The Symbolon (3 page)

Camille had very quickly become Valeria’s best friend and was taking the Maid of Honor role. She was quite a planner! Although there truly were far more details than Valeria
cared about—and she knew the wedding
would
be nice—but it was her marriage to Alex that she desperately wanted and was most interested in.

Pulling her suitcase out from the closet, she remembered the last time she had seen it. It was the night that she had gotten up the nerve to declare her love to Alex. That had been a monumental moment for her! She was here with Alex because she had found the courage to tell him that she loved him!

She smiled, remembering her confusion about his love for Cassandra. It seemed so obvious now that he had been trying to remind Valeria that she was his symbolon—the reincarnation of Cassandra. At the time, her insecurity had kept her from being able to see that! Not that her confidence had taken giant leaps forward. But being with Alex, and feeling wrapped in the warm cocoon of his love, had changed things for her. The world had become a brighter place full of hope and wonder! She realized that she hadn’t fit in with her previous world because it wasn’t
her
world. This was her world! Here, in their beautiful cottage north of Trento.

From the time Valeria had left the hospital, she had tried to talk Alex into just sending for a
Justice of the Peace so that they could be married and enjoy
all
of the pleasures of marriage…and so that he didn’t feel that their life together was quite so fragile. But obviously, it was important to Alex to treat this marriage in a manner that honored the vision that had carried him through 3,000 years. She also suspected that the sweetness of the vision of their wedding night was a dream that he desperately desired, and was willing to wait for.

As she packed her toiletries in the bathroom
, she glanced at Alex who had just pulled his sports bag from the closet. “So, do I need to be nervous about this council thing?”

“Not at all!” He sat down. “I hope you don’t mind, beautiful.” This wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation. He pulled her onto his lap. “Besides, I would like you to have the experience.”

She recalled the story that Alex had told her. Apparently
, Apollo had selected a secret and sacred location for the council meetings and presented that location only to Cassandra, the last oracle, Myrdd, the first oracle, and Aegemon, a priest. Apollo and Cassandra had even recorded the laws of immortals, though Valeria didn’t remember any of it.

“I understand…I guess. You want our marriage to mean that we are
truly together
forever
.” Valeria leaned her head on his shoulder. “To me, you are forever, no matter what anyone else says.” She smiled. “I do understand that you’ve waited much longer than I have for this. But I still don’t understand why this council would even care!” She kissed his cheek and then rose to continue packing.

“Look at it this way,” Alex said as he began rolling his
T-shirts and placing them into the sports bag, “when an immortal marries a mortal, that union is short term—basically, it is similar to dating in terms of commitment. The immortal is with the person for such a short period of time that there is no requirement to get council approval.” He zipped the bag shut.

This discussion always caused her to wonder if having her declared an immortal was for the purpose of providing Alex with some validation that she would now be with him forever. Or perhaps he expected that she would suddenly remember all of her past by going to the sacred location.

He continued, “Council approval wasn’t always necessary for immortal marriages. But because an immortal marriage is for an eternity, it can cause a lot of issues if there is a bad pairing. In fact, it’s been the cause of several major wars.”

She giggled as if he was pulling her leg
. “Really?”

Raising an eyebrow, he said, “The Trojan War, of course, and World War I to name just a few. Two ticked off immortals can create a world of havoc!”

There was a concern that perhaps she was not really immortal. Was she going to marry this beautiful, sexy man and be older than him in ten years? What about in thirty years—if she was fortunate to live that long this time around? He didn’t seem to care about her aging. But her ego did!

Her other concern was that even if she was immortal, what if her “clock” had been reset and she continued to age until her “new” Prima Mortis? She didn’t want to be like Jeremiah, who was 147 and still ticking. Still
, there could be worse things than to spend her life with the most beautiful man in the world who would never age and loved her unconditionally.

“Darn!” she said, standing in the closet. Alex looked up from placing his toiletries in the suitcase to see her walk out with a handful of crumbled burgundy knit, another one of the many Christmas gifts from Alex.

“Oh, well!” He cocked his head to the side. “Your favorite sweater will be here when we return! You won’t have much need for it for,” his eyes sparked, “at least for a while!”

She smiled, placing the sweater back in the basket in the closet. She wondered, did he mean that they would be
someplace where it would be too warm for sweaters? Or better yet, that they would have little need for clothes? She
loved
that thought, and felt her face flush in response. Their housekeeper, Ingrid, had been instructed never to wash Valeria’s clothes because it made Valeria feel ridiculously pampered; besides, Ingrid did enough without having to worry about the clothes that Valeria could easily care for herself.

As she closed the suitcase, she watched as he zipped the garment bag that carried several tuxedos and a few suits. She bit her lip imagining him in a tux…and had to sit down when she thought of him out of the tux! Then a sudden feeling of dread overtook her.

“Alex? What happens if the council denies your request?” She could have sworn she saw his pupils flash.

“Not a problem.” His smile broadened, but she was certain it was for her benefit. “The first step is for the council to declare you an immortal. With the documentation we have from Mani, that shouldn’t be an issue. But really, beautiful, I don’t want you to concern yourself with this! There is no reason for them to deny it!”

“Still, what if they do?” She persisted, as she wrapped herself into his arms in an attempt to halt her increasing vulnerability.

“If they decide
—for some insane reason—to deny our union, then we’ll be married by a Justice of the Peace!”

“Promise?”
She narrowed her eyes at him.

Giving her a confident nod, he leaned down and kissed her. He knew she had a tremendous amount of insecurity regarding this council
who held their future in their grips.

