CHAPTER 1

Five Seconds After

I look back. My body lies crumpled. I see to the heavens. Isee the earth. I see Croesus, the former king of Lydia, pacingback and forth in a room. I see my love, Aristaios. I see thetemple of Apollo on Mount Parnassos and my oracle friends.Some are walking toward the evening service. My oracle friendChloe is running behind and preparing for the evening service.I see the priest in his chamber, preparing to walk toward thetemple, his thoughts floating up.

My name is Clea. I am the Pythia, an oracle at Delphi.

My skin is lustrous, light olive in color. My long, darkblack hair is splayed beautifully alongside my body. My whiterobe, slightly open, reveals my legs. I see my body alongsidethe crevice, on the dirt, where the water comes down themountain.

At this time in the temple, the bells have chimed, and theritual service of prayer and thanks to the god Apollo has begun.They will not notice me until two hours have passed. The cookshave begun to make the evening meal and are busy with theirchores. They will not notice me. No one walks by this trail untilthe evening sweep. My body is filled with toxins and vapors.

The cat I love is waiting for me in my room. My love,Aristaios, is stoking the fire of the evening. He will be waitingto see me in the garden, after the evening meal.

I am barely twenty-three years old, an oracle at Delphi, thePythia, the priestess to Apollo.

CHAPTER 2

Six in the Morning(Fourteen Hours Prior)

I opened my eyes to hear birds chirping. My stomach andhead hurt. I propped myself up on one elbow. There wasenough light in the room to see my cat, curled up in a ball onmy wrap, which was draped over the bed. Her white fur wasclumped around the bottom of the wrap as she woke up, yawned,stretched, and said a big good morning.

"Good morning," I said to kitty, rubbing my hand throughher fur.

A knock came at the door. I did not answer right away.Swinging my legs over the bed, I grabbed my wrap, unsettlingkitty. Another knock. Chloe, my best friend and oracle sister,said through the closed door, "Get up. Open the door. We haveto get going."

"Okay," I said. "I'm just getting my wrap."

"You're late already, and Calidora is waiting."

I reached the door and at the same time felt nauseous. Imanaged to open the door. Chloe came in with a big smile andimmediately filled the room with her bright energy. I relaxedwhile rubbing my stomach.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing. Why?" I hurriedly dressed in comfortable clothesof light, white cotton that resembled the priestess, the Pythiadress, but was not clothing for the oracular chamber. I tied thestring around my midsection and rubbed my stomach again.

"You're rubbing your stomach and are late this morning."

"I woke up with a stomachache, and my head hurts too!"

"Come on, Clea. If you put food in your stomach, you'll feelbetter. Let's get going. I'm starving and was waiting for you tocome to breakfast. I also saw your name posted. You'll have towear ceremony clothes."

"Oh, thanks for the reminder. I'll be fine after eating somefood, going to class, and taking the spring bath. I'll dress inceremony clothes then. Maybe you can join me today in theoracular chamber?"

"That will be fine," she said. "I love working with you inthe oracular chamber. You've been on post, the one sitting onthe stool in the oracular chamber, all week. Why is that priesthaving you sit as the main oracle every day?"

"I don't know why the priest posted me all week, but I'mfeeling nauseous, and it's probably why I overslept. I heard aknock, knock, knock on my door last night and did not answer.Chloe, the priest gives me the creepiest feeling. I cannotexplain."

"Ah, I have the same feeling about him. I ignore him. Ishouted in his face to never try knocking on my door, ever—andif he did, I would knock him flat. Since then, he never triedagain. "

"The door knob started shaking last night after I did notopen it," I told her. "I ran over and put a chair under the knob.He finally gave up, and then next thing I heard was the birdssinging and you knocking on my door."

As soon as I was outside, walking in the warm sunshine, Ifelt fine. Even in the early morning, the sun felt warm on myskin. We walked through the olive trees onto the dusty pathabove the temple. We crossed the water stream flowing downfrom the mountain into the cool shade of the buildings, wherethe kitchen and dining room are. Chloe was still talking a milea minute. She chatted about the cook slipping on the grease andlanding on her back. They had to lift her up with four men andlay her on the bed. Just that morning, all this happened.

Breakfast was still available and delicious as always. Thedining room had one long table in the center of the room. Ichose a stool at the corner of the table, close to the garden soI could feel the morning breeze from the open door and listento the birds chirping. Chloe and I were the only ones left to eatbreakfast. Goat yogurt with berries from the garden on top feltgood in my achy tummy. Chloe sat across from me, still talkinga mile a minute about the oldest priest. I tuned her out. I wantedto block him from my vision. I wanted nothing to do with him.I shifted focus to my love as I saw him walk by our table.

"Hi." I smiled. My mood lifted.

"Hi." He smiled big.

Our eyes lingered on each other. Smiling, I watched himwalk all the way through the room. Chloe stopped talking. Wesilently watched him, listening to his footsteps on the stone flooras he went through the door and out to the garden.

