Chapter Nine

Because of this woman and the way she spoke to her man, and about her as if she was a child, or invisible or just didn’t matter, because she didn’t even raise an eyebrow at Ronnie’s obvious naked predicament even though she did indeed glance her way, and for a number of other reasons, Ronnie fumed. All the signs pointed to the fact that what she saw was commonplace. But if that was so, just how many times had Theo kidnapped other women and told them lies about being their protector? Ronnie felt used and dirty, displayed disrespectfully like a piece of cut-price meat in a butcher’s shop. But worst of all, she had to watch them and their sordid reunion.

‘About time,’ Artemis said.

‘Excuse me?’ Theo responded, bemused, pushing against her back so her large breasts were squashed against the wall, his hard cock pressed into her bottom through her trousers.

‘The last day you saw me exactly twenty-two years and three months ago?’ said the woman, angrily.

Ronnie’s grey eyes widened. That’s my age. But she looks younger than me!

He grabbed her ponytail, wrapped her hair around his hand and pulled her head back. ‘Artemis, I didn’t know they were going to choose me for this damn mission,’ he panted in her ear.

Oh, so I’m a damn mission now, am I? Unbelievable! How quickly he changes his tune for this Artemis bitch!

His free hand grabbed the thin white material of her blouse and tugged it open. Ronnie heard it rip and buttons ping to the floor.

‘Couldn’t you have at least got in contact with me?’ Artemis whined.

‘And break the rules?’

‘Since when have you, one of The Learned, been afraid of breaking the rules? Are you forgetting Mr Rocket and how you left me? In all my days I shall never forget...’

Ronnie watched the couple together, feeling decidedly left out as their banter continued. Okay, so what? They had a history. But to be so intimate in front of her as if she wasn’t even in the room riled her, especially as she and Theo were already in the middle of something when the woman rudely interrupted. The pit of her stomach felt hollow. Am I jealous? Maybe this is how they do things here. But dammit, I had him first!

‘Artemis, I think you’re forgetting to whom you are speaking. Now, get on with your report and then let’s get things moving. I’ve a Tartarus lot of catching up to do now I’m back.’

With no buttons left attached the woman’s tattered blouse hung open, a white bra on view. ‘Right, sir,’ she looked over at Ronnie and gave her the once over, and turned back to Theo, who immediately shoved his hand down her bra and squeezed a full breast.

‘I take it you’ve debriefed her, and not just removed her briefs?’ she said with a smirk in Ronnie’s direction.

What a cow! Ronnie gasped inwardly. She’s winding him up on purpose!

‘Right, that’s enough, young lady,’ he said, taking a step back, placing his hands on his hips, legs apart. ‘I don’t care how long it’s been, you cannot speak to your Learned in that fashion, nor can you just waltz in here without knocking. Now, undo your trousers and bend over. And from now on, unless you’re out in the field you will wear a skirt in my presence.’

‘Actually, I did knock,’ the woman retorted airily, while she unbuttoned her trousers and smoothed them down silky thighs as if he’d just asked her to do nothing more banal than roll up her shirtsleeves ready for a jab.

‘I meant at the barrack door at the front, not the door to my bedroom,’ he said sternly.

‘Did that too,’ Artemis insisted, still facing the wall.

Theo grabbed a hip with one hand and pushed her head toward the floor. Her bottom stuck up in the air, the wall supporting her as he readied himself.

‘So what is the current situation?’ he prompted.

‘Well, I’m here with her papers to sign, which I need to get back to head office tonight. You also need to sign for the equipment I’ve left in the assembly hall,’ she prattled on, hardly taking a breath. ‘I was supposed to be going out tonight. Fat chance of that now. As usual our beloved High Council has unexpectedly moved things up a notch,’ she said excitedly. ‘Our green light just turned amber. We’ve had some readings on the ART... oh, that’s a new piece of technology Samilious has come up with during your absence; the Anomaly Reading Tracker? A, R, T? Kind of coolly named after me. Anyway, the movement is only small, but it means things are moving in the right direction, dude. It might only be a matter of hours before we see the red alert,’ she said dramatically.

My papers to sign? The High Council?

‘Theo? Are you listening to me?’

Although he didn’t appear to be listening, Theo undid his trousers and delved into his pants to pull out what Ronnie could only describe as the chunkiest penis she had ever seen. Admittedly, she thought to herself, she didn’t know how many she’d come across before - that was something else she couldn’t remember. Nevertheless, what she watched slip into that girl’s bottom hole was definitely not of a normal sized. Subconsciously she licked her lips at the sight.

‘You’ve not stopped talking since you walked in,’ Theo grumbled. ‘Maybe this will silence you.’

