Of Gaea (29 page)

Leonidas banged on the door again.
“Time’s up!”

Ari grabbed her clothes and hastily balled them up with her
bra in the center of them. She saw no point in announcing she
wasn’t wearing it.

Leonidas paced the bedroom like a caged wild cat when she
emerged.
When he saw her he scowled and pointed to the bed. A bag
sat on the bed.

Ari walked over and saw that it held the bag of herbs and
her book.
She looked at him questioningly.

“Dump your clothes in it. To carry your items in.” He shook
his head. “Leave it to you to find the caftan. That blue suits you.
It matches your eyes.”

Ari dumped her clothes and picked up the bag. “Isn’t this
the part where you show me out?”

He grinned. “And walk you down the street. Until you get to
your street at least. I’m not trying to cross paths with Sasha
again.”

“Why?” she asked suspiciously as he guided her
out.

“Honor is a
big thing in Sparta, your Worshipness.”

“Worshipness is not a word. And don’t call me that.” Ari
didn’t wait for him to lock the door before strolling down the
sidewalk.

“Would you prefer your Grace? You’re most Esteemed?
You are a Goddess
after all.”

Ari didn’t answer him.
She would not sink to his level.
Resolutely she walked in stony silence all the way back to the
house.

Surprisingly, Ghita waited on the sidewalk in front of the
house.
She
gave a once over to Leonidas then nodded briefly.

“Your position is duly noted,”
she said to him.

Even more surprisingly Leonidas nodded and gave a curt bow.
“I take my leave.”

He was out of sight by the time Ari could think correctly
again. “What was that about?”

“Soothing Spartan pride isn’t a hard thing once you learn
how.” She took the bag from Ari and walked around the house. With
reluctance, Ari followed.

“I don’t want to fight with you.” Ari began when Ghita set
the bag down on the back porch and turned.

Ghita smiled.
“It does seem to be all we do anymore, doesn’t
it?” She motioned to the trees. “Walk with me.”

Ari nodded surprised and followed her through the backyard
and onto the trail in the woods. Ghita
never
walked in the woods. At least Ari had
never seen it in all the time they had lived there.

The cool shadows of the forest and quiet murmur of its
residents brought Ari peace like it always did. Content, she didn’t
speak but let Ghita lead the way down the path.

There was something odd about walking through the trees
with Ghita.
Ari didn’t realize what it was until they reached a small
stream and Ghita slipped on the rocks. Ari grabbed her arm even as
the unnatural noise seemed to echo unusually loud. Ghita walked the
forest as noiselessly as Ari did.

“Thank you.”
She moved to a flat rock that sat higher than the
stream and sat. Ari mimicked her action and sat right where she
stood, the edges of the skirt dangled in the water. Ari faced her
and waited.

Ghita wasn’t even looking at her but out passed the stream;
passed the trees, out to something Ari couldn’t and probably would
never will see.
She wasn’t as pristine as Ari’s memory recalled. As she
studied Ghita, Ari could pick out wrinkles in her aunt’s face Ari
didn’t ever remember being there before. The pressed seams in
Ghita’s pants and shirt weren’t as crisp. Her hair seemed flat. She
looked tired. Fatigue radiated from her.

“I am sorry.” Ghita spoke without looking at her. “I am not
a good mother.” She smiled bitterly. “I don’t think I ever would
have been regardless of whether or not you were truly
mine.”

Ari drew up her knees, wrapped her arms around them and
rested her chin on top.
She waited.

“You deserve so much more, but I am glad we are
here.”
Ghita
looked at her then, studied her without looking through her. “You
are more than I was at your age. More than Lyris and I were
combined. It’s still raw and a bit wild, but I’m sure when
Grandmother arrives she’ll fix that.”

“Grandmother?”

She nodded. “I sent a letter, snail mailed to your
great-grandmother; my grandmother. It will buy you some time. She
shouldn’t receive it until around your birthday. We’ll all know
your fate by then.”

“The guild will come.” Ari murmured thinking of
Sasha.

“They’re already here.”
She looked away from Ari’s shock. “They
have always been nearby.”

“Kleisthenes?”

She nodded.
“He is the Guild Master. He is the one all the guild
leaders turn to. He is the property owner for all of Sparta,
Greece. It’s not something I expect you to understand. I’ve never
explained our ways, and I’ll not start now. It’s archaic
anyhow.”

“Why are you
telling me this then?”

“Because I’m leaving. I’m taking Lyris and we’re going
away. Tonight.” She looked back at Ari then. “You’ll never see us
again.”

Ari jumped to her feet before she realized she had even
decided to move. “You can’t.”

Ghita laughed lightly. “You don’t need me; that is
apparent. You spend most of your time with Kleisthenes anyway. You
certainly don’t need the stress and strain that is Lyris. She is my
burden; I will not pass that off on you.”

“But… I don’t understand. If they know, they’ll come.
Sasha…”

Her eyes were kind. “I doubt anyone, including a group of
pompous old men, could take Sasha from you.”

“Leonidas
said…”

She waved it away. “Leonidas speaks truth, but only one
side of it and usually the most painful side because that’s who his
father was. What do you want Ariadne?”

