Diana’s hand froze in place, her eyes transfixed on the title of the piece to which she had turned.
The White Wraith, by Charlotte Green.
The page lay before Diana like a mysterious message just arrived from the past. Her great-aunt had written an epic poem about the Holy Grail? Had Grandma Lily known? Surely, she would have read it to Diana quite often had she known of it. What else had Charlotte written?
With a strong sense of pride, Diana read her aunt’s tragically epic tale of the White Wraith—Guinevere, Arthur’s queen.
Diana marveled at every line. It was unlike any of the familiar stories of Arthur, such as the medieval accounts she had just read. In Charlotte’s version, Guinevere is a powerful sorceress who leads a rebellion against her husband in the wake of his war on the magical kingdom of Avalon. Central to the tale is the Holy Grail—referred to on several occasions as the Chalice of the Moon. All covet the Chalice and want to draw on its powers, but Guinevere secrets the sacred cup away before tragically dying by her own rampant power. Overcome with grief, her beloved—the once gallant knight Lancelot—massacres the people of Camelot before ending his own life.
Several intriguing illustrations accompanied Charlotte’s account, the most captivating being of Guinevere herself. In one particular scene, the mighty queen wields a magic spear in a duel against Arthur and Excalibur while clutching the Chalice of the Moon to her breast.
The story was amazing; why had she never known of it until now? How did Charlotte’s family not know she’d written epic Arthurian poetry? Although, other than Grandma Lily’s stories of Charlotte and Flinders’ globetrotting adventures, Diana knew next to nothing about her aunt other than that she died of a sudden illness a few years after setting in the States. She’d only been 33 at the time.
Gazing on the image of Guinevere and the Chalice, Diana was filled with an overwhelming desire to know more about her Aunt Charlotte.
“Diana,” called out a girl’s voice, pulling Diana from her thoughts. She tore her eyes from the book to see Lani clutching the side of the table and catching her breath. She seemed a bit hysterical as well.
Diana instinctively shooshed her roommate. “What’s the matter?”
“I’ve been looking all over for you,” she said after muttering curses at the staircases. “I wanted you to go to dinner with me but it’s already six—probably too late now. We’ll just have to order a pizza.” A smirk crept across Lani’s face. “We have plans for tonight and we have to look our best.”
Diana didn’t like the look in her roommate’s eye. “What do you mean by plans?” she asked, very curious yet somewhat afraid.
“I met this amazingly gorgeous guy in my Poli-Sci class earlier,” she answered with enthusiasm. “There’s going to be a huge party at his house tonight and he invited me. He said you could come too.”
Diana cringed inside. She was definitely not into the idea of a bunch of drunken frat boys hitting on her all night; but, for the sake of her only friend, she’d have to endure. It was all part of the college experience anyway, wasn’t it?
She plastered a fake smile on her face and feigned her own enthusiasm. “Sounds like fun, what time are we going?”
“I think he said the party started around eight, but you never want to be the first ones there. I figured we’d go sometime between nine and ten.”
Diana was none too pleased. “That seems pretty late, don’t you think? We won’t get to bed until probably two in the morning.”
“What’s the big deal?” Lani replied. “Isn’t your first class at like nine-thirty? My first class is at eight and you don’t hear me whining about it.” Lani patted Diana softly on the shoulder. “Suck it up and have a good time. I bet Andrew probably has some cute friends you can hook up with,” she said with a wink.
If she wasn’t before, Diana definitely wasn’t looking forward to this party now. “First of all, I’m not really the ‘hooking up’ type. Even if I were, I’m not the best at talking to people—especially guys.”
Lani smiled at Diana with a wicked grin. “It looks like I’m going to have to teach you a thing or two, my young apprentice. And if there’s nothing I can do to help you, then it’ll be up to the whiskey.”
Leaving the White Wraith, the Chalice of the Moon, and the many unanswered questions concerning her Aunt Charlotte for the time being, Diana sighed and closed the book of Grail lore. Frat parties, whiskey, and drunken roommates—she was definitely in college.
