almost laughed when he realized the little green guy had turned a shade of red.

“I can’t believe you did it,” said Hera in a haughty tone.

Nikolai saw the snake crawling from the bag and gently picked up his father and held him out. “Change him back, Mother. Just like you said you would.”

“I’m a goddess,” she sniffed. “I don’t have to keep my promises.”

“I think you should, Hera,” came a strong, powerful voice. The sky shook and lightning flashed, and Zeus made his invisible presence known.

Hera looked up to the sky and snarled. “I did this only to spite you, Zeus. It was for all the times you were not loyal to me. You cursed the humans, and I took measures to take those curses away.”

“I’m not happy with you, Hera. But if you change back Nikolai’s father, I may think of a way for us to make amends.”

“Why should you care about a human? You were the one who gave them the vices in the first place.” She held her hands on her hips and looked to the sky.

Vara pulled at Nikolai’s tunic. “I can see something in the clouds, just like you said,” she whispered.

Nikolai looked up and saw what she meant. Zeus’s almighty face was up in the clouds looking down at them.

“We both win, Hera,” Zeus continued. “The strong vices will no longer plague the descendants of Pandora. But since both Nikolai and Vara let a little of each vice out into the world, humans will never be truly free of anger, greed, jealousy, lust, and gluttony. They, too, will always be worrying about the future.”

Hera smiled at that and nodded her head. “I suppose you’re right, Zeus.” She waved her hand and in a flash the snake turned into Nikolai’s father. The man sat huddled on the ground, trying to push up to a standing position.

“Father!” Nikolai embraced him and helped him to his feet. He looked not unlike the way Nikolai remembered him. His father did not dare say a word to Hera, and Nikolai was glad he kept quiet.

“All right,” snapped Hera. “You have what you want, so now I’m going to leave.”

“Wait.” Nikolai left his father, taking Vara’s hand in his and bringing her close to Hera.

“Since the marriage of a demi-god and a human has to be approved by a god or goddess, I would like to ask your approval in my marriage to Vara.”

Hera laughed hysterically, and Nikolai felt very uncomfortable. “That I will not do.” And with that, she disappeared.

“Nikolai, son, I am sorry.” Tiomoid walked stiffly over to Nikolai and lay his hand on his son’s shoulder.

“What are we going to do?” asked Vara, looking as unhappy as he felt about it.

“I don’t know,” Nikolai said, shaking his head. “Without the blessing of a god or goddess, the marriage of a demi-god and a human will be cursed forever.”

“Then let me bless the union of your marriage.” The goddess Demeter materialized.

Nikolai hugged Demeter, feeling a warmness in his heart for his surrogate mother. He introduced her to Vara, and they hugged too.

“Would you really bless the union of our marriage?” Nikolai asked Demeter.

With a wave of her hand, the deed was done. Nikolai looked at Vara and his father and smiled. He would finally have the family he had always wanted. He was no longer alone. He was the luckiest man in the world.

Twenty-Two

“You are the most beautiful woman - I mean lady - in the entire world.” Nikolai kissed his new bride again and again, not even caring about the wedding feast set out for them on the dais table.

Vara was truly a lady, and it was hard for him to think that at one time she was Vara the Conqueror. No one called her that anymore, per her request. Instead she’d asked that they call her Lady Vara, and he liked the sound of it.

Princess Agatha had dropped flower petals down the aisle, and was adjusting nicely to her new family. Now that Baruch was a resident, the little girl never let him sit down to rest. She chased him around the great hall in games of tag, and now searched for him under the tables in hide and seek.

“I love the ring you gave me, Nikolai.” Vara held out her finger to admire the small crystal orb mounted on the band of gold. It was the symbol of the wife of a soothsayer.

“And I love the tapestry you made me for our wedding present, my lady.” His use of her new title made her smile. It was so much better than being called Conqueror.

Nikolai picked up his gazing crystal and looked into it. “It seems as if Baruch has eaten all the sweetmeats the cook was going to serve next.” He put down the crystal. “There’s no sense waiting around for something that’s not coming. I suggest we head up to the room.”

“But what about a dance?”

He picked up his crystal again. “The lute player is about to break a string. There’ll be no dancing tonight.”

“I wish I still had the gift of foresight that hit me in the head,” she said, snuggling closer. “Then I would know if you’ve really seen a vision or if you are just saying that to get me to your bed quicker.”

“Would it matter?” He raised a brow, and she giggled.

“What are we waiting for?”

Vara asked the nursemaid to tend to Agatha, then they said their good nights. Nikolai guided her up to his bedchamber. He leaned over and kissed his new wife, and in one motion picked her up and carried her into the darkened room, closing the door behind them.

Vara never knew how good love could feel. She had lived with her vices for so long, that every moment she spent without them, and with her wonderful new husband instead, was a blessing of its own.

