I hadn’t counted on love. I never dared hope that Alexander would love me, but he did. My love was so great that I braved the Time-Senders and saved him from his death, smuggling him out of Babylon one sultry night after freezing him in the magnetic beam and killing the parasites that were in his blood.
Paul was with us now, and Plexis was here. Plexis, who had looked upon me first as an enemy, then as an ally, and finally, as a lover. My lover, who’d organized my kidnapping because he was sure I was a spy from Hades, or worse, Persephone the Terrible, the Queen of Ice and Darkness, with a frozen and empty heart.
I put another branch on the fire and my eyes followed a shower of red sparks as they leapt skywards. I thought of Plexis. It surprised him when we fell in love. We complemented each other. We were two halves in love with the same whole, Alexander.
I didn’t mind. I’d shared Alexander with his three other wives, and I knew what it was like to be in love with a legend. Plexis and I fell in love with one another, and even now I had trouble separating the two men in my mind. They were both mine, I was theirs, and we were a family. A family made up of three adults, three children, freed slaves, and Nearchus. I smiled in the darkness. The warmth of the fire was kind to my bones. I felt content here in the great woods, surrounded by the night and alone. Almost alone.
I never heard Plexis coming. He appeared in the circle of firelight and sat beside me. I reached for him and he leaned into me.
‘I’ve been thinking,’ I said. ‘About everything. Everything that happened and everything about us. And do you know what? I can’t explain any of it. It simply happened, and I was swept along as if I were a leaf in a stream. Nothing I planned happened the way I thought it would. Everything I ever knew, or thought I knew about life, death, love, and hate turned out to be wrong. Do you want to know something else? I don’t care. I really don’t care.’
‘It’s the magic of Alexander,’ he said softly. ‘I have been thinking as well, and I’ve decided that anything that’s ever happened to me was because Alexander wanted it so.’ He was quiet for a moment, then he added, ‘Except you. I wanted you for myself. And now I have you, and I can’t bear the thought of losing you.’
I was startled. ‘Why would you lose me?’
‘I don’t know. Because of the kidnapping. Because of Olympias. I know her too, and I understand what you meant. A woman who uses her son to gain power is a woman without a soul. I was her minion, wasn’t I? I followed her orders and we hurt you.’ He broke off and stared at the fire. ‘When I was dying I dreamed of her. Perhaps that is why I needed to confess, or perhaps it is simply because I wanted to cleanse my soul. You make me feel clean and new again. It’s a power you have. The ice in your gaze purifies me.’ He sighed. ‘When I stayed behind in Alexandria, I didn’t think I would miss you so much. But I did. Each day without you was sadness, each night I spent alone was emptiness.’
I said nothing; one side of my mouth quirked in a smile, but I knew he was sincere. ‘I longed to see you too. Alexander and I spoke of you often, and every time we saw something new we discussed how we were going to explain it to you.’
‘Truly?’ He grinned, pleased, then blinked and glanced back at the fire.
‘Truly.’
‘So you forgive me for causing you such pain in Arbeles?’ When he blinked, tears slid down his cheeks.
‘Of course I do.’ I sighed. Time had ways of changing everything, but one thing seemed as immutable as my atoms: the love I had for Plexis and Alexander. Two men for whom I would give my own life. When Plexis reached his hand under my tunic, I shivered with delight. Our lovemaking was slow and careful because of his arm. He lay on his back on the soft moss and his eyes were black in the firelight. There were silver streaks on his face, traces of tears, but I loved him more for them. I loved him more for his fear, and for his pride, and for the way he tipped his head back and cried out when the waves rushed over us, sweeping us along like leaves upon a fast moving stream.
We were helpless, ultimately, in the presence of love. It almost made me start believing in fate.
Chapter Four
We managed to lose the druids who herded us. Or rather, Plexis shook them off our trail. They were now in front of us. When he realized we were alone, he sat on the forest floor and shook for an hour. He had been concentrating for days, hiding our footprints, doubling back, making false leads, and making sure it looked like we were blundering after Alexander’s obvious path. The path he continued to leave for us carved into the trunks of pine trees. Plexis contrived to let the men following us pass, and now we were on our own. We were no longer being watched, and we could go where we pleased. The relief was almost sickening in its intensity.
