Those who could not get inside the Taverna were sitting outside on (he verandah or leaning through the open windows into the room.
It was hot, it was noisy, and yet at the same time it had a spontaneous gaiety that she had never encountered before.
The whole village had turned out for their wedding.
When she had come out from the Taverna with Orion she found that they had already congregated outside around the ancient, open carriage that was to carry them to the Church.
The horse which drew it was decorated with flowers, even (he-hubs of the wheels had bows of ribbon on them, and the closed hood was piled with hibiscus, bougainvillaea and blossoms from other shrubs.
A cheer went up as Athena and Orion appeared, and as he helped her into the carriage she realised that if she had borrowed her wedding gown he also must have borrowed the clothes he wore.
He was wearing the full-sleeved traditional white shirt and over it a gold edged bolero which was exquisitely embroidered with flowers in all colours of the rainbow.
There was a red silk handkerchief around his neck and a red cummerbund around his waist, but instead of the stiff-pleated, white-skirled fustanella that many of the other men wore he had on tight-fitting black trousers which were extremely becoming.
He did in fact look so handsome and attractive that Athena felt her heart turn over with happiness.
As the horse started off he took her hand in his. "All these people love you," she said as the crowd cheered and followed the carriage, the children running beside it excitedly down the narrow road towards the village.
"As everyone you meet in my country will love you, my darling," he answered.
She looked into his eyes and found it hard to remember anything except that she was to be his wife and that already she belonged to him in everything but name.
It was only a short distance to the Church which was small and built Byzantine fashion in the shape of a cross.
As Athena walked into it on Orion's arm and found the Priest wailing for them, she realised it would have been quite impossible for even a tenth of the people following them to get inside the small building.
But she soon realised that Orion had thought of this and everything was arranged.
Only the Argeros family followed them into the Church, while the rest stood outside the open door in respectful silence.
Although Athena had seen the Priests of the Greek Orthodox religion walking about the streets with their black beards and flowing black robes, she had not before seen one of the brilliantly coloured vestments such as was worn by the Priest who was waiting to marry them.
Of shimmering silver and gold the embroidery seemed to be part of the flowers outside, and the fragrance in the building itself reminded her of the grasses around the shrine of Apollo.
Innumerable candles and the seven silver sanctuary lamps glittered on the mosaics and gold carvings with which the Church was decorated, and they also illuminated the dozens of sacred Icons which hung on every available wall.
Athena had been afraid that she would not understand the ceremony, but as soon as it started she realised that the Priest was conducting the Service in Katharevousa, which was the Greek she knew.
She and Orion made their vows and when they knelt in front of the Priest, Dimitrios Argeros held over both their heads the linked wreaths which symbolised their union as man and wife.
Nonika, wearing a pretty gown, but very simple compared to the one she had lent to Athena, had held the bride's bouquet during the Service.
Orion had placed it in the carriage and it was a small posy fashioned of white irises. Athena knew that as they were the flowers of the gods it was for both of them a symbolic gift.
The service in the small Church was very beautiful, and as the fragrance of the flowers and the incense mingled together Athena felt that nothing could be more inspiring or more holy.
She dedicated herself for all time to Orion and felt that he did the same to her.
When he placed the ring on her finger she saw the expression on his face and knew that he was deeply moved. She thought that in marrying the man she loved and who loved her she was the most fortunate woman in the whole world.
Whatever difficulties lay ahead, whatever obstacles they might encounter, however many recriminations awaited them because of their action in getting married so quietly and secretly, it would always be the supreme moment in their lives.
Athena knew that nothing could be more fitting or indeed more wonderful than that she should marry Orion without a fashionable congregation, surrounded only by those who loved him for himsell and had nothing to give or take except true friendship.
The Priest blessed them, then as they rose to their feet Orion put his arms around her and kissed her.
It was a kiss which was sacred and holy and she knew she would ask nothing more of God than that she should be his wife.
"My heart, my mind and my soul," he said very softly in English so that only she could hear.
As they turned to go out into the sunshine where their friends were waiting both of them radiated a happiness that was not of this world.
But the villagers of Delphi were not to be deprived of their fun.
Athena and Orion were driven back up the hill, but now the carriage was invaded and there were men and children hanging on to the sides and the back and flowers were thrown at them by the women until they sat knee-deep in blossom.
At the Taverna Madame Argeros had laid out a spread of food which made Athena gasp.
She could only guess that all the women in the village must have contributed, for it would have been impossible for any one person to cook so much in so short a time.
There were tables groaning under plentiful but not expensive food— for the villagers were poor—but the best each could contribute.
Bottles were opened, and Athena and Orion were toasted a hundred times as they sat together at the top of the table.
Athena was too excited to want to eat but Madame Argeros pressed the delicacies upon her and she did not wish to be disappointing.