He kissed her as he carried her across the room, his tongue entering her mouth and exciting her more. He gently put her down on the bed, and when she lay back, she felt something lumpy.

“Ouch!” She jumped up and Nikolai quickly lit a candle.

“Baruch,” Nikolai said in a scolding tone. “Get out of our bed right now!”

“Oh, Niko, you are so mean.” The minion grudgingly lowered himself from the bed to the floor. “I am exhausted. Agatha has been chasing me around all night.”

“I said you were welcome to live with us, but I never said anything about giving up my bed to you.” Nikolai pointed to the door, and Vara’s heart went out to the little minion.

“Since we’re married and will only be using one bed, you can have my bed, Baruch,” Vara offered.

“Really? My very own bed?” His eyes lit up and he did an odd little dance. He thanked her a dozen times and quickly left the room by means of the door.

“I am barring the door this time,” said Nikolai, hurrying to do the task and returning quickly.

Vara saw the box of Pandora on the shelf above the mantle. Hera and Zeus both agreed to let Nikolai be keeper and protector of the chest of vices. He didn’t want to tempt Vara by accepting the position, but she assured him she had no desire to go anywhere near those locked up vices. She was so much happier without them.

“Now where were we?” he said, removing his clothing and then doing the same to her.

“You were about to make love to me for the very first time,” she reminded him.

“Yes,” he agreed. “And I assure you love is much, much better than plain old lust.”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” she asked.

Nikolai wasted no time in settling his body over hers. He kissed her gently at first, and then she grabbed him and kissed him harder. “I’ve waited too long for this,” she said. “Please, don’t be a gentleman.”

“That’s what I like about you, Vara. You say what you mean.”

His hands roamed down to her breasts and he fondled her and tasted her until she moaned in pleasure. Then his hand trailed down her chest to her belly, and settled in between her thighs, with his fingers working magic. Elation was not a word that could describe the way she felt. She cried out in ecstasy and gripped at Nikolai’s hair. Then, with just a little of her warrior nature returning, she rolled atop him and took control.

Their breathing was hard, their passion genuine. This time when he entered her it wasn’t because she’d lured him to her bed with the song of the siren. This time it had meaning behind it. Their bodies met in heated glory and came together in the most delicious of ways. This time they coupled in love.

“Nikolai, this is so wonderful.” Her world exploded. She closed her eyes and saw rainbows that she had never seen before.

Life was so different when she wasn’t ruled by her vices. She realized now that Nikolai had taught her the most valuable lesson of all.

They both climbed to new heights, finding their peak together. When all was calm and serene again, she lay in Nikolai’s arms knowing she had found her true happiness.

“You were right, Nikolai. I was only fooling myself thinking all those vices made me happy. I don’t need lots of food, nor greed nor lust in my life to be happy.”

“You are a new woman,” he told her, “and I am a new man. I thank you once again for helping me fight the Furies when they lodged in my brain.”

“I think we all have a little of the Furies in us at all times,” she remarked. “It is only when we push those haunting voices aside and find the love within our hearts that we are truly happy.”

Just then, a fly buzzed in the window and landed on Nikolai’s shoulder. To Vara’s surprise, it spoke. “The wench sent me to a bed that was occupied,” it complained.

“Baruch!” said Nikolai.

Vara pulled the covers over her quickly.

Nikolai looked to her with a half-grin. “Did you do that, Vara?”

“Oh, I suppose I did,” she remarked, apologetically. “I completely forgot that I told your father he could have my room.”

“She hates me, Niko. I told you so. Your father hit me before I had the chance to explain.”

Nikolai very calmly scooped up the fly in his hand, and closed him inside the bedside table drawer.

“Hey, it’s dark in here,” came Baruch’s muffled voice from inside. “Niko - this is something Vara would do, not you. Now stop playing around and let me out.”

Vara sat upright, but Nikolai wrapped himself around her and started kissing her again.

“Nikolai, do you really think you should lock him in there? Does he have enough air?”

“He’s a fly, Vara, he’ll be fine. That is, if he doesn’t pass out from the smell of his own breath.” He kissed her bottom lip, tugging at it playfully. “I’ll let him out. Eventually.”

He let his hands wander again, and she felt herself forgetting all about Baruch.

“After all,” Nikolai reminded her. “He won’t be locked in there forever. And there’s nothing in there that can hurt him. Now if I would have put him in Pandora’s box with all those vices, that might be a different story.”

“You wouldn’t - would you?”

“Never.” He rolled over and trapped her underneath him. “I don’t make the same mistakes twice. Neither of us will ever open that box again. You can say farewell to your vices forever, Vara. And we can also say good-bye forever to
The Pandora Curse
.”