Past Lives

by Kirsten Bij't Vuur

  He got up from Melissa but of course she woke up too, and they all bathed in the stream, and then Lukas and Paul installed their stuff on a big rock in the middle of the dell, and went to work with intense concentration.

  She studied the walls, the sediment on the floor of the dell and in the stream bed, and when she thought she had all the information she got a lump of red clay from the ground, moistened it, spread it on another rock and started to draw a cross-section of the dell, and to organise her data.

  Paul explained what he had done to free the figurines from the gold to Lukas, who wanted to try of course. He had never learned the spells to memorise images exactly, but somehow his transformation had made magic totally intuitive to him, he didn't need spells anymore. He just thought of what he wanted to do, and it happened that way.

  His first attempt was very creditable, it had a few hooks where the gold had stuck to the emerging shape, but they could be removed easily with a bit of filing. He asked Paul: 'Will you use mine, or do you want to make the necklace all by yourself?'

  Not using Lukas' work hadn't even occurred to Paul, and he said so:

  'Remelting your figurines to start all over again? I wouldn't dare, that would tempt the gods to strike me down for hubris! You're as much an artist as I am, Lukas. I just started earlier in life, so I'm a bit ahead in techniques.

  Besides, if Aphrodite ever asks who made it, we can share the glory and the danger. Your father has me quailing in fear of her.'

  'She always liked me, I think because I spread so much love around, but she never offered to share love with me. I would have liked to, still do. It is a big honour to be chosen by her.'

  'Well, it is an honour I could do without, but I'm glad you're not afraid of her,' Paul observed.

  This caused Lukas to laugh, and he said: 'Oh, I'm afraid of her, deadly afraid. But I'd like to make love to her anyway.'

  When they had cast two figurines each, Lukas' second one just as perfect as Paul's first, and Paul's second needing a bit of filing, Lukas reshaped the bar of gold with Paul's directions, enlarging the flat surface of the bar to fit the rest of the figurines in the surface. They'd 'cast' those the next day and the days after.

  They discussed the possible ways of fitting the figurines together, and then they cleared up the mess and readied themselves to continue their journey, of course not after they had shown the new figurines to Melissa. She showed them her cross-section of the geology of the dell, and said she'd tell them how she thought it had come to exist on the road.

  The donkey didn't even mind being haltered and saddled, and they soon had all their stuff loaded, climbing the red clay path carefully and following it through the rest of the forest.

  It was not a lot cooler, but there was a little difference, and the hours of rest they had taken meant they went on with renewed spirits.

  Melissa told them she had studied the rock to find it limestone, a kind of stone originally formed in the sea from the skeletons of dead sea creatures, accumulated over millions of years, then lifted up and exposed to the forces of the weather and plant-life by the huge lifting force of the earth. Which was why it was now situated on the top of a hill instead of under the sea, and why it was rock-hard instead of soft.

  Because the stone was very permeable, letting water drain into it almost instantly, there were no rivers and streams and no river-valleys in this area.

  The acids produced by decaying plants and the rain draining in caused the chalk to dissolve, creating caves under the surface, where the streams also flowed. Sometimes, a cave would get so large, and the roof so unstable, that it would collapse and form a hole in the ground, like the one they had rested in. The stream would surface for a moment, unable to drain further into the stone because of the thick red clay that was left when all the limestone had dissolved.

  They would probably pass more of these holes, and some of them would have a stream running through. The bitter, oily taste of the clear water seemed to be caused by all the chalk dissolved in the water, it was indeed not harmful, just unpleasant, as opposed to drinking salt water which was deadly.

  Lukas was impressed by Melissa's knowledge, she had certainly used her time in college well. He had known the hole had been caused by the collapse of the cave beneath, and he had known that chalk in the water gave it that awful taste, but he had not known how the rock got there in the first place.

  Melissa added: 'There is probably marble to be found in this area, am I right?' Nodding fervently, he said: 'It is an important trade here, yes, though it is quite difficult to mine, and often stained. How do you know?'

  'Marble is limestone that has been baked in the depth of the earth, it often

  occurs where there are earthquakes. And the staining is due to the plant-acids, the ones we wanted to use to dissolve the basalt block in the wasteland.

  Basalt is much harder, had it been limestone we would have broken it ourselves, Paul. Still, buildings made of limestone last a long time, so it cannot be that soft.'

  Talking on interesting subjects, they made good time, and soon they were indeed at the end of the forest. They were on top of yet another hill, and below them spread a valley that was clearly inhabited by people.

  It was rather broad, with a large river in the middle, and the slopes were covered in tilled fields and groves of cultivated trees. Lukas said they were olives and oranges, the oranges closest to the river, where the soil was wetter.

  They had all tasted an orange from the trees in the little dell, even the donkey, and they were fabulous, juicy and sweet. The donkey even ate the rind.

  The houses were not spread over the valley, but clustered in a village on both sides of the river, and the village was not rambling, but had its houses bunched up together and protected by a wall. When Melissa asked why the people didn't just live on their own land, Lukas replied: 'There are two reasons, but I think they are linked together: the first is, that these people are afraid of robbers from the mountains and pirates from the coast, and living in a walled village makes them less vulnerable.