When the food was finished and the tables taken away the dancing began and now Athena could see as she had wanted to ever since she came to Greece the folk dances.
These had evolved through the centuries containing in each one of them the taste of the different nationalities, creeds and cultures which had been part of Greece at one time or another.
And Athena heard for the first time the real Greek music which was something she had not been able to listen to at the Court in Athens.
Now she saw the aulos, or reed pipe, which she knew was associated with the wine-god Dionysus. Beside the pipes, there was the flute and the lyre, and the tympanon which was a hand beaten frame drum and the crotala, hand-clappers, and the cymhala, which were cymbals.
As if as a concession to modernity there was also an accordion played by a young man wearing a fustanclla and the Greek cap with the long black tassel that reached to his waist.
Those who were musical seemed to Athena to be more vividly and exotically dressed than the others.
The entertainment which had been put on for the bride and bride-groom started with the ciiassapiku which Orion told her was "the butchers' dance" originating from Constantinople and was danced by four men who hissed and snapped their fingers to a rhythm clearly marked by their foot-beats.
It was gay and amusing and was followed by the arrival of the bouzoukia which was a large awkward-looking mandolin which added to the other music nostalgic notes which sometimes seemed weighted with sorrow.
Each performance was greeted with cheers and prolonged applause and shouts of "Bravo!"
A quick and lively serviko which Athena thought was probably of Slav origin had everybody stamping their feet and swaying with their shoulders.
She was certain that if there had been room everybody would have joined in.
Now, as the men performed the zeimbekiko, their arms reaching across each other's shoulde
rs and having strangely enough a grace which she had not expected, she found herself wondering why in England dancing was considered only a feminine accomplishment.
There was no doubt that the Greek men enjoyed every moment of their rhythmic movements and they danced because they loved dancing.
It gave them a feeling of warmth and camaraderie towards those with whom they shared this pleasure.
The zeimbekiko evoked frenzied applause. Then with the soft throbbing of the bouzoukia a man began to sing the timeless strain of a lover's serenade.
It was a flowing melodic Ionian cantade which Athena knew had the power to ravish the ear and melt the heart of all those who listened to it.
Now everyone was silent, their dark eyes filled with emotion.
Because she too was moved by the singer's deep voice which had an unmistakable throb in it, Athena sought Orion's hand.
She felt his spontaneous reaction almost crush her fingers bloodless. Then as the singer finished and after a moment's pause of appreciation more congratulatory than any other expression, the noise broke out.
It was then that Orion pulled Athena to her feet and they slipped away into the back of the kitchen almost before anybody realised they had moved.
She thought he intended to take her upstairs, but instead he opened a door at the side of the building which she did not know existed and they stepped out into the star-strewn night.
There was a path leading through the bushes which led them to the road without having to pass through the crowds outside the Taverna.
Athena did not speak, she only let Orion lead her where he would and felt a rising excitement because at last they were alone together.
The road through the village now seemed empty and deserted. They walked along it and gradually the music from the Taverna grew fainter and fainter.
It was almost like stepping into another world and Athena was aware of the quietness and the inexpressible serenity which was part of the Sanctuary.
The stars were vivid in the sky and the moon was rising.
She felt her pulses quicken at the thought that Orion was taking her to where they had known the wonder of their first kiss and she had given him her heart for all time.
But when they reached the narrow path that led up to the Temple of Apollo and beyond again to the Theatre, Orion kept on down the road.
Athena glanced at him enquiringly, but he did not speak and because there was no need for words between them she did not ask where they were going.
She knew instinctively that he was taking her to where he had found her, to the shrine of her namesake—the Temple of Athena.
Their footsteps made no sound on the dry, sandy road and Athena felt almost as if they floated past the ravine through which gushed the Castalian Cascade, until they came to the steps which led down to the shrine.
Now they had to pass through the closely growing olive trees until in the clearing they saw the three lovely Doric columns of the Tholos.
The moonlight was shining on their fluted marble so that they seemed to sparkle with almost a crystalline beauty.
Then as she looked at them wonderingly Orion's arms went round her and her thoughts were only of him.
"My wife!" he said softly as if he wished to convince himself that the words were true.
It was the first time he had spoken since they left the Taverna.
Holding her close he looked down at her face and the moonlight revealed to each of them the expressions in their eyes.
"You are more beautiful, my darling, than I believed it possible for any woman to be!" he said. "And now you are mine—mine for eternity —because if we have been separated before, we cannot be separated again."
"I love ... you! Oh, Orion ... I love ... you!" Athena whispered.
"Love is such an inadequate word for what I feel for you," he answered. "Everything about you is perfect, not only your beauty, my precious one, but your sweetness, your kindness, and most of all your courage."
"I am not really... brave," Athena replied. "Only when I think of... you."
