The Awakening of Alexandria

by Mariella Starr

  “Go after her,” Macland said.

  “No. I’ve done all can I do, given all I have to give. I will return to Nafplion for a while. I am leaving in the morning with the family.”

  “This isn’t right,” Macland said. “She loves you, you love her. There must be reason why she’s late. Anything could have happened.”

  “Do you think I have not tried to contact her? She doesn’t answer her e-mails. She doesn’t answer her cell phone any longer. She has not been in contact for days now. She is gone.” Nicholas walked off into the night.

  Nafplion, Greece, home of the Dyonysus family.

  The grand party was over, the third party in a week, the second in Nafplion, celebrating the Anniversary of Adras and Hélène Dyonysus. Overdone perhaps, but in their social circles it was impossible to invite everyone to a single celebration. The guests had left a bit early. Strong storm warnings were posted and were not to be ignored. Anyone who lived in or near Nafplion knew the sea and respected the sea.

  The Dyonysus home was thought to be a castle by most tourists. Anchored into rock, it was solid and palatial, built to be a fortress. Built one hundred feet above the forty-foot high seawalls it was still pounded by the crashing waves in particularly violent storms.

  A storm was pounding the sea wall now, the waves breaking twenty or more feet straight up into the air, before spilling over the concrete and then surging back into the sea.

  Nicholas Dyonysus stood by the window looking out over that very sea but seeing nothing.

  Hélène Dyonysus walked up and put her arm around her son. “Nicholas, I have never seen you so desolate, so lost. A woman has done this to you.”

  “You see too much, Mitera.” He looked at her, kissed her on the cheek. “I am leaving tomorrow.”

  “Nicholas,” Hélène chided. “You have just arrived. You need to spend some time with your family.”

  “No, I need to go after her. I said I wouldn’t but I cannot stop myself. I need to find out why she has left me.”

  “Oh, no! Look!” Hélène wailed in distress. “There is a child out on the sea wall.”

  “Where?” Dimity asked rushing to the window.

  “There,” Hélène pointed. “Look, she is wearing those funny shoes like Tessa has that light up. If she gets hit by a wave, she’ll be washed over the side!

  Nicholas looked and shouted. “No!” and ran. His brothers didn’t question, they simply followed as they all ran down the one hundred and forty steps to the foundation level of the property and jumped the low retaining wall. They all saw the girl, marching purposely up the sea wall and heard her scream when a large wave broke over her. Nicholas was ten feet ahead of his oldest brother and he leapt to catch hold of her as the wave broke, knocking her down and the surge tried to drag her back into the sea with it. Nicholas grabbed her caught her by the waist and hung on as Dimity grasped an iron lock grip on his arm and kept him from being swept off the concrete battlement too. Each of the nine brothers was doing the same, hanging on to each other to keep from going into the sea.

  When the surge receded, Nicholas dragged Alexandra out of the water and handed her off to Dimity as he waded through the backwash. Dimity handed her off to the next brother, and she was passed from one to the other until the Aaron carried her back to the bottom of steps and set her on her feet.

  Allie was drenched and she looked up at eight seriously large, and very imposing men, all dressed in eveningwear. All of them were staring at her angrily. They were all soaked, water dripping from them. Women in eveningwear were coming down the steps slowly in high heels to join their husbands.

  “Wow,” Allie exclaimed. “There are a lot of you. Where’s Nicholas?”

  “Here,” Nicholas’ said as his brothers parted and he walked through the mass of them. He sat down on the low wall and faced her. “Alexandria, what….”

  “No,” Allie said getting to her feet and interrupting by holding up both hands with her forefingers pointing upward. “I get to say something first.”

  Nicholas glared at her.

  Allie stood straight up, all five feet of her. “First,” she pointed toward the ocean. “You’ve got to teach about those damn tide things.”

  “Alexandria!” Nicholas snapped.

