Chapter Ten

Alekos of Dasaki sat on the bench and wondered how long he had been sitting there. Waiting, always waiting. That is how he often felt like defining his friendship with Rouvin. For seventeen years, he had been waiting on tree trunks, perched in window sills, or sitting on the river's shores from which their humble hamlet took its name. Rouvin was always late, and so Alekos was always waiting.

 Two moons were overhead. The purple and white moons made the night sky a lovely shade. Alekos cast his head backward, resting the crown of his head against the brick and mortar wall behind the bench. His eyes studied the stars, and he wondered if this was how he should pass his time as his hands slid into the warm confines of his topcoat's pockets. His mind drifted from one thought to another, idly hoping to spy one of the Moon Maidens surge across the sky in their Lunar Chariot. He scoffed and dismissed that thought from his mind instead of letting his teenage mind go to where it defaulted with ease.

 The memory of Nitsa standing outside of the bathhouse two days ago, hair still damp, crossed his mind and brought a boyish grin to his face. Not long after that, his imagination had undressed her and cast her lit by candlelight. They were in the shrine of Aphrodite. She was sprawled out on the altar, which had been obscured under her discarded clothing. He joined her atop the altar and began to worship her body under the lascivious grin of the goddess' statue hewn from marble.

 "What's going on here?" Rouvin asked, sliding onto the bench and clenching Alekos' thigh a little too tightly for Alekos' liking, causing Alekos to snap out of his daydream and double over to shield his body from further probing.

 "About time you arrived," Alekos replied with a sneer, shaking his head. "I have been here forever."

 Rouvin chuckled as he smacked and chewed on extensive sampling of psiloroot. "Do not nag."

 Alekos scoffed. "I am not nagging. I am just bored."

 Rouvin winked and hopped to his feet. "Let us remedy that, then. Yeah?"

 "Yes," said Alekos, agreeing as he stood up, returning his hands to his pockets. "So what was this big surprise that dragged me out into the night air when I should by all logic be in bed asleep?"

 Rouvin scoffed as he began to stroll down the sloped steps on the side of the sloping wide city street. "You can dream of Nitsa any night. Only tonight can we do something that will change the rest of our lives."

 Alekos mumbled and rolled his eyes. "You say that so often. I cannot recall how many times your promises of such had been shattered and scattered to the winds of time."

 Rouvin did have a knack for promising the world and spectacles beyond belief, but only delivering bruises, loss of fortune and time, and trouble. Lots of trouble. But Alekos had to admit that they had fun, and for every three or four times they would strike out for adventure, they would usually get lucky at least once.

 "This is different," said Rouvin, the shorter of the two Corinthian boys. "This is a certainty," he expressed with added emphasis.

 Unconvinced but still following Rouvin's lead, Alekos smiled as he rolled his eyes.

 Rouvin was of Knossosi heritage, with wheat-colored hair and tanned skin. He still had some of the pudges of youth on him, but he made it work somehow, judging by how many times he would be the one of their duo to score with the targets of their flirtatious pursuits.

 Alekos was tall and lanky. He had pale skin and stark white hair—natural Corinthian features. He did not color his hair as was the style for most Corinthians, instead preferring to wear a wool cap pulled down over most of his unkempt hair. Both boys dressed in typical simple attire of gray loose knickers and sandals with topcoats and no shirt or just a loose, thin tunic.

 "Besides," Rouvin said, nudging his friend as they turned down a small corridor, "Nitsa will be there."

 Alekos scoffed and smirked. "I bet," he said sarcastically, shaking his head.

 "I'm serious," Rouvin replied with a wide smirk. "I overheard her talking to Pasi about it. It is where I heard about this in the first place."

 Slumping his shoulders, Alekos sighed. "Pasi?! Count me out if that freak is going to be here, wherever here is exactly," he said but kept walking forward.

 Pasi was a girl their age. Like Nitsa and their other friends, Pasi was a native of Aegira, the city Rouvin and Alekos had traveled to in pursuit of their apprenticeships. But unlike the rest of their friends, Pasi was not tolerant of Rouvin and Alekos' smalltown quirks. Instead, she would often ridicule them for being behind the trends and unfamiliar with the city's way of life. Admittedly she was warming up to Rouvin, but Alekos had not acclimated as quickly as Rouvin and still suffered from her constant pestering of him.