She raised her lips to his as she spoke, his mouth came down on hers and she felt as if a streak of fire ran through her, magical, ecstatic and with a radiance that was desire.
Orion held her close and still closer. Then with his lips still keeping her captive his hands removed the little gold embroidered cap on her head and the veil which covered her hair.
He drew out the pins which held it in place so that it fell over her shoulders as it had done when she had been lying in his bed.
Gently he unfastened the huge gold necklace and then she felt his fingers unbuttoning her wedding-gown.
It was difficult to think of anything but the wonder of his lips and the fact that the fire he had evoked in her seemed to run over her whole body, burning its way from the top of her head to the very points of her toes.
Athena felt her dress fall to the ground followed by the garments she wore beneath it.
She was not shy. She felt as if she was lifted by Orion's lips into a mystic rapture which swept away all human emotions and she was ethereal and spiritually one with the night.
Orion raised his head and looked at her.
"You are divine!" he said hoarsely. "The goddess at whose feet I worship!"
Just for a moment he stood not touching her, then he pulled her into his arms and carried her beneath an ancient olive tree.
Athena felt the grass and flowers bending beneath her body and there was the fragrance of wild lilies and the scent of thyme.
She looked up and her eyes were dazzled by the brilliance of the moon-shafts shining through the branches. And she was conscious of a strange glitter in the air.
For a second she thought she had lost Orion, only to find him standing above her and he looked as she had seen him once before, his slim, athletic body silver in the moonlight.
She felt that he was haloed by the stars after which he was named and that he shimmered with them until she was looking at a constellation.
Then he was beside her, touching her so that she quivered and trembled because of the sensations he awakened and the fire in her breasts seemed to burst into a flame.
He moved and his heart beat against her heart and she could no longer think.
She only knew that he carried her up into the sky. She was conscious of a strange glitter in the air and there was the beat of silver wings as, glorious and omnipotent, they were gods.
Riding down the incline which led them South from the Sanctuary, Athena turned to smile at Orion who was still having a little difficulty in keeping his stallion under control.
It would be hard to explain to him, she thought, how during her journey up from Itea to Delphi she had longed to ride as she was riding now, free and untrammelled in the early morning sunshine.
But as if he understood without words what she was thinking he drew his horse alongside hers and said :
"Are you happy, my precious one?"
There was no need for Athena to answer him in words, her eyes met his and he thought he had never known a woman could look so radiant, so lovely.
They had left the Taverna very early, in fact Athena felt that she had hardly closed her eyes before Orion awakened her.
"We have a long ride ahead of us, my darling love," he said. "As I do not wish you to be exhausted by the heat I would like to start as soon as you are ready."
"Is ... it morning?" Athena asked drowsily.
"Yes, darling, it is morning," he answered, "and the first day of our marriage."
She opened her eyes at that and lifted her arms towards him, but he took her hands and kissed them one after another before he said:
"If I kiss your lips my beautiful, adorable wife, I shall come back to bed and stay with you there for the rest of the day!"
Athena blushed and he said :
"You look more lovely than I have time to tell you, but remind me not to forget to do so tomorrow morning."
His words awakened Athena ver
y effectively: for she could not help wondering where they would be tomorrow and what would happen between now and then.
When they had arrived back at the Taverna all the guests had gone and everything was very quiet.
She knew then that Orion had made plans and that she must come back from the heights of ecstasy to face reality.
"I shall have to tell him the truth sooner or later," she told herself.
Then because she knew she was afraid that it might in some way spoil their happiness she shied away from that moment like a horse frightened by a shadow on the road.
But Orion was already dressed in the clothes in which she had first seen him, and when he left the room Athena rose.
She realised with a sudden depression that she would have to put on the gown of which she had been so ashamed and which Nonika had saved her from having to wear as her wedding-gown.
However there was no time to worry about such details. Orion was waiting downstairs and she knew how it infuriated her father if he was ever kept waiting by his womenfolk.
She washed and tried not to think of how unbelievably wonderful and perfect everything had been the night before.
There would be time later to remember, to recall the ecstasy she had found with her husband, and he with her.
Now she must try to be practical.
Nonika's beautiful wedding-gown was lying on a chair and Athena turned to the cupboard, expecting to find her own gown hanging there, but the cupboard was empty.
Even as she thought she must call down the stairs and ask for it, there came a knock on the door and Madame Argeros came in carrying her gown followed by Nonika.
"Good-morning," Madame Argeros said. "You must hurry, for your husband has already started his breakfast and he tells me you have a long way to go."
"I am nearly ..." Athena began, then broke off.
She looked at her gown which Madame Argeros was carrying, and realised that it had been washed and pressed and looked almost as fresh as it had been when she had first put it on, what now seemed a century ago, in the Palace.
Kiss the Moonlight Page 12