  Allie shook her head and caught herself as she was a little dizzy. “No. I get to speak first. I told you Nicholas, that I would come back. I promised. I did come back, but I was late. That was my fault, or the airlines, or whomever you want to blame. You weren’t there when I got back, Nicholas. You were here, so I had to come here. I have to tell you something very important. I love you, Nicholas Dyonysus. I came back to be with you because I belong to you. You saw more in me in your first glance than I saw in myself in thirty-one years.

  “You saw beauty where I saw an ugly, discarded child. You looked into me, and found a person that I didn’t know existed. You taught me to control my demons and most important you accept me for who I am. Nicholas, I am here to give you my life, my future, my all. I’m giving you control because I love you and I trust you. I’m giving myself to you in every way that I can because I trust your love and I trust your judgment over my own. I know I’m safe with you.”

  “Alex—”

  “No, I’m not done yet,” Allie interrupted swaying dangerously but she stayed on her feet. “You have to know the worse. With all my good intentions, of returning to you, as usual—everything went ass backwards. I’ve traveled thousands of miles to come back to you. I’ve seriously ticked off several airlines and security officers in four different airports. The TSA has probably put me on a no fly list and I think I threw up on an air marshal. I’ve lost all my luggage, which is why I couldn’t contact you. I haven’t eaten in... I don’t know when, and I haven’t slept since… I don’t know when. I’ve lost weight, and I know that’s going to make you angry but I couldn’t eat. I was lonely and I missed you so much! Oh, and by a rough estimation I think I’ve either said or thought well over three hundred swear words in since I left Los Angeles. Nicholas, I’m too tired to go any further by myself.” She plopped down on the steps and shut her eyes.

  Nicholas shook his head and smiled and walked over and lifted her up into his arms. “Kardia mou, you will never be by yourself again!”

  Alexandria didn’t hear him. She was at last safe, and she’d found her Nicholas. She was asleep.

  Hélène came down the stairs slowly looking at all her sons. They were soaking wet and their wives seemed not to care as they leaned against their shoulders or arms while they listened to the young woman in Nicholas’s arms make her declaration. Cleo and Voletta were crying.

  “I think it’s time for everyone to return inside. Nicholas, you need to get that child dried out and find out who she belongs too.”

  “Mitera, she belongs to me. This little hoyden looks like a child but she isn’t. She’s a woman and she’s my woman. She is going to be my wife,” Nicholas said proudly and Hélène saw her son’s eyes come alive with love and happiness.

  * * * * *

  Allie dragged herself awake and sat up in a huge four-poster bed. She was wearing a granny style nightshirt that was many sizes too large. She got up and found the bathroom. Her clothing and shoes were a sodden pile in the bathtub.

  She went back out and opened the door to the room, and starred down a very long hallway that was wide enough to be a room or a bunch of rooms. A little boy came out into the hallway.

  “Hello?” Allie called.

  The boy looked up, said something in Greek.

  Allie shook her head. “English?”

  “Yes, English,” the boy nodded. “I will tell my uncle you are awake.”

  “Wait,” Allie exclaimed. “Can I borrow some clothes?” She pointed at the boy. “Your clothes, we’re about the same size.”

  “Yes, I get,” the boy said and ran back into the room. He brought back a small stack of clothing and nodded. “I have to go back, my baby cousin is awake, and I am watching him.”

/>   “Thank you so much!” Allie said smiling and she ducked back into the room and ran to the bathroom. She jumped into the shower, and used whatever she could find to tidy herself up. She put on the boys jeans and t-shirt, skipping the y-front underwear and socks the boy had included. The jeans and shirt were a little big, but what was new about that? She was the size of a skinny twelve-year-old. She went off to find Nicholas.

  Poking her head in a lot of really large rooms, Allie finally heard voices, both male and female voices. She poked her head through the doorway and found herself in a huge dining room. All heads turned in her direction.

  Allie noticed no one but Nicholas.

  He got to his feet and came to her shaking his head and smiling. “Look at you, back to being a hoyden again!”

  “It was either this or naked,” Allie said with grin. “The boy I borrowed them from is tied up in the closet.”

  “What?” one of the women at the table gasped?

  Nicholas turned around. “She’s joking.”