I thought he was ill and it frightened me. Then he told me what he’d done and how he’d managed it, and I put my arms around him and laughed. We had a chance to save our companions.
‘Are you finished laughing at me?’ His voice was low.
‘Yes,’ I giggled. ‘Can you stand up?’
‘I think so.’ He chuckled softly. ‘I feel as light as the breeze. It’s the relief, isn’t it? Look at my hand, I can’t hold it still.’
He was right. I took it and held it tightly. ‘What do we do next?’
‘We have to find out where they’re being taken, and we have to see if we can help them. It’s not over yet. The druids are in front of us, but that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten us.’
‘It does mean we’re not as important to them as Alexander and Paul.’
‘That’s right. We’re not essential to their plans.’
‘What plans?’
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. ‘I think you know what they are trying to do,’ he said.
‘I know what they want, but I don’t know how they’re planning to go about it,’ I said.
‘Me neither. Rituals are different here. The druids are a strange group.’
‘Did you ever study their religion with Aristotle?’ I asked, curious.
‘I studied the Etruscans with Aristotle, not the Gauls. He only spoke of them briefly. Supposedly they believe that your soul can go into another body.’
‘Reincarnation?’ I was amazed.
‘No, not exactly. It takes a certain type of druid to remove the soul from a dying man’s body. They call that druid the ‘Thief of Souls’. Ashley! What’s the matter?’
I couldn’t speak for a while. Plexis’s words were like a punch. Finally the urge to vomit passed and I unclenched my jaw.
‘Don’t you know who is waiting for Alexander? Voltarrix, the one called the Thief of Souls. Do you know what that means?’ I asked.
‘It means we’d better hurry,’ he said laconically. But his face was pale, and when we looked at each other, the fear we felt was reflected in our eyes.
The deeper into the forest we went, the colder it became. Almost everywhere we looked, there were signs of the tribe whose lands we had entered. Plexis was good at spotting the lichen-covered carvings on rocks, the tree branches that had been cut a certain way, and the sacred springs with the ceremonial rocks nearby. We skirted these after seeing the first one up close. It was covered with dried blood, and a raven’s wing tied to a branch above it turned and twisted in the wind.
That evening we camped in the roots of a massive fallen tree. Plexis told me how to use pine boughs to make a thick mattress and a small fire kept the chill away. We were sitting on a foot-thick mattress of fragrant pine. Fragrant, prickly pine. I winced as another needle poked my thigh.
‘It could be worse,’ said Plexis, glancing up at the sky.
‘In what way?’ I asked peevishly. Cramps nagged low in my back and I knew what that meant. The thought of not having any clean clothes or clean cotton pads was depressing.
‘It could be raining,’ said Plexis, stroking my cheek, trying to coax a smile from me.
I looked up. In the brief night, a million, billion stars blazed. The tall pine trees seemed to point at them, their tips like
spires reaching towards the sky.
‘Or it could be snowing, that would be worse,’ I said.
‘We could be surrounded by hungry wolves, and have no fire to protect us,’ Plexis tossed another branch onto the greedy flames.
‘We could each be alone,’ I said. ‘That would be the worst.’
‘But we’re together.’ He smiled, but his eyes were serious.
‘I missed you so much, we all did.’
‘I know. When I discovered the druids were looking for Paul, I didn’t hesitate. I knew I had to find you quickly.’
‘What did you think of Gaul?’ I asked, curious.
‘It’s very primitive. The cities are nothing like Athens or Babylon.’
‘Give them time,’ I said. ‘The houses are very comfortable though, didn’t you think? They have to be, I suppose, seeing how rude the climate is.’
‘I didn’t waste time sightseeing,’ said Plexis. ‘I was in a hurry.’
‘I still can’t believe you came. It was so sweet.’
‘Sweet?’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘I don’t know if I’d call it “sweet”.’
‘What then?’
‘Heroic? Brave?’