‘Just reporting in as I’m told - ’ she grunted as he thrust hard into her rear passage.

No easing it in or taking his care, Ronnie noted.

Artemis glanced over at her with a crafty smirk on her face. ‘Oh, Theo!’ she gasped, with a mock cry, her body jerking each time he drove into her. Rough, deep thrusts that threatened to send Artemis sprawling, but for the tight grip he had around her ponytail.

What the hell was going on here? Who is this rude woman? And why can’t Theo keep his hands off her? Ronnie seethed. He’s my protector, not hers.

Even though she was angry her heart pounded at the sight of them together, and she wished she could be where Artemis was right now.

After they’d finished Theo sent Artemis off to borrow a top from someone called Hestia. While she was away he untied Ronnie. He gave her a pair of new-looking white fluffy bed-socks, knickers and an old-fashioned, prickly nightie to wear, which looked like something out of the dark ages, and smelt like it too, but happy to be covered up once more Ronnie put them on anyway. Had this frumpish outfit been picked out by that woman to demean her further? Ronnie pursed her lips; even a sack would have given her more shape. But on the plus side Theo kept his top off like he always seemed to prefer, so she could admire his olive-skinned, muscled torso.

When Artemis returned she carried a stack of paper, some scrolls and ink pens. She dumped them on the floor and turned to look at Ronnie, purposely giving a long hard look at what Theo had made her wear. Unlike Ronnie Artemis liked what she saw, and grinned.

Someone rapped against the door.

‘Enter,’ Theo ordered. ‘Oh, hello Hermes, what can I do for you? We’re rather busy right now. This is my new Child of Destiny. Hermes the Messenger, meet Ronnie. Ronnie, Hermes.’

Hermes stood in the doorway wearing a tan suede outfit, and cloak with a matching flat cap. He smiled, tipped the peak of his cap, and nodded politely at the new female before him, looking away quickly before Ronnie had time to respond.

‘I’m sorry for the interruption, sir, but this is rather a delicate matter and does need your urgent assistance, if you wouldn’t mind. It shouldn’t take long at all.’ He turned back to Ronnie. ‘Excuse me, milady. I’ll bring him back as soon as this pressing detail has been cleared up.’

‘Of course,’ Ronnie smiled. ‘And nice to meet you,’ she called out as the man with the flat cap marched hurriedly out, followed by Theo, which left her alone with Artemis.

‘Now, I don’t know how much Theo has told you, so we’re both going to go through this with you as quickly as possible. While we talk I’ll be handing over various bits and pieces which require your signature. You can either spend time and read everything before you sign and delay this mission, or you can choose to sign them first, then take them away to read at your leisure. The choice is yours but I urge you to take into consideration the importance of this mission and the lack of valuable time we all have. Here’s a few to be getting on with,’ she added, passing Ronnie a stack of papers with crosses on them and an old-fashioned quill pen. ‘Sign here, here, here and here,’ she pointed. ‘You get the idea.’

Confused at so much information being thrown at her all at once, and still trying to deal with everything she’d just witnessed, Ronnie took the pen and started signing. It all felt so surreal anyway, how important could it be?

‘But if there is something I really don’t agree with we can discuss it, yes?’ she asked, as doubt crept in.

Artemis sucked in a breath. ‘Tricky one. You don’t really have much choice either way. Whatever happens you are a Child of Destiny, and you are here for a reason. That cannot be changed. I’m just offering you the nicest option first.’

‘And what is my other option?’

Artemis grinned. ‘We force you to sign the papers required, and prepare you for the mission in other, less enjoyable, and shall we say, more frighteningly cruel ways which guarantee your acceptance. Of course that is also the much more painful option for all concerned. In more ways than one.’ For a moment neither of them said a thing, and just stared daggers at each other. Although it was clear Artemis didn’t like Ronnie and the feeling was mutual, Ronnie could not help but wonder why. If this carried on she was going to ask her, but then, she wouldn’t be staying for any length of time, so what did it matter? Let the bitch carry on wasting her breath.

‘I wouldn’t put it quite like that,’ Theo said, walking back in, throwing Artemis a stern look of disapproval. ‘Treatment that harsh is rarely called for these days. Rest assured there’s really nothing to worry about on that front. Artemis just likes to act tough. It’s the huntress inside her.’ He grinned, but Artemis was not amused.

Rarely, thought Ronnie, didn’t mean never.