 "Fool," Rouvin said with a friendly tone, "don't fret it. Stay with me and all will work itself out."

 Alekos would never have Rouvin's confidence, but he gave Rouvin his friendship and trust. Rolling his eyes, Alekos went against his better judgment as he often did and agreed with a nod.

 Rouvin let out a joyous chuckle, and the two picked up their pace, closing the distance to their destination with greater haste. When they rounded the mouth of an alleyway, they saw a small crowd gathered, slowly filtering through a narrow doorway, made only more narrow by a stocky doorman.

 The boys sidled in at the rear and worked closer to the entry. The doorman seemed to be letting in those he recognized, so he barred their entry with his giant arm, and once everyone had filtered in, his inquisitive eyes met their gaze.

 Alekos let out a soft chuckle while Rouvin smiled sheepishly.

 "Who are you two meant to be?" asked the doorman, hinting at an Argosi accent to his voice despite his rather Corinthian-styled appearance.

 "I'm Alekos of Dasaki," said the taller boy.

 "I'm Rouvin of Dasaki," added his friend.

 The Argosi doorman chuckled. "You don't look like brothers."

 "We're not nobles from a common house. Dasaki is our hometown. We are both from the same town," added Alekos with a nervous chuckle. He winced a moment later, realizing the doorman was playing with him as a faint smile creased his lips.

 "No jesting?" asked the doorman, again chuckling. "You look like a right and proper bunch of city folk."

 Rouvin's smile faded, but he still attempted a chuckle. Unfortunately, it was a bad attempt.

 Alekos sighed. "Are you going to let us in or what?"

 "What," said the doorman with a fat grin and meaty arms folded across his chest.

 "Figures," said Alekos with a sigh and shrug.

 "Whoa, hold your shoes in place," Rouvin said, grabbing his lanky friend by the collar and holding him in place. Once Alekos consented with a nod, Rouvin released him and took a bold step toward the large man. "We're friends with Nitsa."

 Alekos' eyes shot open upon hearing this. Yes, they were friends, but they were not close friends. Alekos was not sure he had ever had a one-on-one conversation with her that lasted more than a minute and discussed something other than the weather. Fair to say that Alekos was not comfortable dragging her name into this encounter. He reached forward and caught Rouvin by the shoulder, intent on pulling him backward and insisting they leave. However, to Alekos' amazement, the doorman gave the nod and stepped aside.

 "Why didn't you say so?" he asked with a hearty chuckle as he ushered the boys in.

 Inside the building was an ornately furnished parlor, ordained with art and brilliant lighting. As the Argosi locked the door behind them, the boys ventured further in. Alekos was careful to keep his jaw up, and his mouth closed so he would not draw more attention than he should by his simple attire alone.

 The room's occupants seemed uninterested in the youths' arrival, most caught in their own conversations or disappearing into side rooms in well-ordered lines. Then, finally, Nitsa appeared, stepping out of one line, losing her place in line to scamper to the boys, giggling as she clenched each in a welcoming embrace.

 Naturally, Rouvin shot Alekos a smartass grin as Nitsa pressed herself against Rouvin. Nitsa had an exotic look about her. She was part Delphian and part Athenian, giving her a moon-shaped face, narrow eyes, a freckled face, and brown hair the color of mud. She was attractive to most, but to Alekos, she was the loveliest thing he had ever laid eyes on. Alekos, in private thought, often pondered if his attraction to her bordered on blasphemy as he briefly recalled seeing a fleeting glimpse of Aphrodite at a festival in his youth and felt that Nitsa was the more exquisite specimen.

 Letting out a long sigh, Nitsa drew back from the boys and let her eyes feast on them. "I was not expecting to see either of you here," she said with a jovial bounce that made Alekos lose perspective as he let himself be drawn into her partially exposed breasts.

 Like many Corinthians, Nitsa dressed provocatively. She had some strategically placed pieces of brightly colored fabric over her breasts' most intimate areas and held in place with strings tied behind her back and neck. She wore a leather jacket that mostly only covered her shoulders and shoulder blades. She then wore leather shorts and a brightly colored silk sash for a splash of color.