‘Brave then. Heroically brave. Thank you. And you nearly died.’
‘It was close.’ His face was next to mine. I leaned over and kissed him. His lips were soft in a prickle of new beard. Since we’d been travelling through the woods, he hadn’t shaved. He looked distinctly barbarian now.
Plexis sighed against my kiss. His eyes were hooded. Lashes brushed against my cheek, and a stray curl tumbled across his forehead. His hair was tangled. I pulled him over and he lay across my lap. Using my fingers, I combed out his curls, smoothing his hair. His breathing deepened and evened out. Soon he was fast asleep. I watched him fondly. Then I carefully curled myself around him and fell asleep.
During the short night the fire burnt low and the chill woke us. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering. Plexis sat up and poked the embers into life, adding twigs until flames appeared. The fire soon warmed us and I felt my muscles relaxing. I held my hands towards the fire.
‘What time is it?’ I asked.
Plexis looked at the pale grey sky. ‘We only slept for three hours,’ he said.
‘How long before full light?’
‘Soon.’
The half-light was quiet. Dawn was minutes away.
I snuggled close to him and smiled contentedly.
‘Tell me, what happens to Athens?’ he asked.
‘Athens?’ I paused, gathering my thoughts. ‘It’s a very popular tourist spot. They’ve rebuilt a good many temples and the Acropolis is nearly intact, although it’s a copy. The first one was destroyed, and then the second one, but the third one is still there. There’s lots of graffiti on it. You’d feel right at home,’ I joked.
‘And India? Is it still there?’
‘Oh, it’s still there. It’s changed. I never went there. The world I live in is divided into two parts, East and West. They don’t communicate with each other. It happened because of a war. Entire nations perished.’
Plexis looked shocked. ‘Whole nations?’
‘Millions died in 2050 AD. You can’t imagine how awful that war was. I like it better here. Please, don’t make me talk about my time,’ I begged.
‘But I want to know; what happened after the year 2050 AD? You say that date as if it’s a curse.’
‘It was.’ I sighed. ‘It was the start of the Third World War, a war that nearly wiped out the planet. The East was pitted against the West. Africa was totally annihilated. The fighting, for some reason, took place mostly on that continent. Then there was a famine, and a virus that killed off most survivors. Ten years later there were only a few million people left. They created the “Great Divide”, and separated the world into two halves. Then they closed off communication between them. I was born three hundred years later. Three centuries of relative calm as the world rebuilt itself from the ashes. A new renaissance took place, and the West developed while the East sank into ashes, and that’s how the world is in my time.’
‘You lived in the West? Was your world prosperous?’
‘Very rich and comfortable. And shallow, and futile, and petty and contrived. Nothing matters except wealth. People don’t care what is happening to the rest of the world, and that always tormented me.’
‘What is the “Great Divide”?’ Plexis asked.
‘It’s a huge wall, surrounded by a vast no-man’s land. It’s a crime for anyone to try to approach the wall, and the Easterners haven’t been heard from since it was built.’ I shook my head. ‘In the East, shortly after the Great Divide, the women started a rebellion. It was called the “Fatima Jihad” by those reporting it. Some say the women were all killed, and that’s why the silence has lasted so long; because there are no more people left. Others say there are only clones, which have been outlawed in the West.’
‘What’s a “clone”?’
‘A copy of a person made by taking a morsel of flesh and growing a whole new person.’
Plexis swallowed nervously. ‘Ashley?’
‘Yes?’
‘You can stop talking now. I think I’m going to have nightmares for weeks. I wish I’d never asked. Isn’t there anything nice about the future?’ His voice cracked.
‘I’m sorry.’ I tipped my face to the sky and closed my eyes. ‘There is music and laughter and poems. There are still banquets and children go to school in the morning and play in the afternoon. The seas have been cleaned and fish are making a comeback. The air will be clean some day, and people are more careful about population. I think that, in a few hundred years from my time, the wall will fall. People are curious, and they will want to trade or simply talk. I hope that the lesson has been learned, and that the extremists on both sides will be pushed aside. Most people are decent, if you get to know them. They stay the same throughout the ages, loving stories and songs and beauty.’
