The Oracle of Delphi (Greek Myth Fantasy Series) (17 page)

“Oh, but he did,” she remarked. “You see, my father is very much afraid of the gods, and the words of the oracle also. He would do whatever it took to remain king, even if it meant sacrificing his own daughter.”

“So you ran away.”

“I wanted to, but knew I could never escape with so many of my father’s men watching. So his steward, my good friend Klaus, came to me in the night with a disguise. He had a horse waiting for me, and helped me escape the castle. He offered to come to protect me, but I would not allow it. If my father found out, Klaus would be executed. Instead, I told him to stay and pretend he knew nothing of my escape, and in that way insure his own safety.”

“It sounds as if he was a good friend, Andromeda. Not many people would risk their own lives to help save another.”

“Klaus was like a second father to me,” she told him. “He read me bedtime stories as a child and listened to stories of my own making. I used to make up adventures about the little fairy people. My father hated when I did this, but Klaus was always there to listen. He told me I was unique and creative. That meant the world to me.”

“I would listen to your stories, Andromeda. I wish you would talk to me more.” He reached up his hand and she held it as she continued.

“So I ran away from Thessaly hoping to find an alternative. I went back to the oracle, and that is when I found out it wasn’t a prophecy but only a suggestion that I be sacrificed. I learned a demi-god named Perseus was the only one who could help me by slaying the sea serpent, and therefore sparing my own life. That is when I met you, Perseus. And you know the rest.”

“I do,” he agreed. “But I don’t know why you didn’t tell me all this sooner.”

“I was afraid. I didn’t know you well. For all I knew, you could have taken me back to be sacrificed, thinking it your duty to the king.”

“Well, then you don’t know me very well. I would never do something like that.”

“It is only a matter of time until my father finds me. I had hoped you would slay the sea serpent before that ever happened.”

“Andromeda, come sit by my side.” He reached out to her and she took his hand, sitting on the shore as the waves washed over them both. He took a deep breath and released it, squeezing her hands and then letting them go. “You almost died today trying to save me. I do not want you risking your life for me again.”

“You are my husband, Perseus. I would do anything to save you, even if it threatens my own life.”

He smiled and rubbed his head. “I think my life was threatened but not from the sea nymphs.”

She touched the bump on his head and then replaced her fingers with a small kiss. “Well,” she said. “I had to do something to break the spell you were under.”

“Are you sure you weren’t trying to break my skull for kissing that lusty sea wench?”

She smiled and splashed him with a bit of water, breaking their solemn mood.

“Well, you did deserve it.” She looked to the ground, running her hand through the sand. She couldn’t help but think of how enamored Perseus was with the sea nymphs, especially Nerina. “Do you really think Nerina is the most beautiful woman you have ever seen? After all, I did hear you say it.”

“Well, let me think about that,” he said, rubbing his chin. She didn’t like his answer and started to rise. He gripped her wrist, stopping her from going. “I did see another very lusty sea nymph swimming in the water that looked a lot like you.”

“Oh, really?” she asked with a raised brow. “And did she excite you as much as the other fifty naked nymphs?”

“There is one way to find out,” he suggested. “Why don’t you play sea nymph for me and I will see how excited I get?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “I am sure I could not live up to your expectations after being around all those beauties.”

“I would like to see you try,” he said, untying her belt and letting it fall into the water.

Andromeda’s tunic robe fell open, and Perseus eyed her naked body beneath it. He reached up, slipping the robe from her shoulders, letting it fall to the ground. Andromeda looked around shyly, hoping no one would see her standing naked on the shore.

“Perseus, I think I’d like my robe back.”

“I want to see you act like a sea nymph,” he told her, getting to his feet and stripping off his braies.

“Oh, I couldn’t, Perseus. I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Pretend like you want me so badly you will do anything to get me to couple with you.”

She did not have to pretend. Her body longed for him and she wanted nothing more than to feel him inside her. She had the urge to pull him down to her and never let him go.

As if reading her thoughts, he decided to taunt her. He winked and dove into the water. She sat up on the sand and watched him do a backstroke, his strong arms dipping over his head as he swam out to sea. He smiled and threw her a kiss.

“Come and get me if you want me.”

She couldn’t hold back another minute. She dove into the sea and swam after him, the feel of the cool water washing over her naked body exciting her more. They met and she wrapped her arms around his neck kissing him deeply and entwining her tongue with his.

“That’s a little more like it,” he said.

She ran a hand down his chest, reaching under the water to touch him intimately. He groaned and tried to pull her closer, but she dipped beneath the water and away from his hands. When she resurfaced, he had a hungry look in his eyes.

“Come to me,” she said in a breathy voice. “Follow the goddess of the sea.”

“Come back here you feisty wench,” he called.

“I am a sea nymph,” she laughed, splashing in the water. She screamed when he dove toward her, swimming powerfully in her direction.

He chased her through the water and she barely kept ahead of him. She had just made it to the shore when he came up behind her, slapping her playfully on her backside.

“You are enticing,” he said, “but not really as enticing as Nerina.”