  And the second reason is, that my people tend to be very close-knit, and these villages often own the land communally, deciding on what to grow on which field together, working the fields together, protecting it together.

  The hunters share their kill with the whole village, and the herders take the communal herds into the forest or the uninhabited valleys.

  Of course the danger causes them to stick together as well. But they will welcome us, since we come in peace and have news to share.'

  They took a path around the fields and the orchards, and before they even came close to the village itself, they had acquired an entourage of children, youngsters and a greybeard or two, all with horns in different stages of development, dressed in brightly coloured tunics and shirts and not much else. Even the smallest children had a thick coat of hair on their legs, and though most had tight dark curls like Lukas, there were some with sleek hair.

  The people of the village showed as much interest in Melissa, they had clearly never seen someone with such a fair skin and copper coloured hair

  before, but they were much too polite to try and touch her.

  They seemed to know Lukas well, and he was indeed very welcome, though he did have to explain his lack of horns. To resolve that matter quickly he let a few of them feel the stumps, apparently being branded left gaping black holes where the horns had been.

  Lukas told them he'd introduce us to everyone at the same time, it would be impossible to remember all their names, though apparently he did, for he addressed even some of the children by name. Of course, he had been a diplomat, and remembering the name and status of any individual he met had once been his job.

  Still, Melissa was impressed, and she thoroughly enjoyed his conversation with the people from the village, realizing they would not be able to travel on immediately, that would be a grave insult and it would harm their case with Katarina substantially.

  It seemed that Lukas
understood this, and he let himself be taken to the village centre, where most of the people had gathered already, it appeared they didn't get many visitors. They were invited to sit, and received drinks and a light meal of olives and fresh cheese, and Lukas told them all the news from Ophelie and introduced Paul and Melissa to them.

  Then Melissa graciously allowed those who wanted to, to touch her copper locks and even her soft white skin. Judging their reactions Lukas was right, they clearly thought her an interesting novelty, but none of the men seemed to find her particularly appealing, nor did the women look at her enviously. She was just too alien to them.

  Lukas did not tell them what they had come to do, he just told them he was visiting his sister Katarina, and then the stories the people spontaneously told him showed that this village at least had not yet fallen under her spell.

  The people were amazed that anyone could stick to one lover, and they still appreciated having Hermes as ruler and protector, they were in fact very happy to hear that they planned to spend more time with the lady they all respected, and to hear that she had been rejuvenated, for that meant a lot of uncertainty about the future had come to rest.

  Having learned what they wanted, and told the news they wanted spread, the three continued on the other side of the river, back up a mountain, back into the forest, the afternoon now well past, and the temperatures dropping to very pleasant.

  They marched on, uphill in the forest, downhill in the forest, no more

  valleys to be crossed, though there were similar sink-holes to the one they had rested in on either side of the path, every few miles. It was still very light, but Lukas told them dark set in really quickly out here, as opposed to London summer, and he was planning to spend the night in the next village.

  By the time they reached it, Paul was feeling the weight of his boots, and he was looking forward to a good night's sleep. Melissa was very tired as well, fortunately Lukas was still very spry and well up to another village reception, telling the news, hearing the news, showing them his horn stumps to prove he was not branded but had a reason to remove his horns himself.

  Although only half a day's travel removed from the other village, it seemed that Katarina's movement already had some influence here.

  The young crowd was hanging out in pairs instead of one large group, and wore more clothing, girls wore dresses to the ground, covering a lot more of their bodies, and boys wore trousers as well as shirts.

  The children were the same as the former village, and everyone who seemed over twenty was, too.

  And when Melissa was introduced, they wanted to touch her too, and stroke her hair, which she graciously allowed, again, realizing how important their first impression was to their mission.

  They were offered beds in the community house, a nice well-built hall that would be very useful in the wet days of winter. It had a few rooms besides the large open space in the middle, and they were shown into two of these. The donkey was taken to the communal paddocks, where the villagers kept their few riding animals.

  They had a feast just after dark, eating the best a village like this had to offer, and dancing to very nice music made by a mixed group of all ages, except the youngsters. They were not in sight. Their parents told Lukas they went to bed early, worked all day, they never had any fun. It worried Lukas as much as their parents, that was very clear.

  Taking his friends apart, Lukas said in English: 'They are clearly affected by some mad idea, some craze. It's always the young people who follow it first. What can we do?'

  'Well, they are much like me, Lukas, working all day, sleeping all night, not having fun, pairing off but not sharing love. What did you do to cure me of my reticence?' In the light of the lanterns, Paul looked totally convinced of something, almost enthusiastic.

  'I loved you a lot, but that didn't help. When did you start to want to have

  fun and love, Paul?'

  Melissa interjected: 'He wanted love all the time, but exclusive love, and without fear of getting hurt. Jealousy made him come to the point with me, but he learned to have fun at the dance.'

  This remark caused Paul's face to light up: 'The polka!