I opened my eyes. Plexis was gazing at me. How much had he understood? Far too much, judging from his expression.
‘Did you feel it was a terrible time to live?’
‘No. I didn’t think so when I was there. Although I did feel the shallowness and the waste. It was as if Pandora’s box had been opened again and everything let out.’
‘Hope remained,’ said Plexis.
‘Hope? What is hope,’ I asked angrily. ‘There is no more compassion, no more common sense. That’s what makes me so sad.’
‘It would,’ said Plexis, cradling me with his good arm, ‘I’ve rarely seen a woman with so much compassion. Or common sense.’ He cuddled me close. ‘So don’t think about it any more. Your future is so far away that it won’t even stir the dust of my bones. We’re alive, here and now. The water is sweet, the air is pure, and there are none of those exploding weapons that frighten me so.’
I snuggled against his chest. There was something reassuring about Plexis. No matter what the situation, he still had a sense of humour. Nothing was grim enough to quench it. Nothing, I hoped. I closed my eyes, then fell asleep.
When we woke up again it was late morning. A thick mist blanketed the ground, swirling around us as we walked through it and leaving sparkling droplets of water on our cloaks. Sunlight dappled the ground. First the light was shell-pink, becoming more golden as the sun climbed higher. Around noon, the mist evaporated, and we could see everything clearly. Plexis studied the ground carefully, moving in concentric circles, looking for a clue to tell us where we were going.
‘I thought for sure we’d find something by now,’ he said, baffled. He knelt and carefully peered at a likely looking spot then sat back on his heels. ‘A fox’s track,’ he said ruefully. He slapped at his head, then scratched hard, digging his fingers into his hair. ‘Ouch! I think the lice here are far bigger than the ones in Persia, don’t you?’ he asked with a grin.
‘Plexis!’ I hissed. ‘I’m not in the mood for jokes.’ He looked crushed, so I said gently, �
�besides, that’s not lice biting you, it’s deer flies. There are swarms around here. When it warms up, we’ll be surrounded by them. And there are horseflies and mosquitoes as well.’
‘That can only mean two things,’ said Plexis, brightening.
‘What?’
‘There are big animals around, and we’re approaching a wetland.’
‘Big animals?’ I asked, glancing nervously around. What kind of big animal do you …?’
I hadn’t finished my sentence when a huge moose surged out of a thicket, crashing noisily through the underbrush. I gave a shrill scream. I’d never seen such a huge beast. It was at least three metres high. However, the moose had no interest in us. It vanished into the forest, disappearing faster than its size seemed to warrant.
‘An elephant!’ cried Plexis. ‘I just saw an elephant with black hair and horns on its head! Amazing! Alexander will never believe me when I tell him about that! ‘ He shook his head. ‘But it had no trunk. Its nose was rather long, to be sure, but it had tiny ears and slender legs. If it hadn’t been so big, I would have thought it was a deer.’
‘Actually, that was a moose,’ I said. ‘It’s the largest member of the deer family, if I remember correctly.’
Plexis was thrilled. ‘A moose,’ he said reverently. ‘Just wait until I tell Alexander. He hasn’t seen one yet, has he?’ He frowned in the direction the beast had taken. ‘For once I want to be able to amaze him.’ He dug a parchment out of his belt and made me explain a moose. I couldn’t draw, but Plexis could sketch remarkably well. After just a glimpse he had a clear image of the animal, but he made it look like a cross between an elephant and an elk. I told him to make it skinnier and to widen the antlers. When he’d finished, he had a nice drawing of a large bull moose. He was pleased. ‘A moose,’ he kept muttering to himself.
He picked mushrooms as he walked. I knew nothing about fungi, so I let him do the gathering. It was something everyone at that time did almost without thinking. If they saw something edible, they would squirrel it away in their pouch. The soldiers in Alexander’s army had done that while they marched, and Plexis had been a soldier for more than ten years. When we stopped for the evening, we built a fire and cooked the mushrooms and roots that Plexis had dug up during our march.
The Soul of Time Page 4