“Oh, really?” she asked, pushing his hands from her. “Well, then let me try the moves she used on you that you seemed to like so well.” She licked her lips and ran a hand over her thighs, dropping to the ground and moaning.

“You forgot to touch yourself,” he reminded her.

“What? I can’t do that.”

“Try it, you might like it. After all, how do you think the sea nymphs stay so aroused?”

“Oh, well I suppose it’s true. I’m sure it wasn’t your body enticing them.”

She laughed when she saw the look on his face, and she continued to play the seductress. She reached out to touch herself but found she just couldn’t do it.

“I can’t,” she said. “It feels so . . . wanton.”

“Like this,” he told her, taking her hands in his. He lowered her back onto the shore, and using his hands he directed her hands closer, finally resting upon her body. Next he guided them to where they needed to go.

“Perseus, I don’t think I should be doing this.”

“There’s nothing wrong with exploring yourself, Andromeda. Let me show you how.”

He used his hands over hers to show her how to caress herself intimately. She moaned and arched her back.

“I told you that you’d like this,” he said.

“I guess you were right.”

“We are not done yet.”

“We’re not?”

“I want you to do what Nerina did,” he said. “Raise your legs and wrap them around my hips.”

She didn’t think the move possible, but did as instructed. The waves lapped at their bodies and the setting sun kissed their bare skin. The warm breeze whispered over them and he entered her as she clung to him. He used one hand to steady her to him and they joined in the rhythm of the waves as their bodies thrust together back and forth. She watched as his eyes closed in restraint. Then the heavens exploded as her moans were replaced by cries of her own release.

He echoed her moans of passion, and shouted her name on the wind as he met her.

“Andromeda!” he cried on a deep breath.

The sound of her name reverberated within her, and Perseus released his stored up passion in one final thrust before he fell to the ground.

Panting for breath, they held each other. Their bodies melded into one as they joined as man and wife.

“Well, do I live up to a sea nymph?” she asked in amusement.

“You far surpass one, Princess,” he said through ragged breathing. “And I can’t help but look forward to you trying to imitate every one of those fifty nymphs!”

Perseus walked along the beach watching Apollo drive his chariot across the sky, dragging the sun up along with him. The glorious god didn’t even notice a mere demi-god such as Perseus, as he held tight to the reins of his six horses going about his appointed job.

Perseus threw a rock into the water, watching it skip across the sea. He would never be a full-fledged god; he was the bastard son of a god who had only come to his aid once in his entire life. He looked out toward the Gorgon’s isle feeling his stomach tighten. There was a good chance he would not come back alive. He may stay there forever, a mere stone remembrance of his body as he became part of his surroundings.

He wanted to be a hero more than anything. But killing a Gorgon wasn’t his choice to accomplish the status. He looked back to Andromeda sleeping peacefully on the beach. His princess - his wife - was a true goddess in his eyes. Her bravery in helping him had almost cost her her life among the sea nymphs. And now he found out her own parents meant to sacrifice her to a sea serpent as soon as she returned to Thessaly.

He wanted to help Andromeda more than anything. But his time was running out to save his mother’s life. And the isle of the Gorgons lay directly in front of him. With the delays he had been experiencing along the way, he knew there was not enough time for a trip to Thessaly before returning to Seriphus.

He thought of Andromeda chained to a stake as an offering to a horrible beast. Then he thought of his own mother at the tip of King Polydectes’ sword. They both called to him, but only a hero could save them both. And a hero he was not.

The boat trip out to the Gorgon’s isle and back would take up most of the day. And since he had no idea how long it took to kill a Gorgon, he didn’t know how much more time he would have before it was too late to save his mother. He did not want to let Andromeda out of his sight, but he knew he did not have a choice. To save time he would have to use the winged shoes and fly over by himself.

He walked softly over the sand and bent and kissed her on the cheek. Running a hand over her hair lightly so as not to wake her, he took one last look at his beautiful wife. He would always remember yesterday and the exhilarating way they had made love. He would always remember her strong will and the way she always tried to trick him, which only made him love her more. She moaned softly in her sleep, rolling her head to one side. He wanted to cuddle up next to her and take her in his arms, spending the day making love in the sea and on the hot sand. But he knew he could not. He had a Gorgon to slay, and she would be safer staying here until he returned.

He donned his winged sandals, strapped on his sword, and slipped into his traveling cape. He tied the magic bag at his waist and tucked the helmet of invisibility under his arm. Lastly, he picked up the shield of Athena, noting his reflection. He looked like the warrior he wasn’t. If he had been a warrior, he would have stood up to King Polydectes years ago. If he had been a hero, he would have taken his mother away from the island of Seriphus before now, avoiding this situation completely.

He saw Andromeda’s reflection in the shield as well, still asleep on the sand. If anything ever happened to her, he would never forgive himself. He shook his head not wanting to leave her, but forced himself to go. He couldn’t delay any longer. He would use the winged shoes to bring him to his goal quickly, then return to Andromeda and bring her back with him aboard a ship to Seriphus. If he hurried, they might have just enough time to make it back to his own island before King Polydectes decided to kill his mother. And then he would take his mother and Andromeda somewhere safe while he returned to slay the sea serpent, just like he had promised his wife.