Chapter 3
Under Gilded masks do fell faces hide,
To devour spirit, body, and mind.
If twas not so, no gallant knights we’d need.
Though White Wraith had in mighty power grown,
Her spear could not pierce enchantments and lies.
Under Maeven’s influence was she trapped,
Until destined Dragon, her heart did claim.
“Ow!” Diana winced in pain as Lani wrapped her loose strands of hair around the curling iron, a little too vigorously.
“Sorry,” her roommate apologized. “Just let it happen—it’s the price we pay for beauty.”
If it were up to Diana, she’d much rather look ordinary and marginally pretty than have to go through a bunch of pain and hassle to look “pretty.” She took another bite of four-cheese pizza and continued to watch My Fair Lady, trying hard not think about her throbbing scalp.
It was Diana’s favorite scene in the movie—the embassy ball. The poor flower-girl Eliza Doolittle—played by Audrey Hepburn—dons a beautiful gown and uses all that she has learned throughout the story to fool the aristocrats into thinking she’s one of them.
“Why can’t we be going to a party like that?” Diana asked her friend with deep longing.
“Because those parties probably weren’t much fun,” Lani replied. “Plus, I’m pretty sure those women were in torture all night wearing corsets.”
“Now that’s a price I’d gladly pay,” Diana replied with determination. “If I’m going to have to go through pain to look pretty, I might as well get to wear a fancy ball gown.”
Lani wrapped some of Diana’s bangs around the iron. “If you wanna wear a corset that bad, there’s probably a couple of unique clubs downtown for that sort of thing.”
“No thanks. People wearing chains and hanging on hooks just doesn’t have the same appeal as an embassy ball.”
“Whatever floats your boat,” Lani said with a shrug.
“So where does this Andrew guy live anyway? It’s not far is it?”
“He lives in a large house off campus with his brother, and two girls. It shouldn’t be a far walk.” Diana felt a bit relieved; apparently it wasn’t a frat party after all.
They finally left for the party around 9:15. As they walked off-campus, Diana couldn’t help but admire, and hate, her roommate for how little effort it took for her to look amazing. After doing what she could to stylize Diana’s mess of hair, it had taken Lani less than an hour to pick out a black and lime-green dress and do her makeup with efficient precision. Diana had witnessed girls take several hours to achieve a similar look of glamour; Lani’s naturally bouncy hair and skin tone cut out most of the work. Knowing she didn’t have such valuable assets, Diana opted for a few simple touch-ups and styled her—for the moment—curly hair into a fancier version of her usual side braid. She had also chosen to wear dark skinny jeans, brown riding boots, and her favorite blue and pink stripped cardigan. She wasn’t glamorous like her roommate but Diana thought she looked rather cute, and that was enough for her.
As they walked, Lani continued the assessment of her male interest. “Andrew is a junior and his brother is a senior. I heard they throw a party every year, the first week of fall semester.”
“He must be pretty popular around here,” Diana replied. If people appreciated anything, it was a good time.
“The parties are apparently legendary.”
“Oh? Did Achilles show up last year?” Diana laid on the sarcasm, but Lani d
idn’t quite understand her joke and just shrugged in reply.
When Andrew’s house finally came into view, Diana’s mouth dropped and she may have made a sort of “whoa” sound.
“You said it,” Lani replied to Diana’s inaudible sound of astonishment. “Their parents must be loaded.”
The house was magnificent. Where the usual fraternity houses typically displayed a false elegance, trying to imitate the houses of the rich and famous—large columns, high windows, shaped bushes—this house was not trying to imitate elegance, but rather, achieved it to a much greater degree. Built completely of stone, it looked very much like a scaled-down version of an old English manor house, with its perfectly kept lawn making way to the large wooden double front doors.
The elegance of the house was marred the closer they approached, however. Any air of sophistication the grounds had about it was destroyed by the drunken party that had spilled out onto the perfect front lawn. Loud music, with too much bass, was playing throughout the house as people were standing all about with drinks in their hands or cigarettes in their fingers, talking and laughing with each other.