  Allie laughed. “Of course, I’m joking. The boy who loaned me these is upstairs with a baby cousin who is now awake.”

  “My Damae,” one of the women said jumping to her feet. “Why do I always miss the good things?”

  “Sit down,” Nicholas ordered Alexandria. “You are going to eat and then you are going back to bed! You look exhausted.”

  “I am exhausted, but I’m still wired. I’ve had way too many cups of coffee.” Allie admitted. “You should be playing nice with me, not yelling at me. I’ve been trying to get to you for days, and I’ve been under Murphy’s Law the entire time.”

  “What is Murphy Law?” a woman down the table asked.

  “That is Olympia,” Nicholas said to Allie as he filled a plate for her.

  “Murphy’s Law states that what can go wrong, will go wrong!” Allie answered politely.

  “Eat!” Nicholas ordered. “Afterward we can go upstairs and you can start explaining, unless you want to tell everyone.”

  “Bully!” Allie said making a face at him. “I can tell everyone about the last several days but the other part is private between us. I’m a little fuzzy about what I said last night. Would you like to clue me in on what I said?”

  Nicholas sat back and crossed his arms. “You said you loved me, you said you trust me and you said you were going to marry me!”

  “Good, we have that part straight then,” Allie said leaning over and giving him a kiss and then turning her attention to her breakfast.

  “You also said you were in trouble with several airlines, TSA, and security forces at several airports. You said you have lost weight, and that you have not been eating or sleeping.”

  Allie’s head came up and her eyes flew open. “I said that?”

  “You did,” Nicholas said with a raised eyebrow.

  “I was awfully tired last night. I might have been delusional about that part. The first part was correct though!”

  “Alexandria!” Nicholas said with exaggerated patience. “You have been here five minutes and my patience is already expended. Will you explain or do you want a trip across my knee!”

  “Honestly,” Allie exclaimed in a huff. “Are all Greek men so overbearing?”

  “Oh, I will take that one,” a woman across the table said waving her fingers. “I am Eulalio, Dimity’s wife, and the answer is yes. At least in this family they are.”

  Allie turned her eyes to Nicholas. “I left Los Angeles on October 19th, which should have given me plenty of time to get to the island by the October 24th. I had a flight plan booked from Los Angeles, to New York to Athens. It was supposed to be very straightforward. My flight from LAX to LaGuardia was rerouted to Atlanta, Georgia, and I was told that my luggage would be waiting for me in New York. Does that really make sense? If they can get my luggage to New York in one non-stop flight, why couldn’t they get me there? From Atlanta, my connection went to Naples, Florida where I was told the next available seat I could get to New York would be in seven hours. I took that flight but it was it rerouted to Des Moines, Iowa.”

  “Alexandria!” Nicholas moaned.

  “I’m not kidding, Nicholas. Every time I board a flight to New York, I was rerouted. It was a really bad day for flight schedules. I wound up in Des Moines and I had to spend the night and the next morning I took the next flight out and it landed back in Atlanta!” So, twenty-four hours after I started, I was almost back where I started.”

  Nicholas was leaning his head against his hand and rubbing his forehead.

  “I was stuck in Atlanta for another five hours. Finally, I got on a plane to New York. We land and my luggage is missing! So, from New York, I’m supposed to have a direct flight to Athens only now they can’t guarantee me a seat because I didn’t show up for my assigned flight. At that point, Nicholas, I will admit I might have gone off a bit. There was swearing and threats. A person can only take so much.”

  Nicholas now had his head in both hands rubbing his forehead.

  “I got on a plane to Athens but they made me sit next to this really big guy who wouldn’t talk to me at all and sat with his arms crossed the entire flight. I think he might have been an air marshal. That’s a really long flight, and I got airsick, which he didn’t appreciate. I finally arrived at Athens and I got on a bus to Valencia. I took the ferry to the island but you weren’t there! And, then that awful housekeeper wouldn’t let me stay the night.”

  “What?” Nicholas interrupted sharply.

