The Pandora Curse (Greek Myth Series Book 4) (6 page)

“You will not look at my lady-in-waiting in that manner again.” She shoved a piece of cheese in her mouth, and then three grapes at the same time.

“Vara.” He walked to the bed to join her. “It sounds to me as if you are jealous.”

Just the word jealous sat in her stomach like a sour grape. She didn’t like to be envious of anyone, but couldn’t help herself. It was the damn curse in action once again. She wanted Nikolai and would not let anyone else have him. She shoved a piece of bread into her mouth and continued talking.

“I want to see my future. Now. I am to attend a tournament in Athens tomorrow and I want to see how I’ll fare.” She picked up the goblet from the table and quaffed some wine.

Nikolai just watched her, not bothering to consult his gazing orb.

“If it is a physical challenge, Conqueror, I do not need to look into my crystal to see your future. Athletes are usually in fit condition. They watch the amount of food and wine they consume. Especially before an event.”

She put the goblet to the side and pushed the platter out of the way. She stood and grabbed Nikolai by the torn tunic. “If I hear one more reference to my weight - ”

“I never mentioned your weight,” he pointed out. “I merely spoke of physical condition. While I am not a warrior, I know that the best trained warriors try to remain light on their feet.”

She pushed him away.

“I am a warrior! I know how to remain light on my feet. My physical condition has never hampered me yet.”

“No, I suppose not.” He tried to pull his tunic back together. “Even a commoner can learn to kill by the point of a sword if need be. But competition takes a certain amount of talent. Talent that is oft gained by physical challenges. Challenges that are usually won by those in good form and shape.”

“So you insult me again, seer?”

“Nay. I merely state facts. You interpret them as you will. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’d like to go back to my chamber.” He turned to go before she even gave him leave. The man never ceased to amaze her.

“Stop!”

His dangerous, promiscuous gaze shot toward her, and she almost became possessed with his emerald-like eyes. She wanted to kiss him again, but this time not in lust. She wanted it to be natural and gentle. Not a premeditated act of coupling, but possibly just an affectionate touch of two lovers passing in the night. She didn’t know how. She knew not this magic between a woman and a man called love. Lust was all she knew. Lust was all she’d ever had.

“What is it?” he asked. “Did you want another romp on the bed? I assure you, it would please us both, but that is not what I’m here for.”

Whore.

Ogre.

Tell me if you like what you see in the mirror.

Her world came crashing down around her, but she had to be strong. She would not let him know what she was feeling.

“You are here as my advisor. So tell me, is there any more information of this man who will destroy me? Have you seen him in your crystal? Do you know his name?”

He answered without looking into the orb. “I have seen him many times in my crystal. He is already at work destroying you, Conqueror, but yet you do not see him. It is as if he’s invisible, yet at the same time he is so near, you can touch him.”

“I don’t want riddles. I want to know facts. And stop calling me Conqueror, I want to be called
my lady
. Now look into your crystal and tell me where is this man who shall supposedly destroy me?”

“I will refer to you none other than Conqueror, since that is what you are. And believe me, you are the furthest thing from a lady.”

Vara didn’t like his answer, but she knew he was correct in saying it.

Nikolai picked up his crystal orb slowly and glanced within.

“This man is no threat to you as of this night,” he looked up, “Conqueror. But I see him causing you dismay in Athens. Beware.”

“In Athens?” She paced back and forth quickly, pondering this new bit of information. “Is he a competitor? Or perhaps a mercenary in disguise? Tell me what you see.”

He put down the crystal and shook his head. “He is a man who keeps many secrets from you, yet you do not know it. Expect him where he’s least expected. He is determined to see you crumble, piece by piece and eventually surrender at his knees.”

“Never. I would never do such a thing.”

“Sometimes we cannot predict even our own actions.”

“But you can,” she said, gripping him by the shoulder. “You are a seer. My seer. Tell me more.”

He looked at her hand clutched upon his shoulder and then back to her face. Warning gleamed within his eyes, and she found herself releasing her grip to his unspoken command.

“I see naught else of your destroyer this evening,” he continued. “I would like to retire now.” He stepped away and started toward the door, but she stopped him once again.

“Wait! I want you to tell me how I can win the competitions.”

Her words almost seemed to amuse him. His lips turned up in a slight grin.

“I did not think a seasoned warrior such as yourself would need to ask a simple scryer how to win a competition.”

“I don’t,” she hurriedly remarked. His words rattled her insides. She could no longer look at him when she spoke. If she did, he was sure to see the vulnerable place within her that she tried so hard to hide. “I don’t know why I said that.”

He reached out and touched her on the shoulder this time, and Vara felt a warmth wash through her. A warmth that had nothing to do with lust. This feeling was different. One she’d never felt before.

“I can advise you, if that’s what you want. But not how to win a competition. Instead, I can tell you what to do to overcome the curse that plagues you.”