 Alekos chuckled as he became self-aware enough to lift his gaze and offer a nod. "Yeah, well, we wouldn't miss this for the stars in the sky," he said, hiding his bald-faced lie with a snicker and smirk.

 Easing Alekos' bad attempt at deception, Rouvin backed him up with some quick mutterings that Alekos could not really hear over the sudden sharp blare of some fancy city-made musical instruments, whose musicians had been tucked around in a special little alcove to the side of the room. As the conversations fell quiet and the instruments faded to a still silence, Alekos felt an unease fill the parlor. Then he realized that he, Nitsa, and Rouvin were standing in the deep center of the space.

 "Comrades!" declared a voice that felt disembodied, coming from multiple directions at once.

 Nitsa and the rest of them lowered their heads solemnly and then uttered a single word in sheer reverence. "Master," they declared in near unison.

 Rouvin shot Alekos a look, and Alekos returned it with wide-open eyes and a shuddering squirm of his entire body. "What is this?" he hoarsely whispered as he grabbed Rouvin by the shoulder of his coat and pulled him in close. "What did you get us into now?"

 Rouvin replied in a whisper. "Worst case, it's one of the secret orgy cults that all the city folk rave about?" he asked with an elated tone, earning him a slight shove as Alekos dismissed him in favor of lowering his head like the rest of the room, hoping to feign his way out of here. "You know, the Eleusinian Order?"

 Then the instruments started up again; this time in a different register and not just horns blaring, but now there were drums and strings, with the horns bellowing low beats. When the brief melody reached its crescendo, a well-dressed man and woman appeared at the top of a magnificent staircase at the far end of the room. As they descended, eyes slowly began to rise to watch them. Not sure if there was an order to this, Alekos waited for Nitsa to lift her head before he followed suit and nudged Rouvin to do the same.

 The couple was both Theban in appearance and dress. Alekos felt like he could taste silver in the air of his breath just by looking at them. Holding hands, the pair stopped just shy of the bottom, pausing on the third or fourth step from the bottom. After a lingering pause, the man released his hand from the woman's and threw his one arm out in a welcoming gesture, the other arm occupied holding a small hound. "Comrades!" he said in a voice that sounded nothing like the last one.

 Rouvin seemed poised to speak, and Alekos shot him a look and a slight signal to remain quiet, nudging him gently as he mouthed 'silence' to his friend. He then motioned his head toward Nitsa, hoping that Rouvin would catch his meaning to follow her lead.

 After waiting a moment longer, for when all the heads were raised once more, the man glanced at the woman at his side. She did not return the favor, looking off to the side and sipping a blue wine. In truth, she looked as though she was immensely bored. The man gave her a long, awkward moment to see if she would look in his direction. When she did not, he sighed and turned the dog over to her to hold in her free hand as he faced forward and finished his stroll down the stairs, leaving the woman on the stairs.

 The man moved into the crowd and began to mingle, embracing people with a peculiar grasp and then pulling them in and whispering in their ears. One by one, he moved through the crowd doing this, and with each one, he would not release his grasp until they pulled him back in and whispered a reply in their ear. As he finished this ritual with someone, that person would break off and embrace two more in this same manner, creating an exponential effect.

 "What is this about?" Rouvin whispered toward Alekos, which was repaid with a firm nudge on his side from Alekos. "What?"

 Nitsa looked back at the two of them with a look that was part confusion and part disappointment. Then as she turned back around, there was that well-dressed Theban man ready to greet her. He grabbed her right arm with his right arm, gripping just short of the elbow. As he leaned in to whisper, Alekos tried to eavesdrop, but when the man saw Alekos looking in his direction, he glared at the young man, prompting Alekos to avert his eyes and take a frightened step back.

 After the exchange, Nitsa and the man removed themselves from one another, looked into each other's eyes, and then re-engaged, this time with Nitsa going in to whisper into the man's ear. When they broke apartment a second time, they locked eyes once more, and the man gave a firm nod of approval.

 Nitsa turned around at that moment and approached Alekos. Before Alekos had time to think about it, their arms locked, and she had pulled him down to her level. Her lips brushed against his ear as she whispered. "I give you my passion, my heart, my soul. What will you do for me?"