  They respect you, Lukas, so they'll come to the party to honour you, and then you can teach them the polka, maybe even make them a teeny bit jealous to shake their love loose.'

  'Excellent idea. Musicians first, then fetch the kids, get them to dance, dance with the girls to make the guys a teeny bit jealous, then leave tomorrow and let it stew.'

  Decision made, Lukas acted with confidence.

  He talked to the musicians, and they tried their best, but the music they played was still very traditional and not suitable for polka's. Lukas looked back at Paul, who thought hard and offered: 'We were going to use a lot of magic, so remember the music and project that for them, either in their heads, or out loud, whatever is manageable.'

  After a few moments of hard thinking, Melissa saw Lukas light up a little, and on the faces of the musicians an interesting mixture of feelings became visible.

  Understanding and awe were a strange combination in expressions, they didn't mix well, and soon awe won.

  The elder musicians bowed before Lukas and kissed his hand, making him very uncomfortable. They mumbled at him in very low, reverent voices, and he said, a bit impatiently: 'Yes, you are right, I sort of became a god, like my father.

  My main Gift is healing, so if you have any sick people among you, or very sad people, you can bring them to me. But first, we want to free your children and grandchildren, this music will probably cure them of what is wrong with them.'

  He did get a few weird looks, but they knew him, and trusted him, so they tried the music. Three of the lot, an elder man and a younger man and woman got it right after a very short trial and error, and they launched in the infectious polka music of the London party-scene.

  Soon, a lot of feet began to tap along with the beat, and Lukas held out his hand to Melissa, spinning her towards him and hopping and skipping for dear life.

  It was still incredible fun, and before long Lukas snapped up a villager who was clearly aching to join in. Paul took over with Melissa, and they relished the fast dance, spinning and turning until the starry sky was spinning around.

  More couples started, and soon the whole village was dancing the polka, it wasn't a very difficult dance and even the eldest were still able to move remarkably fast. Those hoofs were an advantage over feet, they seemed to keep the legs strong and supple, and of course there was no danger of hurting one's feet.

  Within minutes the first curious youngsters appeared, Lukas didn't even have to fetch them, their new way of life was totally against the nature of young people, and as they started to pick up the dance, all strictly with their own partner, Lukas gave them five minutes to get used to the speed and the steps, and then he started to circulate.

  He danced with every girl at least once, letting her feel the speed and the spin a top dancer could give his partner, and setting all the boys on fire with envy and the need to dance as well. Melissa took his cue and started to dance with the boys, letting them feel the elation of going at top speed, giving over the lead of the dance as they started to get the hang of it.

  Soon, other couples were forming, and some people were sitting down to catch their breath. They were starting to kiss and fondle, and that too, infected the youngsters.

  Melissa sat down with Lukas for a breather, and to see the result of their interference, which was profound. Fortunately these kids were still much like teenagers everywhere, eager to have fun and eager to share their love. They saw Paul dancing with a lovely woman, who clearly had intentions with this handsome human stranger.

  'Should I save him?' Lukas asked Melissa, worried that she might be hurt if he were to sleep with another woman again, something that was bound to happen if this dance continued. Melissa searched her heart, and replied: 'I don't know. Maybe he needs this before we can settle together. What do you think?'

 
'I think you and me need to dance again, and we'll make love roughly in a little grove I know just around the corner there,' was Lukas' answer. 'Can you refrain from sharing your love then?' Melissa asked, a bit concernedly, 'If you left me I'd feel lost and lonely. If you stay with me I can bear sharing Paul tonight. I don't want to claim him, you see.'

  Lukas kissed her and whispered in her ear: 'They found out I am a god, they will not expect me to share love with anyone but you. You look like a goddess.'

  Chapter 8

  The polka had done its job, all around them people were pairing off and leaving the party, again, even the elderly. Paul came towards them and asked permission to go with his partner, who clearly thought it very interesting to share love with a human and who thought it supremely weird he'd first want to speak to his friends before leaving with her.

  Melissa could give him leave without pain, but she did wonder where this would all lead. Still, Lukas was looking very appealing, with some wine in her blood and the world still spinning slightly. So she didn't think any more and just went through another dance with him until she saw stars and was very giddy, and then she followed him through the pitch dark, to a very dark place, where they hugged for what seemed a long time, feeling the other, smelling the other's sun baked scent, kissing and stroking.

  And when Melissa's apprehension had changed into a feeling of security in Lukas' familiar arms, and lust took hold of her, he did indeed make love to her roughly, against a tree, until she was moaning with bliss, Paul forgotten for the moment.

  Lukas exerted himself again, until he was totally spent, and then they found their bed, after checking the other for Paul's sleeping shape.

  He wasn't there, and they hoped he'd crawl in with them when he was ready to sleep. Melissa found she couldn't sleep without him, so she laid awake until she heard him stumble in the dark, heard him in the other room and waited for him to come to this one, which he fortunately did.

  And then she took him in his arms, his own scent overpowering any possible smell of another woman, and she laid in the hollow of his arm and nuzzled his neck and chest. He crawled against her as if in great need, she supposed he felt guilty again.