Who was he to speak this way? How could he even pretend to have knowledge how to counteract a plague bestowed by a god?

“You know nothing of what I feel inside,” she told him. “You don’t realize that I cannot control the vices that live within me. My ancestors - my parents - they all died because of
The Pandora Curse
. And because of Zeus, I am destined for the same future. Don’t you realize? There is nothing you nor anyone can do to take this curse away.”

“Just say the word, and I would be happy to oblige and advise you how to combat your little problem.”

“Don’t you hear me?” she shouted. “This is not a blemish that will go away with soap and water. This is a curse! A curse from the king of all the gods. No human can take away the damage Zeus bestowed upon mankind the day Pandora was sent to be Epimetheus’s bride.”

He picked up his crystal and gazed within it. “You are not the one who can see the future. I am.”

“Let me see the vision you see in that magical sphere.”

He held it out to her, but she saw nothing.

“There’s nothing there. You tricked me.”

“I did nothing of the sort, Vara. It is not the crystal orb that holds the power to gaze into the future. That power is within me. The crystal is only a catalyst to get the results I want. You cannot see what I see because you are not a soothsayer.”

She raised her chin in defiance and looked him in the eye. “How is it that Hera decided to bestow you with such a gift? What did you do to gain her favors?”

“Nothing,” he related. “I was born with the power to scry.”

“You make no sense. No one is born with the gift of foresight. Not unless they’re -”

“A demi-god.”

She took a step backward, clutching her robe. Fear coursed through her for the first time ever. What had she been doing? Using her siren powers on someone as powerful as the son of a god? She could have been killed. Why hadn’t he told her just who he was?

“Y - you’re a demi-god?”

“The same as you are a conqueror.”

“Then who are your parents? Which god bore you?” She prayed it wasn’t the all powerful Zeus. Nor the god of war. If so, her actions could bring about the destruction of her people. If the man determined to destroy her was a god - she would have no chance of winning. She would be defeated, just as Nikolai had predicted.

“Hera gave me the gift of life, though I do not consider her my mother.”

“Hera!” she gasped. The most wicked of all the deities. Why couldn’t he have been born from a more gentler goddess like Aphrodite? If so, her acts of lust with Nikolai would be applauded instead of reprimanded. “Why are you really here?” she said, her curiosity growing enormously. Why would a demi-god be spending time with her? “I want to know all about you. Tell me everything.”

“That would be all too easy,” he said with a chuckle. “If you were a seer, you would know these things. But since you are not, you will have to learn about me just like any other woman would.”

Make him tell you.

He cannot keep his secrets from you.

Find out everything about him.

“I demand you tell me everything I want to know,” she blurted out, before considering the consequences of demanding anything from a man who was half god. “I want you to stay and answer all my questions until I am satisfied that I’ve heard enough.”

“Greed is a vice, too,” he reminded her.

A stab to her heart came next. Once again, the seer looked into her soul, knowing more about her than she wanted him to. “It’s not greed,” she lied. “It’s just curiosity that makes me ask these questions.”

“You will know the answers eventually,” he assured her with a handsome smile that made her feel special for a mere second. “But for now, you must be patient. After all, remember curiosity is what plagued your ancestors with this curse to begin with.”

Five

Nikolai turned over in bed, eyes still closed, listening to the voices out in the courtyard. The smell of fresh baked bread wafted up through the open window, making his stomach growl. He had been so hungry last night, he had wanted to eat some food off of Vara’s platter, but didn’t. If he was going to get her to give up her gluttony, he would have to teach by example.

He took in one more deep breath of the delicious morning aromas, only to inhale what smelled close to the garderobe on a hot day. He choked and opened his eyes, discovering he was nose to nose with the green blob.

“Oh!” He sat upright quickly and backed away. “Baruch, do not do that again. I don’t fancy waking up to stench and beady eyes staring into mine.”

“My eyes are not beady. They’re large.” Baruch stuck his nose in the air.

“In a beady sort of way.”

The minion sat upright on the bed, playing with his tail. “I’m sure you would have rather woke up staring into Vara’s eyes. Wouldn’t you?”

Nikolai felt suddenly very vulnerable. How did the minion know that? He also wondered if he knew he’d been dreaming of Vara all night long. Last night’s escapades had him aroused during his sleep.

Tasting her sweet lips had made his body beg for more. He was thankful Calanthra walked in when she did, or he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself. Something about Vara made her irresistible and very hard to turn away. Something besides her powers of the curse.

Nikolai knew the powers of lust were strong within him last night as well as her. He enjoyed a tryst with a comely wench occasionally, but this was different. Vara stirred something within him that even lust didn’t control. She was like an innocent girl locked within the body of a conqueror and temptress. He had somehow felt her frustration last night, as well as the struggle of morality going on in her head. No one else would have ever noticed. But he did.