 Hearing this, Alekos was not sure if this were a confession of love or some password prompt. He gulped as he opened his eyes and saw the Theban staring at him with interest as Alekos and Nitsa parted. Averting his eyes from the Theban, Alekos looked back to Nitsa. He could not help but smile as he looked into her heavenly gray eyes. He felt that he had a sudden surge of every emotion at that moment, and then she clenched his arm again.

 Alekos leaned in. He took a fleeting glance at the Theban's inquisitive expression and closed his eyes. He let out a long breath and confessed to Nitsa. "I think we made a mistake coming here. Please… Nitsa. Please… Don't tell anyone."

 As they parted to lock gazes once more, Alekos felt his left eye water as his right knee buckled and trembled. Nitsa's expression was utter confusion. Though this moment was an instant, it felt like an eternity on needles and broken glass. But finally, she gave her nod and put Alekos at ease.

 Satisfied, the Theban then turned to approach a very confused Rouvin. Alekos' eyes went wide, and Nitsa stepped in to quickly clasp Rouvin's arm, bumping into the Theban's side as she did so. Immediately she broke off from Rouvin and let out a chain of whispered apologies.

 "No, please, proceed young one…" the Theban said quietly, leaving Rouvin to Nitsa as he strolled away to find others to verify.

 As Nitsa put Rouvin through the same ritual, Alekos questioned how convincing his performance was. As they finished, Nitsa glanced around the room, grabbed the boys by their elbows, and withdrew into a small curtained alcove with a cushioned bench and dim lighting. With a firm motion, she slung the boys to the bench, placed her fists on her hips, and glared down at them.

 "Do you realize what I just did?" she asked with a fierce whisper.

 Rouvin shook his head vigorously while Alekos just gave a sad smile, trying not to think of how attractive she was when she was angry.

 She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I just put my life on the line for you, too. I vouched for you."

 "Vouched?" asked Rouvin.

 She nodded emphatically. "Yes. Vassilios saw me perform the rite of clearance with both of you."

 "And that means what exactly?" Rouvin asked with a confused, shifting glance.

 "You're part of the Corinthian House of Reformation," she replied to him with a sneer.

 "That does not sound so bad," Rouvin said with a shrug. "What are we reforming?"

 Alekos' hand slapped his face as it finally clicked in his head.

 "What?" replied a now concerned Rouvin.

 Looking at his friend, Alekos let out a long and tortured sigh. "The Corinthian House of Reformation is a radical political movement that was part of the Delian Uprising like a hundred and some odd years ago."

 "Wait, the Delian Uprising?" asked Rouvin, his mind slowly making the connections. "That was a heretical movement, was it not?"

 "We do not care for that term," Nitsa said, folding her arms and glaring.

 Alekos leaned back and slowly began tapping the back of his capped head against the wood paneling of the wall behind him. "We're dead. We're so dead. We are so dead."

 Rouvin was still confused. "What is the big deal? What am I not seeing here? So we joined a radical political movement? So what?!"

 "If the templars discover your involvement, you will be executed," Nitsa said.

 Rouvin shrugged. "What if I confess and ask for forgiveness?"

 Nitsa shrugged. "Best case?"

 Rouvin nodded emphatically.

 "Public castration," Nitsa said bluntly.

 Rouvin clutched himself and squirmed on the bench.

 Alekos ignored his friend as best he could. He locked eyes with Nitsa. "If we tell Vassilios—that was his name, right? If we tell him this was a misunderstanding and promise to never speak a word of this to anyone, what will happen then?"

 Glaring at Alekos, Nitsa shook her head. "Do not do that. Not only will you two have your hearts cut from your chest while you're alive, but I will be as well for having cleared and vouched for you both."

 Rouvin stood up and nodded. "Well there is only thing for us to do then, Alekos. We must run out of here as fast as we can and alert the templars and hope they kill every last one of these heretics before-"

 Alekos had shot from his seat and slapped his hand over Rouvin's mouth, and slammed him back down to the bench without mercy. Then, clenching his teeth and with nostrils flared, Alekos locked his gaze with Rouvin's. "Nitsa put her life on the line for you, you ass! Think about someone else for once in your life!"

 The look in Rouvin's eyes was venomous. Alekos shook his head as his free hand turned to a threatening fist. Nitsa let out a long sigh. "Please… Do not do this. You are friends!"