Diana didn’t know if she was nervous, or if it was just the bass of the music making her heart race, but she already wanted to go back to her room. She’d much rather spend the evening with Jane Austen. Perhaps she could even find some more of her Aunt Charlotte’s writings. Why am I here again? Oh right, because this is apparently what college is really about.
At least she’d get to see what the inside of this amazing house looked like. After walking through the large doors, though, disappointment washed over her. There were just too many people to have a proper look around; she might as well have been at nightclub.
Diana soon heard someone yelling for Lani from across the room. She pulled her friend’s ear close to her mouth so she could hear Diana over the music. “I think that guy over there is looking for you”
“Oh! That’s Andrew,” Lani replied with excitement in her eyes. Let’s go.” She grabbed Diana’s wrist and dragged her through the sea of people, making their way to Andrew. As they neared, Diana had to admit he was rather handsome. He was tall with short, but wavy, light blonde hair and his deep blue eyes looked like pools of water from the Caribbean. Andrew was a very pretty man, and was easily the best-looking person in the room—second only to the black-haired guy with whom he was currently having a conversation.
Diana recognized Darien Shepherd immediately and he did not look happy. He and Andrew seemed to be having a heated discussion, with Andrew sporting a fake smile as he looked at Diana and Lani walking their way.
It was almost impossible to hear their conversation over the music, but as she neared the two, Diana began to make out a little.
Darien was in mid-sentence, “—your fascinations will be the end of you. Why you do this I will never understand. We don the wool to keep from getting bitten, not to roll around with the sheep. A warm smile and a pair of fine eyes are hardly enough to tempt me to look past this rabble for what it is—repulsive.” Looking directly into Diana’s eyes, his face was twisted with irritation and disdain. Under his intense gaze, Diana felt small and insignificant—an insect under his boot. He’d had an air of superiority earlier that day, but it had felt nothing like this. When the girls stood before the two, an intense knot of anxiety twisted inside of Diana’s chest.
Darien finally recognized her and a hint of shock made his eyes twitch; his contempt, though not his irritation, softened somewhat.
Standing in his presence, Diana was overcome with powerful nausea and the room began to spin. She often felt any amount of tension in a room, sometimes even making her sick with anxiety, but the agitation emanating from Darien Shepherd made her want to run outside and unload her dinner into the bushes. Vertigo overwhelmed her and Diana’s legs gave out.
Expecting to find herself on the floor before she’d even had her first drink, Diana was shocked to be in the crook of Darien arm before she hit the ground.
“Um, thank you,” Diana said weakly as her vision steadied and the nausea began to subside. Darien helped her to her feet and she quickly regained her balance.
For a brief moment, a wave of calm rushed over Diana as she looked at Darien. His agitation evaporated as he returned her gaze with curious eyes, but it quickly returned—as did the twisted knot in her chest. He acknowledged her thanks with an awkward nod and then swiftly left the room through the crowd of people.
Though he was gone, she could feel his overwhelming need to get away.
What in the world was that all about? Watching him flee, Diana’s was struck by the oddity of the very brief encounter. She had never felt such intense anxiety. Darien had been a bit rude to her that morning, treating her as a tolerable nuisance of some kind, but now he seemed to want to run away from her. Why?
“Are you okay. Diana?” Lani asked as she put a hand on Diana’s shoulder. “Did you trip or something?
“I’m fine. I think I just got too hot.”
“I told you to wear a skirt,” her roommate said with a smirk and then turned an enthusiastic smile towards Andrew.”
“This is my roommate—Diana Selene.”
Andrew smiled to her. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Selene; welcome to my home. I hope you’re having a good time.”
Diana returned his smile. “We just got here, so I haven’t had much time to enjoy myself, but I’m sure I will.”
Andrew looked at their hands a bit surprised. “How rude of me,” he exclaimed and then bent down to open a cooler sitting beside him—it was full of ice and bottles. “No empty hands in my house, here’s some beers.” He popped off the caps and handed them to the girls.