Chloe laughed and said, "Aw, observing your love walkthrough the room brings a smile to your face. Are you happyAristaios is back with us on the mountain?"

I took a deep breath and said, "Yes, Aristaios and I have aspecial love."

I held my smile. My heart felt lifted and peaceful at thethought of my love, our love, and the fact that one day we wouldshare that love together in consummate passion.

My day began great. Chloe by my side, seeing my love, andlooking forward to class with Calidora set my mood on high.

I sighed and said, "I feel good now, Chloe. Let's go toclass."

"Yeah," she said, prodding me with her elbow. "I guess youfeel good. You just saw Aristaios."

I said nothing and continued smiling. My mind wanderedto the first time Aristaios and I became friends. I was with mypapa, tending our sheep, and Aristaios walked into my life. Afterpapa died, Aristaios showed up at our house to pay his respects.I loved him right then and there. I knew he had manners andrespect and I would marry him. Little did I know, at that timeof papa's death and then burial, I would be an oracle, the Pythiafor god Apollo.

Even though my commitment was to fulfill my duty onMount Parnassos, I still loved Aristaios. As Chloe and I walkedthrough the drab, cold classroom, I shifted out of the vision ofhim.

"Girls, you're late," Calidora said.

Everyone was already set up. The twins, Agaue and Aella,had their pendulums out. Eirene was focusing really hard withher eyes closed; it looked like she was looking straight ahead,but in truth was not. Then there was Dione, the master, writingfast and furiously. She stops after we walked into the roomand cracked a joke. "Aw, ate too much goat last night, eh?Celebrating the festival of Dionysus? In fact, you both look alittle goat yourself."

We both laughed and took our seats. Dione was the giftedseer. We knew, and she knew, we did not attend the festival ofDionysus. She had the gift of making everyone laugh.

We sat on either side of Andrea, who was the matriarch ofall students, with a take-charge personality.

"Hi," Andrea said and started to whisper in my ear whenCalidora tapped lightly on the table.

"Tsk, tsk, girls. Get out your notes from the year 550."

"Why 550?" asked Chloe. "I thought today we were studyingthe goddess Aphrodite and the goddess Athena."

"We will get to them, but first let's check the notes about550. We are specifically looking for the question that Croesus,the king of Lydia, asked and the answer the oracle gave. Whatdid the gods say through the oracle for him? I don't mean to putClea on the spot, but she was the oracle that day. Clea, don't feeluncomfortable with this."

"Calidora, how can I not? That priest has had me on centerpost all week, and this morning, I woke up feeling nauseous witha stomachache and had a headache. Since I ate and walked inthe sun with my friend Chloe, I feel so much better. I seriouslyfeel and think those fumes are making me sick."

"Clea, it's all in your head. The other girls are not feeling theeffects of the fumes."

"They have not been on center post."

"It is all the same; they are in the oracular chamber withyou."

As I sat there looking through the notes, it all came backto me. I understood now why the priest had me post all weekand tried to get in my room. I had heard rumors from the otheroracles about his behavior, and I wanted nothing to do withhim. I kept my distance from him.

No wonder the twins had their pendulum out. It was to askthe yes and no question King Croesus had asked. Dione waswriting furiously again. Eirene was looking through her vision.At that moment, I understood the entire past week of oraclereadings. If the priest could become intimate with me, he wouldfeel closer to god Apollo and, in his mind, receive the answerhimself. Thinking about the priest sent a creeping feeling downmy spine. I immediately felt nauseous again. I excused myselfand walked to the garden for fresh air.

When I came back into the classroom, everyone was busydoing what they had been doing when I left. As I took my seat,Chloe whispered in my ear, "It's not your fault. You did nowrong. The gods said it was fate. You, the oracle, were the vesselto speak the fate. You heard Apollo correctly."

It was starting to make sense. "Why did the priest post usthe past three days?" I asked the class and Calidora.

Calidora explained, "The Lydians have sent a delegation toask verification of an oracle given during this year."

CHAPTER 3

Meeting My Love

As Papa and I waited for my brothers to return from thelookout before we moved on, the breeze blew my hair. I layon the ground and chewed on a piece of grass, and Papa wrotein his tablet. The only sounds were the rustling of the warmwind, the mewing of our sheep, and the occasional scratch ofPapa's pen.

Suddenly, there was rustling noise. The sheep stirred. Theystopped chewing and looked up. On horse was a boy not mucholder than me.

"Boy, where'd you get that horse?" My papa said in a brusque,take-charge manner.

"My family."

"Where's your family live?"

"Over the hill, yonder down the basin, along the shadow ofMount Parnassos."

"Welcome, boy. What is your name?"

"My name is Aristaios."

"Well, come join us. My daughter, Clea, and I are waitingfor my boys to come back from the lookout before we proceedto move the sheep."