In a matter of seconds she looked away and something snapped around her neck. Artemis moved back, grinning with an unspoken ‘gotcha’ look. A black leather collar fitted tightly around Ronnie’s throat. From it hung an ‘O’ ring with an amethyst stone in the centre. Annoyed, she gave the collar what she hoped looked like a casual tug and tried to loosen it, but as with all the bizarre things happening around her lately, she wasn’t surprised when it wouldn’t budge. She looked up at Theo for help, but he just studied the collar for a few seconds, as though temporarily distracted, and then shook his head as if to dispel his thoughts.

‘Ah, yes, the Collar of Protection,’ he said, as though it were the most natural thing to say in the world. ‘With that on no one can touch you without my permission. Now, where were we? Oh yes, first let me begin at the very best place, the beginning.’ His torso glistened as he sat on the bed next to her. It was rather warm all of a sudden. The temperature in the panelled room seemed to fluctuate from warm to hot, as though the heating was up the spout.

‘There is someone you need to be very wary of, and make no bones about it, she is one person you cannot underestimate and should be high on your radar,’ Theo said in an authoritative tone. ‘The High Priestess, Pandora, is not to be trusted. The last time my brother Epimetheus and I met her we’d been assigned the official positions of World Builders for the King of the Gods, Zeus.’

Now it was Ronnie’s turn to inhale deeply. Okay, so somehow he had previously cast a spell over her where she not only believed every word he said, but allowed him to do all sorts of things to her, as if being together was so familiar to them. But this, on the other hand, was a little harder to believe. World Builders for Zeus! Still, she tried to avoid his eyes just in case he lured her into his dark fantasy world.

‘To cover up for my brother’s foolhardy and over-zealous use of gifts when populating the Earth, I became forced to conceal his tracks. Big mistake.’

‘What did you do?’ she asked, curious how he could lie about something so bizarre with such a straight face.

‘What didn’t he do,’ Artemis butted in. ‘Theus, that’s Epimetheus’ nickname, is a good for nothing - ’ Theo cleared his throat. ‘I’m just saying, dude, he’s the black sheep of the family. If anyone’s going to get you into trouble it’s him. And he did. All I can say is maybe it’s not a bad thing he’s gone AWOL. He’s probably living it up in some foreign land shacked up with a tart and as happy as - ’

‘Artemis?’

She pulled up a chair and sat down. ‘Sorry, sir, do carry on.’

‘I stole fire for humankind to encourage their growth,’ Theo continued. ‘This angered Zeus. No one stole from him. But he planned to enslave humans like beasts, not for their development into civilised people.’ He sighed. ‘I couldn’t let that happen.’

His empathic tone took Ronnie aback. But how could such a story be true? Her heart hammered against her ribs, but she indulged him. ‘I’m sure you only did what you thought right at the time.’

He shook his head. ‘I should never have interfered. In protecting my brother I put your world, and you, in danger.’

Despite such a tall story he didn’t appear to be lying. Her gut instincts told her so. And to be honest, why would he lie? Hadn’t he impressed upon her the idea of acting courageously in order to trust him?

‘After several attempts to punish me Zeus tried another tactic. He came upon the idea that if I was untouchable he could get at me through my brother, which he did. He put his plan into action by sending him a gift in the form of Pandora, a human, bestowed with special powers and a box to hold them all in. The Magic Box of Destiny. The cause of all my strife.’

‘He begged his brother to be wary and not accept anything from Zeus, but Pandora was created to seduce,’ Artemis chipped in. ‘Irresistible in every way.’

‘We were doomed from the start,’ Theo stated ruefully.

Ronnie blinked, not sure what to say or how to console him. His steady gaze made it impossible for her to look away. She hoped he wasn’t bewitching her again with his charms. This was a time for answers. To get to grips with what was really going on.

‘At first, when nothing happened, I wondered if I had read too much into our relationship with Zeus, and that maybe I had wrongly mistaken his generosity for the curse I originally expected. I would not have worried about my brother at all if it had not been for the fact that I could not shake that bad feeling whenever I thought of who actually gave my brother this marvellous, quite amazing gift.’

‘A dude who tried to punish you in many ways, and was running out of ideas,’ Artemis chipped in again.

Prometheus nodded. ‘It didn’t take long for Pandora to make her move, and she moved in with us. Hours changed into days. Days into weeks. Every second Theus and Pandora spent together their love for each other grew stronger. He became a changed man. Happy. Contented. They even married.’

‘He married a witch?’ The words slipped out of Ronnie’s mouth before she fully thought them through, and despite the seriousness of the situation she almost laughed when she heard herself say them aloud.

‘He didn’t know at that stage,’ he said through gritted teeth. ‘Neither of us did. Heavens above! For a while their lives together seemed perfect. There was even talk of children. He loved her that much! There was nothing Theus would not do for her. That is, except allow her to open the box lest it held something to mess up the happiness they shared together.’ Prometheus sighed and held his head in his hands.