 Alekos shoved his hand harder against Rouvin's jaw with a scoff and then pulled back and disengaged, taking a step backward and dropping to the curved bench with an agitated groan. He locked eyes with Rouvin and slowly shook his head. "Rouvin, you got us into this mess. The least you can do, for once in your life, is see your way through it."

 Slowly, Rouvin sat up, letting out a long moan. "I am sorry. It is not like I woke up and said 'Hey, I know! Today I'm going to damn my soul to a thousand years of punishment in Hades' dungeon. Oh, and you know will be extra fun? Screwing over Alekos, too!'"

 Alekos groaned and glared.

 With a wry scoff, Rouvin shook his head. "I am sorry, friend. I was wrong. Is that what you want to hear? I… I made a mistake. Does that please you? Does that make you feel better? I was wrong! I overheard a fraction of a conversation and made a wrong assumption. I thought we were going to be sneaking into one of those Eleusinian parties or an orgy or-"

 Scoffing, Nitsa shook her head. "Is that why you came here? To get laid?" Rouvin immediately scoffed and nodded, which prompted Nitsa to shift her gaze to Alekos. "And you?"

 Alekos shrugged. "I just sort of tagged along," he admitted but leaving it at that felt disingenuous, and he hated the taste of that on his tongue, so he elaborated. "Rouvin mentioned you would be here. I was already on my way with him and probably would have come anyway but when I heard you were here, I decided that I did want to be here."

 Nitsa smiled. She stepped forward and swung about, dropping herself on the bench next to Alekos. She flashed a grin and then bit her lower lip.

 "Uh…" said Rouvin before he decided to stand and point at the curtain. "I'll give you two a moment," he said and disappeared.

 "I should probably-" Alekos began but was stopped as Nitsa placed a single finger on the rim of his ear. "What are you-?"

 "Are you going to stay?" she asked with bated breath.

 Alekos did not know how to respond to that. He had never been very devout, but he was not comfortable abandoning the Faith. Still, he could not help but wonder if there was any more pure religion than worshiping the one you loved. "I do not know," he said candidly.

 She nodded and let out a sigh. "The rite of clearance," she began to say, her eyes on the floor, "it is just about being entirely open and honest with each other. The idea is that we lie to ourselves and to each other so often by hiding our lifestyle and embracing these false gods that we need to cleanse ourselves with pure honesty before we commence with our gathering."

 Alekos offered a soft smile. "I… I will be honest, Nitsa," he started to say, pausing to wait for her eyes to return to him. "I like that. That is a really special tradition."

 She gave a light chuckle. "I tell you that because if you're going to stay, I need to give you a proper initiation," she said, smiling.

 "Oh?"

 She nodded. "I asked you a question and while you did reply with honesty that I feel was genuine, you evaded my inquiry. So, I think I need to give you one more chance," she said, grabbing the cap from his head and exposing his unkempt hair. She then leaned forward, ran her hand through his platinum blonde hair, and smiled.

 He chuckled nervously. "What was the question again?"

 She giggled as she stood up and then straddled his lap, placing her lips on his ear as his nose touched her collarbone. "I give you my passion, my heart, my soul. What will you do for me?" she whispered.

 Smiling ear to ear, Alekos realized that the passcode was nothing set in stone or anything rote. Nitsa had been teasing him earlier, and that thought excited him, causing him to swell below the belt, making Nitsa take notice and offer a gentle giggle.

 "I guess that's my answer?" she asked before biting her lip.

 Alekos shook his head. "No… Sorry… Uh… That's too crude. You deserve something better," he said, stumbling about in his head. "If you gave me those things, you deserve my undying love. You…" he stopped as he felt an epiphany. "You deserve someone who respects and cherishes you, Nitsa. You deserve someone who will defy the heavens itself to prove to you that they are worthy of your passion, your heart, and your soul. You… you deserve-"

 "Alekos of Dasaki," she said with a gentle nod before planting her lips on his. She then bit his lip and went in for another kiss.

 Sensing this was just like something from his wildest dreams, Alekos felt that he would wake up any moment and it would all be over.

 Then, as his hands began to remove her jacket, baring her shoulders, Rouvin popped back in with a goblet of expensive wine and a silly grin. "Whoa!" he exclaimed with a chuckle.

 Sighing, Alekos rolled his eyes. "What are you doing?!"