Diana looked down at the bottle trying her hardest not to look disgusted—she hated beer with a passion. Everyone always told her that she’d learn to like it, but she was convinced that any drink you had to learn to like wasn’t worth liking in the first place.
Soon, Lani and Andrew were already deep into conversation and it was time to let her roommate do whatever it was she was trying to do.
“Sorry Andrew,” she interrupted. “Where is the bathroom?”
Andrew gestured over his shoulder. “The downstairs bathroom is that way, by the kitchen, but I doubt it’s empty. There’s also probably a line of people waiting. You can use the bathroom in my room upstairs; I doubt anyone is in there.” He gestured around with his hands. “For some reason, a house like this makes people feel uncomfortable about walking around upstairs, especially in our rooms. I don’t care though; feel free to walk around anywhere you want to.”
Diana smiled, said her thanks, and began to make her way to the stairs. There were people everywhere. A large group of party goers, congregating in what appeared to be a parlor of some kind, which had been converted into a dance floor, were bumping and grinding along to the loud bass of the music.
The second floor was just as elegant as the rest of the house. There were less people milling about so she was actually able to take it all in. Gorgeous paintings with gilded frames hung on the walls like a museum gallery and many looked like they belonged in one as well—imitations of Renaissance paintings, she assumed. Some portrayed scenes from classical mythology—gods and goddesses, heroes like Hercules and Theseus—while others looked to be of Vikings and medieval warriors. Diana even recognized scenes from stories in the Bible—the few she knew, anyway.
When she neared the end of the hallway, she was struck by a strange painting of Noah’s Flood. It’d been a while since she cracked open a Bible, but Diana was fairly certain there wasn’t a moon goddess, a shepherd, or an army in the flood story.
Tearing her gaze from the peculiar scene, she made her way down the hall to what she assumed was Andrew’s room and found the door partially open. As Diana walked in, her jaw probably dropped lower than it had when she first saw the house from outside. Her eyes went wide as she stared in wonder at all the books that lined the walls. If a space of wall was not lined with books,
it was home to an intriguing decoration. One space even held a shield with a coat of arms and two swords crossed on the wall behind it. A dark mahogany desk sat in the far side of the room with a well-preserved black antique typewriter, which Diana was about to dismiss it as some sort of decoration, when she noticed a piece of paper sticking out from the spool—it had writing on it.
Someone still uses a typewriter? The notion prompted her to look around and she quickly realized that there wasn’t a single piece of modern technology in the room. On a small wooden table next to a nearby antique sitting couch, sat an exquisite teapot and a half-full cup of tea.
After the wonder wore off, Diana realized it wasn’t Andrew’s room at all, but rather, a study or small library. She imagined some wizened old professor sitting in the very comfortable-looking, high-backed, leather chair in the corner, with a dusty old book in one hand and a glass of brandy in the other.
As she continued investigating the room with fascination, Diana’s gaze landed on a bust sitting on a waste-high pillar in the far corner. She walked closer until her eyes beheld a woman of striking beauty captured in white marble. The stonework was perfect, looking practically alive. She had never seen anything quite like it—the skin looked almost real. The lips somehow looked moist, as if the woman could start speaking at any moment. She also seemed strangely familiar; but how? Diana could never have forgotten such a woman; it made her feel uneasy.
An overwhelming and unexplainable feeling of guilt washed over Diana and she turned around to see Darien Shepherd standing in the doorway with an accusing glare. His irritation and disgust had only increased since she’d seen him last and Diana could feel it rushing off of him it in waves.
She realized why the face looked so familiar—it was a feminine version of Darien’s. The woman must be his twin. The little amount of color fled from Diana’s face. Darien was Andrew’s older brother, and she had wandered into his room by mistake.
“What are you doing in here?” He demanded to know. “Are you already so inebriated that you thought you could just go wandering around someone else’s home, going into any room you please?” He wasn’t trying to be nice in the slightest and Diana felt both ashamed and furious at his accusations.
Moonshadow Page 4