Ronnie reached out and cautiously stroked the back of his neck in an effort to soothe him. He didn’t tell her to stop. He looked up, their eyes met. She sensed his sadness, his anguish, but most of all his frustration. How could that be? I don’t even know this man, yet he always seems so familiar to me.

‘It was only a matter of time before Pandora’s true self showed, but filled with an evil sent by Zeus, and with time on her side, her true character remained hidden. She lulled us both into a false sense of security that eventually got the better of us.’

‘What happened?’

‘One day, despite our warnings, Pandora’s curiosity overwhelmed her. A curiosity so strong it overcame her natural fear of what might be inside, so when her husband was out she opened the Magic Box imagining eternal riches, glittering jewels and garments of silk woven with gold thread. How wrong she was, and we’ve been fighting her, her minions, and the evils that escaped the box ever since. Which brings me back to you, my child, and why you are here.’

Ronnie gulped. Not sure she wanted to know.

‘There is no easy way to say this,’ Theus went on regardless. ‘Amidst every battalion of troubles there is always Hope. Many years ago when the Box first opened Hope, the one good spirit, flew free and in her search for a host found a woman named Hamira. And now, many years and hosts later, that Hope is you. Pandora will test your wits and cunning and try to destroy you, for without Hope your Earth will whither and die, making way for Chaos and Destruction - ’

‘Excuse me?’ Ronnie gawked, stopping him in mid-flow. ‘Did I hear you correctly? To test my wits and cunning...?’

‘You, girl, have the tormented soul of the Goddess of Hope within you, which makes you a Child of Destiny, a Keeper of Hope; part of an Order to protect the time portal called The Magic Box.’

‘Oh yes?’ This man was unbelievable. ‘But I’m not bloody superwoman!’

He gave her a look which instantly suppressed her need to fight him.

‘No. You have no magical abilities at all. And if I have my way you definitely won’t receive any. You are human, and that’s how I want to keep you.’

Keep me?

‘With all our magic abilities it is you that holds the greatest power.’

‘I... I do?’

He nodded. ‘As a Child of Destiny you have within you Courage, Humility, Integrity, Long Term Vision and a Dedication to your mission. Five of the greatest gifts a human can possess and that magic alone cannot penetrate. Your own powerful magic which comes from within gives you a true advantage.’

Artemis sat forward, hanging on his every word, Ronnie noticed.

‘Although many Destaurian Guards like us are born with magic abilities it is not always the be and end of all our worries. Magic has complicated properties, which can cure, protect, and even fight battles, but that comes at a cost. The spellcrafter can only dish out so much before exhaustion sets in.’

Theo let out a gentle laugh, more to himself than anyone else. ‘That’s right. It would seem that our natural magical gift has some unnatural consequences in the aftermath. Nature has a way of compensating for what she deems deviant.’

‘And what does all this make you?’

He smiled. ‘I am many things. Official historian and genealogist, a keeper of records. In addition, I’m the founding member of an elite taskforce named the Destaurian Guard, your protector, your Guardian, and the man of your dreams.’

Yeah, right. How conceited! Yet she couldn’t deny it; he was the man of her dreams, literally.

He looked at her. ‘You don’t believe me?’

‘Well, you’ve got to admit the whole thing is rather farfetched, what with witches, the beginning of time, and me being some sort of Child of Destiny.’

He got up off the bed and walked to Artemis.

Ronnie stood to get a better look.

‘The files, please.’ He nodded.

‘Oh Theo, please, the files can wait. Show her! It’s the only way,’ she urged, standing up and moving the chair to the edge of the room as if to make space.

‘Show me what?’ asked Ronnie, looking from one to the other for answers, but Theo moved to the centre of the room and turned his back to her. A sparkling, deep-blue light appeared around his body, as though she could not only see his aura, but reach out and touch it. Feel it. On his back she noticed two tiny stumps she swore were not there before. They grew in size, unfurled and fanned out in a feathery glow. Two enormous wings!

Is this really happening? Am I insane? Right now that’s a clear possibility.

Rapt with amazement, shrouded in fear and uncertainty, Ronnie shuffled backwards, only stopping when she touched the wall behind her. Pinned. Nowhere to go. With her mouth agape she stared at him, filled with terror, but also an overwhelming curiosity. The span of his wings almost touched two sides of the room, beautiful but frighteningly dark and unearthly.

The oppressive silence in the room closed in on her and she had to force herself to breathe. Her mind, a whirling blizzard of confusion, kicked her fight or flight instinct into action. Aware she was trembling Ronnie glanced from Theo to the arched doors. With his back to her Theo began to rein in his wings, so seeing her chance she ran towards the door.