 "Shh," Nitsa said as she did not cease, sliding her jacket off and letting her kisses work down Alekos' neck.

 "Uh…" chuckled Rouvin. "You have some nerve asking me that. What are you doing?" hissed Rouvin.

 "What does it look like?" Alekos' reply shot out.

 Nitsa giggled and slid off Alekos' lap. "He's not going to leave until he shows you whatever it is he just saw, so… So let's get it over with," she said with a sigh, glancing at Rouvin to take the lead. "We can pick up where we left off anytime," she promised.

 "Yeah," Rouvin nodded, "she's not wrong."

 Scoffing, Alekos rolled his eyes and stood up. "What is it, Rouvin? What did you just see that's going to blow my mind?"

 Rouvin threw the curtain open to reveal the sizeable Argosi doorman dragging a gagged and chained nereid nymph across the parlor floor and depositing the sea nymph at Vassilios' feet. The well-dressed Theban gentleman was waiting there with an ornate adamantine dagger.

 Alekos took a step forward as his eyes shot open. After blinking a few times as Vassilios was getting a read of the room, Alekos shot his glances to Rouvin and Nitsa. Rouvin actually seemed excited by this, and Nitsa seemed indifferent. Alekos turned to look back at the Theban and felt his breathing become uneven and his heart race.

 "Do we have any here among us tonight who wish to take the next step?" asked Vassilios.

 With a deep breath, Nitsa sidled up to Alekos and wrapped her arm in his. Her touch was comforting, but it did little to ease the conflict he felt inside him when he saw the nereid squirming on the floor, desperate to escape her binds.

 "This does not happen every gathering," Nitsa said in a whispered tone.

 "Oh, so we are in for a treat?" asked Rouvin with an excited but quiet chuckle.

 Letting out a sigh, Alekos looked down at Nitsa. "Next step?"

 With a nod, Nitsa closed her eyes and took a moment to compose herself. "Yes. A volunteer is given a chance to cut the heart from a nymph and then give it another member of the House."

 "Why?" asked Alekos, aghast.

 "Those who take a life for the cause are given higher status and initiated into the higher order."

 "Higher order?"

 "The Apocryphal Order," Nitsa said with a reserved grin.

 Alekos nodded. "Why must you take a life to join?"

 Nitsa shrugged. "I think it proves to us them that you're willing to kill for what you believe in. It shows your conviction. It proves your mettle."

 Alekos had heard enough. He lowered his head and closed his eyes.

 "Anyone?!" called out Vassilios once more.

 Nodding rhythmically, Rouvin took a step forward and raised his hand.

 "I am willing!" Alekos declared firmly before stepping forward and leaving a startled and confused Nitsa where she stood.

 Rouvin was baffled as he slowly lowered his arm and glanced over to Nitsa.

 Within moments, Alekos had navigated his way through the crowd and found himself standing next to Vassilios. The well-dressed man smiled and offered the blade to the lanky boy, who accepted it and then locked eyes with Vassilios. The well-dressed man then pulled Alekos in close and asked him a question.

 As they met gazes and then returned to the embrace, Alekos replied. "Nitsa gave me her heart. The least I can do is give her one in return."

 Vassilios seemed puzzled by the response, but he broke off the embrace and offered a slightly strange grin and a firm nod. "Very well, son. Please…" he then gestured toward the nymph and stepped back.

 Alekos glanced briefly at Nitsa and Rouvin. Both were concerned, but Alekos ignored that. He felt like he knew what he needed to do for once in his life. He knelt on the floor and looked deep into the eyes of the nereid. Their gazes lingered for a long and tempting moment. Finally, he clasped both hands on the dagger's hilt and raised it overhead. He closed his eyes and began to mumble a sacrificial prayer as he had done at the temple when offering the sacrifice of small animals purchased from the market. He smirked, stopping himself halfway through the silent prayer.

 No more prayers, he told himself. He killed chickens, snakes, rats, and once a goat for the gods. This life he would take for himself, and after this, he would take his life into his own hands. He would become something more. He would become… Alekos of the Apocryphal Order!

 The dagger plunged downward as Nitsa averted her eyes and clenched her teeth.

 What followed next was silence… Sheer silence.

## Characters

### Humans

* Alekos
* Nitsa
* Rouvin
* Vassilios