Ari wrapped her arms around herself. “To be safe. To have
Sasha.”

“Then that’s what you will have. The will of Gaea is
rarely, very rarely, ignored. And your will is so much stronger.
Those old fools won’t know what to do with you. I leave you with a
piece of advice. Never change who you are. Not for them, not for
Sasha. Be the proud, strong woman I see right here. If you hold on
to her, no one in this world will be able to stop you.”

“Why must you leave? Can’t you stay?” Ari hated how
childish she sounded and even though they rarely got along Ari was
scared to be without her. She knew Ghita. She didn’t know the
people Ghita referenced.

Ghita shook her head. “It’s safer. For you, and for us if
we’re not here when you turn eighteen. Once you do, well, we’ll
see.”

“How will I live? I don’t have a job, or a car.”

“Everything you’ll need will be on the kitchen table. I
would not have decided on this if I did not think you could do it.”
She stood and jumped down to Ari’s level. She landed soundlessly on
the wet stone. Ghita held Ari’s face in both hands and kissed her
forehead. “I am proud of you. You are a wonderful person. A person
I wish I had the strength to be sometimes. Gaea keep you safe.” She
let Ari go and she watched her aunt vanish into the
trees.

Ari sat back down and rocked for some time, then
cried.
She
hadn’t said anything that needed to be said. She wouldn’t be the
person she was if it hadn’t been for Ghita.

When the owls began to hoot signaling the sun’s descent Ari
stood.
She
couldn’t wallow any longer. She had to see Kleisthenes and figure
out what to do about Sasha. She had to plan her future. If she was
going to die next week it wouldn’t be because she wasn’t ready for
it.

T
he
walk seemed longer and
lonelier somehow on the way back though the latter
wasn’t rational. She could see the forest animals that walked with
her. Ari could feel them too if she focused on their presence.
Their love and respect for who she was humbled her. They would die
for her without hesitation.

Ari was grateful for her impromptu escort.
The setting sun
cast long shadows that had her tense and ready for things to jump
out of them. She was relieved to see the edge of the trees and
exited the woods into Sasha’s backyard.

Her escort did not follow for obvious reasons. Ari turned
to the trees and made eye contact with those that had protected
her. She dipped her head to them and they returned the gesture and
faded back into the forest.

“Ari!” Sasha’s relieved shout pummeled her back. “You’re
safe.”

Before she could turn and face him she was swallowed in
Sasha’s arms.
His scent filled her nose even as he squeezed tight enough
to cut off air.

“I’m sorry.”
His voice was low, and raspy.

Ari pulled
back enough to see the tears threatening to spill over in his
eyes.

“I didn’t
mean… I don’t want you to think… The guild…”

Ari shushed him with her hand. “The guild has nothing to do
with us. Nothing. Will you answer me this time?”

One of his hands moved from its grasp to cover her hand. He
moved her hand to his cheek. His eyes closed a moment and a single
tear was freed and traversed the lines in his face.

“Sasha?”

“I would bring down the sky, if it meant I was able to stay
with you always.” He turned his head and kissed her open palm.
“
Here is the
deepest secret nobody knows; here is the root of the root and the
bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which
grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide; and this is
the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart I carry your heart; I
carry it in my heart.
”

Ari couldn’t prevent the swell of emotion that rushed
through her. She couldn’t even tell what emotions were spinning in
disbelief and joy. Poetry. Sasha had just quoted poetry to
her.

“Sasha… I…”
Forming words through her dazed mind and swelling heart was not
possible.

His forehead dropped to hers.
“I am empty without you. I’ve loved
you since we were four and you declared homicide against a pink
bicycle. I’ve loved you since you knocked me on my ass and declared
yourself champion of my backyard. I’ve loved you forever, even
knowing, I cannot keep you. Please don’t send me away. Ask me
anything else Ari, and I will give it, but don’t ask me to leave
your side. Please…”

“Sasha…”

“I’ve always held onto hope. I’ve hoped that Gaea would
hear me, that she would see that I loved the beautiful, kind woman
that is Ariadne. I’ve hoped that Gaea would show me what I had to
do to stay with you forever. You ripped out my heart when you left.
I didn’t know if you were coming back or where you had gone. I
didn’t know if you were injured and needed me or if…”

“I was injured.” Ari spoke in a whisper. “I was broken. To
think that you love Gaea and I was just… here. To think that all
this time I was nothing to you…”

“Never.” Sasha’s hold tightened. “Never think that. If you
weren’t Gaea and just a normal girl on the street, I would have
found a way to be with you, granted that would have been easier.
The Spartan laws wouldn’t hold so many restrictions. I will be
anything and everything you need me to be, Ari. For you, not Gaea.
For Ariadne.”

“Be who you’ve always been, Sasha. That’s what I need. I
need you to be the man you’ve always been.” Ari kissed the tip of
his nose, “Have faith Gaea will take care of the rest.”

“Hey, you two!” Kleisthenes shouted from the porch,
“Supper’s ready.”

Sasha stepped back and let go. He smiled. “Come on. You can
tell us what you’ve been doing while you’ve been away.”