  “Oh, its okay, I spent the night on your boat. The next morning, I asked around the village, and found out that you’d come here. So, I headed here to Nafplion. Your family is well known so I didn’t have any trouble finding the house. The taxi driver left me off down at the other end of the street and pointed so I walked until that really big wave knocked me down. So that’s how I got here. I still don’t have any idea where my luggage went or how to get it back.”

  Nicholas laid his head down on the table and started to bang it. His brothers and his sister-in-laws were laughing and smiling.

  “Are you through?” Nicholas asked.

  Allie nodded. “Yes, and I’m sorry I was late. There is a reason I don’t travel abroad very often.”

  “I believe that is because they are probably trying to pass an international law to prevent you from traveling,” Nicholas said. “Say good-bye. You are going back to bed where you will remain until I determine you are fit and rested enough to make sense. I will try to locate your luggage and you still haven’t explained the problems with the airlines and the security people.” He bent over and hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her out of the room and up the stairs.

  * * * * *

  “Nicholas,” Hélène slid into the seat beside her son and put her hand on his arm. “When am I going to meet this woman, or girl, that you have brought into our home?”

  Nicholas nodded at the maid when she delivered a breakfast tray and set it beside his place at the table. “Thank you, Casta.”

  “You are welcome, sir,” the maid nodded.

  “Soon, Mitera, she is recovering from her ordeal of traveling.”

  “Why are you keeping her hidden in your room? It is most inappropriate,” Hélène exclaimed. “What I saw was a half drowned waif! Heracles says she is a little mouse of a girl. Basha says she is engagingly funny, but hyperactive. Eulalio and Olympia say she is adorable and perfect for you. Why am I the only one who has not met her?”

  “Because she is resting, Mitera, and I am not allowing her up until I determine that she has recovered enough strength.” Nicholas reported.

  “She is allowing this?” Hélène demanded.

  “A locked door and not having any clothing to wear is assuring her compliance,” Nicholas said with a teasing grin. “She has been known to escape, so if you see a naked waif running around the house, please call me.”

  “Nicholas!” Hélène exclaimed with disapproval.

  Nicholas lifted the breakfast tray and left the room.


  “Adras, you must do something about your son!” Hélène implored.

  “What would you have me do,” Adras asked calmly seeming to be amused. “Nicholas is a grown man. Galen says he is in love with this girl.”

  “What if she is not suitable?” Hélène demanded.

  “That is not for us to decide, Hélène, and you are not to interfere. Have you ever seen that look of love in our son’s eyes before? We have seen interest, lust occasionally, but mostly what we have seen was indifference. Nicholas has been bored and jaded for years. Now, he is alive in a way we have not seen in a very long time. Let him be, if nothing else, his sense of humor has returned.”

  Allie was awake when bedroom door was unlocked and Nicholas came in carrying a tray.

  “Have I been abducted again? You’re keeping the doors locked again!”

  “It seemed the safest of my options,” Nicholas said placing the tray on a side table. He had a small shopping bag in his hand and he went over to the bed and tossed it on nightstand. He picked up a remote, flicked a button and music began playing. Taking Alexandria’s face in his hands, he searched her eyes. “You are mine. You will never leave me again, kardia mou. My heart was broken.” He began to show her how much he’d missed her and that she was his woman. It was his personal process that he’d been perfecting all week. She was his.

  Allie, stretched back into Nicholas arms, and he pulled her closer. She was his, but their recent lovemaking had taken her deeper into his possession. Over the last several days, Nicholas had been gentle, sometimes and intense, obsessive at others. He had taken her over and over, as if he couldn’t control his lust, couldn’t control his hunger, and she reveled in the taking.

  “You are mine, Alexandria,” Nicholas said softly in her ear.

  “As you are mine,” she responded pushing him on his back.

  Nicholas eyes opened and then half closed again as she opened to him and lowered herself on him and this time she was in control, as she kissed, and nipped and rode him viciously without mercy until she took him.

  Hours later, she woke up and slid out of the bed, and headed to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and wasn’t surprised when Nicholas stepped in behind her. He turned her and lifted her to straddle him and she hooked her legs around his back, as he anchored her against the tiles and plunged in, greedily taking what she offered.