From where she stood, she could see the family portrait over the fireplace. Knowing that she had spent most of her existence truly isolated from the rest of the world, with no pictures even desired to mark time
or relationships, the family had surprised her at Christmas with framed pictures of her with the family and then a photographer had arrived and they posed for professional portraits. It was the one thing that she would never have thought of, and the thing that she cherished the most!

Now, there were pictures of her and
the family throughout their cottage. Over the mantel was the largest of the portraits. It was a picture of her with the family surrounding her. As much as the official family portrait meant to her, the candid shots meant even more. They seemed to capture the spirit of her family.

The picture of her and Alex laughing together the night before her birthday was her favorite
. Then there was the sweet picture of her arm around Caleb’s neck, while her other hand messed up his hair—the boy who had never before experienced human touch. The look on his face was priceless!

Valeria loved the pictures of her, Ava
, and Camille—the Three Musketeers! She glanced to Alex’s side of the bed and saw another one of her personal favorites; it was a picture of her sleeping in his arms. It had been taken the day that she had returned from the hospital. The day he thought would never happen! She had survived the curse and had committed to their life together. The glow in his eyes was so beautiful, that she couldn’t look at that picture without feeling the extraordinary depths of his love.

Still curled in Alex’s arms, they heard Lars tap his horn from up the hill by the main house—they were leaving! She smiled excitedly and went to the door. As she was about to step out, he stopped her.

“Your jacket?” he reminded her gently, holding it out for her to slide into. As she did, he wrapped his arms around her, happily holding her for a few moments.

The horn honked again. The family had taken to this system of announcing their impending arrival due to Valeria’s inability to receive their non-verbal communications. She grabbed her purse and bounded out the door.

There was two inches of fresh snow on the ground that had already been cleared from the steps and the area in front of the cottage. Valeria took in the look of her beloved home with the fresh snow piled heavily on the evergreens, causing the deciduous trees to almost disappear, except for their thick trunks. The sky was a brilliant winter blue and the temperature a crisp thirty degrees.

Homer, the ancient caretaker of the property, stood nearby shoveling snow off the main drive
way. Alex stepped outside, with a book in his hand.

“Val, I think I’ll bring
The Odyssey
, what do you want?”

She wondered why she hadn’t considered something of this magnitude earlier. They could be gone for weeks, or more…she hoped. “Uh,
Pride and Prejudice—
oh, and maybe
Shakespeare’s Sonnets!
” That would keep her occupied.

Alex nodded and glanced at the old man shoveling the walk
. “Grazie, Homer.”

Although she had heard his name numerous times, hearing it
now in conjunction with the poet, Homer, and
The Odyssey
, and then noticing the old man’s ancient movement, suddenly leant itself to a new idea. Noticing her unspoken question, Alex mouthed,
What?

She mouthed back to him,
Homer?
As Homer slowly lifted another scoop of snow, Valeria wondered how he had possibly cleared the walk so quickly.

Finding her question quite hysterical, Alex let out a beautiful, rollicking laugh, a sure sign that the old man wasn’t “
the
” Homer! Immediately, the caretaker turned back around and Alex bit his lip to stop his snickering.

Homer di
dn’t seem to notice and uttered a low, guttural, “Prego.”

Lars’ classic black Mercedes pulled up in front of them and the windows
rolled down to reveal Lars, Ava, Camille, and Caleb.

“I’ll be right back
,” Alex said as he returned to the house.

Valeria walked toward
Lars’ car. She smiled at Camille, who had her straight black hair pulled into a shiny ponytail. She was wearing a black sweater dress that set off the dark mahogany of her skin and her brilliant blue, Kewpie doll eyes.

“Hey! We’ll see you there tomorrow!” Camille yelled excitedly
. Then she teased, “And don’t worry about a thing! It causes wrinkles!”

Seeing only four
members of the family in the car, Valeria asked, “Where are the rest?”

Lars responded, “Tav and Daphne are flying down tomorrow.”

Ava cut in, leaning an athletic arm out the car door. “Couldn’t stand the idea of listening to them arguing all the way there!” Valeria laughed.

The front door reopened as Alex came back out wearing his down vest and sunglasses, while carrying two suitcases in one hand, a camera bag hooked around his neck, and two bottles of water in
his other hand. Valeria knew she should have offered to help him—although she knew he would never have accepted it!

“Where’s Mani? Is he flying with Daphne and Tav?” Valeria asked.

She noticed Alex’s slight flinch. “Uh, sorry love, Mani won’t be there.”

Stunned and disappointed that Alex’s closest friend wouldn’t be there for the wedding, she asked incredulously, “Mani isn’t coming?”

“Caleb’s filling the bill as best man!”

The ever
twelve-year-old Caleb, who was concentrating on his computer game, looked up and lifted his hand in a victory fist. “Yes! Best man!” He was such a sweet boy, and he meant even more to her since he saved their lives.

“I think Caleb is a wonderful choice.” She winked at
Caleb, who still had a major crush on her.

“All right, well, we’re heading out. We’ll see you there!” Camille said as the car began to roll down the drive. Wherever “there” was, Valeria thought. As the Mercedes disappeared
from view, Alex tossed the suitcases into the trunk of his car.

“Why isn’t Mani coming to our wedding?”

“He’s…” Alex carefully positioned the garment bag in the trunk, but she suspected that he was stalling. “Don’t worry—we’ll celebrate with him later.” With that, he closed the trunk, tossed the camera bag in the backseat through the open door, and said, “Got your passport?”