Ever since the moment he laid eyes on her, he noticed everything about her. The way she was lustful one moment with indigo eyes, then timid and sinking back down under the water the next, the hue of her orbs turning a silvery gray. The way her face lit up when he smiled at her, but then darkened when Calanthra entered the room. He’d seen the way she’d played with the ties on her robe, pretending not to be bothered when he walked Calanthra to the door. Her bottom lip had stuck out in a disappointed pout, and he had only wanted to kiss it away. Until her eyes changed to a shade of moss green and jealousy reared its ugly head. Her mood changed like the weather, and her eyes were the windows to her soul, always projecting just which vice was in control of each of her actions.

Indigo eyes meant lust. Moss green was the color of jealousy. When she felt greed, her eyes turned to ochre, and when she gorged herself with food because of gluttony, her eyes looked like weathered acorns. But none was as frightening as the color he’d first seen her eyes in the courtyard when she’d been preparing to kill the king. Obsidian black were they then, as anger ruled her being. And then there was those curious eyes - the eyes that he guessed were the closest to her true being. They were the color of silver with light shining from behind them, lighting them up like candles in the darkness of night.

He took a liking to her curiosity, and the hint of admirable fear in her eyes when she’d found out he was a demi-god. He’d almost thought she was going to beg forgiveness for being so lustful. But he was glad she didn’t. Had she, he would have taken her back into his arms to console her, telling her he understood her actions were motivated by her awful curse. But doing that would have only made his own feelings grow, and then the vice of lust would have been fed as he took her back to the bed. He wanted to free her. Free her from her curse and from herself. In order to do that, he had to deceive her. Yes, although she had no idea, he was the man who would conquer her in the end.

“Niko, come back from where you are.” The little minion rubbed his bony fingers together in front of Nikolai’s face, in what he guessed was supposed to resemble a snap.

“I apologize,” Nikolai said, shaking his head to clear it.

“You were thinking of her, weren’t you?”

“I was just trying to wake up.” He walked over to the washbasin and decided to change the subject before Baruch asked what happened last night. He didn’t want that tale of lust getting back to his mother. “So how’s your tail? Did Hera help you?”

“Hera fixed it. But it’s still sore. She told me to keep a better eye on you. She has the feeling you’re going to go foul with this plan.”

Nikolai splashed water onto his face, liking the cool bite of the morning chill. It brought him back into the moment and kept him away from his hot, steamy dreams.

“The only thing foul around here is your breath. Now stop pestering me. I’ve got work to do.”

A knock sounded at the door, and Nikolai wiped his face in a rag and hurried to open it. He turned around first and nodded to Baruch. “Take cover.”

The minion shot him a disgruntled look and hopped off the bed. Nikolai pulled open the door to find Calanthra standing there with a smile on her face and a plate of bread and cheese in her hands.

“Calanthra. So nice to see you.” He leaned on the door frame with one arm, and her eyes traveled to his bare chest. He knew now he should have donned a tunic before opening the door.

“I brought you some food since you slept through the first meal. I didn’t want you to go hungry.”

“Well, that’s very thoughtful of you.”

He reached out to take it, but another hand stopped him from doing so.

“No! We have more important things to do.” Vara appeared from nowhere with a scowl on her face. Nikolai scowled too, as he was hungry.

“I’m sorry, my lady, I thought you would want him to eat.” Calanthra bowed her head and backed away with the food.

“Wait, Calanthra.” Vara reached out and took the platter. “All right, you may go now.”

After the girl left, Nikolai spoke. “Vara, what do you want?” He noticed her attention focused on his bare chest.

“I want to talk in private. Now let me in.” She pushed past him into the room and Nikolai had no choice but to let her enter. He closed the door, looking around for the minion.

“I want you to escort me to the competition games in Athens today.” She sat down on the bed and started eating the food. His food. His stomach growled just watching her.

“Athens is a good day’s journey. We won’t make it there until sundown.”

“I understand that. But the competition doesn’t start until late tomorrow. That will give us plenty of time to get there. Besides, we cannot leave until later in the day. I have to attend to a problem in the dungeon with my prisoners. It seems they are getting unruly. And the Corinthians who now serve me have been plotting behind my back. Zetes has overheard talk that a rebellion is in the planning.”

“Well, can you really blame them? After all, this is their kingdom, and you are the outsider here.” Nikolai reached out for some bread, but she slapped his hand away and kept eating.

“This is my kingdom now, and I will not have you speaking differently.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and waited. She looked up, chewing slowly, then finally handed him a very small piece of bread. Disappointed and starving, he took it.

“My advice to you is to let the prisoners go. Or were you planning on killing them off one by one?”

“I don’t know what I plan on doing yet. But it is none of your concern.” She continued to chew, but he could see she was in deep thought. “If I let them go, they would surely turn against me.”