I sat quietly in the warm breeze and under the shade ofthe tree, observing Aristaios. I continued to chew on a piece ofgrass. I had some of my own writing to do, as Papa believed ineducating his daughter. He taught me how to read and write.Papa was proficient at both. My writing papers were in mysatchel, but I felt too lazy to get them out. Now that Aristaiosshowed up, I forgot about practicing writing and observed himinstead. He was observing me too!

Papa asked, "How old are you, Aristaios?"

"I'm almost twelve."

"My daughter is ten, sitting right here under this tree. MeetClea."

"Hi, Clea!"

"Hi. Would you like to play tag? My brothers are taking toolong, and I'm now bored waiting for them. I'm done chewing onthis piece of grass." I felt a sort of attraction to him but didn'tacknowledge it. We had a connection.

"Yes."

We played tag and talked easily about our families, ourhomes, and our lives.

"Why do you not stay home and work with your mammalike all the other girls do?" he asked.

"My papa wishes to educate me with full knowledge ofworldly truths. He gives me free will. If I want to stay homewith Mamma, I can, but I would rather be outside in nature,roaming with the sheep and being with my brothers."

"Oh, I see. You're one of those independent females. Canyou already read?"

"Yes, Papa taught me to read and write!"

"Well, you're two steps ahead of me!"

"Ha, ha."

Papa chimed in and said, "What are you two talking aboutso animatedly over there?"

"Oh, Papa, we're just getting to know each other."

I don't think my papa has any idea of the instant rapport betweenAristaios and me. I feel happy to have met him, like it was somedivine intervention. We are instant friends!

Eventually, my brothers came back. Aristaios needed to leadhis sheep home, and we needed to lead our sheep to the groundmy brothers found.

Luckily, Papa had been able to join us in herding the sheepthis trip. We spent so much time together bonding. With himaway working so much of the time, the bonding felt good. Wehad been away from home three days and had another threedays to go.

CHAPTER 4

The Story of How the Lineageof Croesus Took over theMonarchy and Reigned for FourGenerations, Starting with Gyges

Kandaules, king and monarch of Sardis, said to Gyges,his favorite bodyguard, while they were walking aroundthe walls of Sardis, "Please, I'm so in love with my wife. Herbeauty is astounding. I find her to be the most beautiful of allwomen, and since you don't believe me, Gyges, when I tell youabout the beauty of my wife, I want you to see her with yourvery own eyes. I'm asking you to see her naked."

"My lord, I can never, in no uncertain terms. What you'reasking of me is insanity."

"I'm the king. I'm not insane. My wife is beautiful, naked."

"You're ordering for me to see your wife naked, and when awoman's dress is removed, so is her dignity."

"Gyges, you don't believe me when I tell you of her beauty.I merely want you to see with your own eyes for yourself. You'remy favorite bodyguard, and I share all things serious with you,especially about the beauty of my wife."

"King, my lord, look only at what belongs to you. I dobelieve she is the most beautiful of all women, and I beg you notto ask me to look at her, for this is against all decency."

"Don't be afraid or worry about this being against decency,Gyges. No harm will come to you, as I have a plan I have beenthinking about for a while. This is not a test. I have a plan tomake sure she has no idea you're watching her."

"Lord, I cannot do this."

"I'll position you in the bedroom behind the open door.After I come in, my wife will then come in and go to bed too.Before she slips under the covers, she will remove her garmentsone by one and put them on a chair. You may watch unobservedfrom this post. Then when she walks from the chair to the bed,you may slip from your post behind the door while her back isturned. Be careful she does not see you, and then you can gothrough the door."

"Oh, King, I have great worry things will go badly."

"Gyges, don't worry."

Gyges could not get out of serving his king this way. Theking convinced him all was well with this plan of seeing his wifenaked. Gyges, with great trepidation and angst, was led by theking to his bedroom chamber, where he hid behind the door.

"King, I have to confess, I'm excited to see your wifenaked."

"Just enjoy the beauty of her body and slip out of thechamber as best you can."

"I have never been with a female in an intimate sense. I havenever seen a female naked. I have only seen men naked."

"In all these years as my bodyguard, I did not know thisabout you. All the better for you to see my beautiful wife's nakedbody."

"I fear, sir, King, this is a bad move and will not turn outwell. How about you draw a picture of her body for me? Afterall, I have never seen a naked female. I don't know how I'llrespond."

"Gyges, I have great faith you'll respond with professionalism,as you always do, and so repeat back to me what you're to do."

"Yes, you go to sleep in bed while I remain hidden behindthe door and observe her beautiful naked body."

"Perfect."

In a short while, after the king was asleep in the bed, hisqueen walked in the room and began her ritual of disrobing andputting her garments on the chair. Gyges watched. As the queenturned her back and walked toward the bed, Gyges slipped outfrom behind the door and went out.