He could stall no longer. He lifted up into the air and headed for the isle of the Gorgons.

Andromeda jerked awake from a dead sleep, knowing something was wrong.

“Perseus?” she called, but he didn’t answer. She looked over to his weapons to find them missing. She saw his footsteps in the sand heading toward the water and then disappearing into midair.

She jumped to her feet and shaded her eyes from the sun, searching for him over the water. Then she saw him flying high in the sky, heading away from her. That is when she noticed the small isle in the distance. The isle of the Gorgons if she wasn’t mistaken. Why hadn’t she noticed it yesterday? Their acts of playful passion had kept her distracted or she would have realized what Perseus planned all along.

That is why he had stopped for the night so early. He wanted to spend one more night with her before he left with the risk of losing his own life. Duty called, and he left without awakening her because he knew she would have tried to stop him.

“No!” she cried, though she knew he couldn’t hear her, as he was too far away and too high. He had gone to slay Medusa, and she wasn’t sure she would ever see him alive again. “Perseus, no!” she said through the tears that blinded her. She hadn’t even had the chance to say good-bye or wish him a safe journey. His body grew smaller and smaller as he moved farther from her and closer to his destiny on the Gorgon’s isle. If only she had a way to follow, she would go after him in the blink of an eye rather than to let him face the Gorgons alone.

She sat down on the beach, her chin in her hands, waiting, watching, wondering how long it would be before Perseus would return to her side once again.

“There she is!” she heard from behind her. Turning abruptly, her fears shifted from Perseus to herself. She saw her father’s soldiers on horseback riding toward her.

Her heart jumped and she backed away. They had come to take her back to Thessaly to be sacrificed to the sea serpent. She looked back over the water, but Perseus was no longer in sight. If only he hadn’t left without her. But now there was nothing he could do to save her. He had gone to behead Medusa, and her own destiny awaited her at the jaws of the sea serpent once again.

“Stay away from me,” she warned them. “I am not going back to Thessaly.”

“Oh, yes you are, daughter.”

Her father rode through the line of men, sitting high and regal atop his horse. She knew his duty as king to his people came first, even if his own daughter’s life was at stake.

“Father, you cannot sacrifice me to the sea serpent. I refuse to be subject to such outrageous behavior.”

“You have no choice, Andromeda. The oracle has spoken. You are to be the sacrifice that will sate the hunger of the serpent of the sea. This is not of my choosing. The oracle has spoken.”

“No! You are wrong,” she said, backing away as he rode closer. “There is another way to stop the sea serpent. I don’t have to give my life to do it.”

“The oracle told us what to do.”

“The oracle only suggested you sacrifice me,” she reminded him. “I went back to the oracle on my own. It told me a demi-god is capable of killing the sea serpent.”

“Andromeda, I’m sorry, but half my people have died already while we wasted time searching for you. I will not waste more time searching for a demi-god. In the time it takes, the rest of the village might be consumed.”

Spoken as Perseus had once spoken, her father was a man on a mission and no one was going to stop him.

“But there is a demi-god right here,” she said. “He can do it. He said he would.”

Her father looked up and down the shore, and his men chuckled from behind him.

“Daughter, do not try to fool me again. There is no one here but yourself.”

“But he will be back,” she told him, pointing over the water. “He has gone to the isle of the Gorgons to behead Medusa.”

Her father’s eyes scanned the water while his men talked among themselves at the mention of the Gorgons.

“If there is truly such a man, it will take him days to get there, kill the Gorgon, and return by boat. I’m sorry, Andromeda, but we must get back to Thessaly now.”

He motioned one of his men forward to seize her. The man dismounted, but she threw sand in his face and ran down the beach. As her heart raced furiously, she headed in the opposite direction, looking over her shoulder as she heard the clomping of a horse’s hooves from behind her.

Her father’s large frame bounced upon his horse. The crown on his head slipped and with one hand he settled it back into place. His dark eyes bore into her and his cape flapped behind him on the breeze. There was nothing she could do to escape him. His arm came down and fastened around her, scooping her up atop the horse.

“Father, do not do this,” she begged him.

He did not answer, just rode with her, back to his men.

“So where is this demi-god of yours?” asked his head soldier, shading his eyes, looking out to the sea.

“You won’t find him on the water,” she told them. “Look in the sky. He’s flying there.”

She did not have a chance to explain. The men laughed at her in mockery, and her father held his grip on her tightly as he turned the horse beneath them.

“Do not embarrass me further, Andromeda, with your made-up stories.”

She did not expect her father to believe her. He had never wanted to listen to her stories as a child because he told her someday they would only turn her into a liar. He had a reputation to uphold. He had a land to rule, and no one - not even his only child - would get in his way.

“Let us go!” King Cepheus ordered his men back to Thessaly with a wave of his hand. “The sea serpent awaits us.”