“Not necessarily. But then again, you have done some terrible things. And I don’t think the king of Corinth is going to just leave his castle walls and let you rule in his place. So mayhap you do have a problem on your hands.”

“What do you see in your crystal orb? Tell me what you see happening pertaining to the prisoners.”

“Why don’t you tell me what you usually do in cases such as this?”

She took more food into her mouth, as if eating would help her find an answer to her problems.

“I’ve never taken over a kingdom before. Normally, I conquer and then move along on my way.”

“Well, I’d say you’ve got a decision to make here. You’ve got two choices as I see it. One is you leave and give the king back his kingdom.”

“I can’t do that. No conqueror ever gives back what they’ve earned. It would make them weak.”

“Earned? Or stolen? It seems to me you have confused your actions, my lady.”

She put a piece of bread down on the platter, playing with it instead of looking at him. “And what, as you see it, is my second choice?”

“You kill the prisoners, and stay here as Corinth’s new queen.”

She looked up sharply at that, and for a mere second he thought he saw a flash of horror cross her face. Then she regained her composure and smiled.

“You amuse me by being so bold. Must I remind you, you are here to scry for me, and that’s just what you’ll do. You are not here to tell me how to run my kingdom. Now, I want you by my side in Athens to tell me my future. If it doesn’t look as if I’ll win one of the games, than I shall keep myself from embarrassment and not even enter that competition.”

Nikolai swallowed and shook his head. “That’s not what my powers are to be used for. I will not use them for your personal gain in a game of chance.”

“They’re not games of chance.” She put the platter on the bed and picked up a hunk of cheese. Then she got up and paced the room. “They’re games of skill. Just like you said. Skills that derive from talent, which usually involve physical competition. So all you’ll be doing is looking into your magic ball to tell me if my skills in certain areas are strong enough to win or not.”

“No.” Nikolai walked over to a trunk and pulled out a fresh tunic. “I will not help you in that way.” He pulled it over his head, and when he did, he noticed something across the room he hadn’t seen before. An odd little green chair.

“No one says no to
Vara the Conqueror
. You will do as I instruct.” She plopped down atop the green chair, and Nikolai thought he heard it groan under her weight.

“I will not abuse my powers.” He slipped the cord containing the crystal orb around his neck. “If you want me to assist you in Athens, it will have to be for advising only.”

She leaned forward in the chair. It groaned again. “That’s exactly what I want you to do. Advise me of the future.”

“I will tell you, using my abilities, where you need to improve. I may even be able to instruct you in polishing your skills in the events. But I can not and will not use my scrying abilities for nothing more than to suffice your ego.”

She sprang to her feet, and the chair sighed in relief.

“Fine! Then come as my advisor only, to the events if you must, but I am not saying I will heed your advice. And I insist you look for the man who is supposedly going to destroy me while you’re there.” She headed toward the door. “Be ready to leave this afternoon. My men will prepare the necessities for travel and be awaiting you in the courtyard.”

“As you wish.”

“As I command,” she corrected him and pulled open the door. Then she looked back to the chair. “Get rid of that chair.” She crinkled her nose. “It stinks.”

She slammed the door and Baruch quickly changed back into himself.

“Ohhhh,” he moaned. “Why did she have to sit on me?”

Nikolai answered with a hearty laugh. “Well, next time use a different disguise. After all, chairs are meant to be sat in.”

Nikolai sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his boots. He fastened the pouch of vials at his waist.

“I’m hungry,” came Baruch’s complaint.

“Well, then eat the crumbs Vara left. I am not sneaking you food again.”

Baruch headed for the platter, finding it nearly empty. “You don’t really plan on helping her win the competitions do you?” He popped a crumb of cheese into his mouth.

“No.” Nikolai picked up a comb from the night table and ran it through his hair. “I plan on advising her, but I cannot allow her to win any of the competitions. If she does, she will not change. She needs to want to change in order to give up her vices to me freely. If she feels she is incompetent at a sport or game, then that will motivate her to listen to my advice.”

“What do you mean?” Baruch picked at a leftover crust of bread.

“She needs to feel like a failure. Humiliated. She needs to lose for once in her life.”

Nikolai finished combing his hair and then laid out a traveling bag and began to pack.

“So, it sounds like you’re going to make sure she loses.”

“Not me. You.”

“What?” The minion’s eyes opened wide and he nearly choked on his food. “That woman is dangerous. First she skewered me to a table and then she nearly broke my ribs. I will not help. No. I will be no part in whatever you have in that scheming head of yours.”

“Fine. Then you can go back to Hera every night and tell her that her plan isn’t working. That should make her mad enough to punish you.”

Baruch furrowed his brow and pushed the empty platter away with a sigh. “All right, I’ll help. What do I have to do?”