�Spoils� Part X

Princess Plum Jade

Rated �R� for adult themes and implied sexuality

Chapter X is specially written for my cyber-buddy �Ottslay� because he does not read NC-17.  Anybody who would chat with me for an hour about obscure Egyptian history is a rare friend in my world.  Cyberhugs, Plummy

The temple of Rhea was one of the oldest buildings still standing in Rome. By modern standards the building was small and decrepit, lacking the opulence and grace of Greek architecture.  It was a strong, squarish building, its plain exterior hiding a thoroughly rich and elegant sanctuary.  A crudely worked and worn limestone statue of a rampant wolf guarded the entrance.

According to tradition, the first Latin settlers built the crude but sturdy stone structure to honor Rhea Silvia, the mother of the nation�s twin co-founders, Romulus and Remus.  Angelus smiled wryly as he worked his chariot carefully through the narrow streets of this older portion of Rome.  He was always amused by humanity�s ability to twist an event to suit its needs!  In the human legend, Romulus and Remus were abandoned and left to die in the wilderness where they were found and fostered by a female wolf.  Demon mythology preferred the brutal unvarnished truth.  Every demon baby old enough to comprehend knew the founding family of Rome was  werewolf.

Rhea�s worship had declined in the last few centuries, eclipsed by the followers of Apollo.  But enough people still believed in the old goddess and continued to serve and make offerings quietly.

And despite the popularity of the newer religion, many believed without doubt that Rhea�s Oracle was the only true Seer in Rome.

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Cybele�s sanctuary was in the rear inner sanctum of the temple, in front of the priests� quarters.  She rarely left the temple anymore.  Too many people believed the Oracle of Rhea was the goddess�s own human avatar.  Why else, they whispered among themselves, did she seem to age so slowly?  It was decidedly unpleasant to walk among crowds of people who believed in divinity. I have been gone too long from my own, Cybele thought to herself. Soon, I will leave here and return to them.  It�s nearly time. Many of the priests match my powers in Sight. If Rhea�s cult does not survive there is always another deity to draw the people�s attention to.  Any deity can have an Oracle.

Her day had begun as it normally did.  Her attendants had bathed her, helped her to dress, brought fresh fruit and warm bread for her to break her fast.  Marissa, one of her high priestesses, joined her at breakfast to discuss the temple�s business.  Offerings and donations to be distributed.  Progress among the children acolytes being groomed for service.  One priestess wished to leave service and return home.  Both of her brothers had died in the fighting at Actium, she felt obligated to marry and produce an heir to inherit her family�s vast properties.

And she is one of our very best Seers, of course.  Wars are so wasteful! Cybele thought resentfully. This country has nothing better to do than build armies and bully its neighbors!

Marissa watched Cybele patiently as the Oracle strolled around the grand altar in the center of the room.  Cybele glanced down casually into a large footed copper basin half filled with water.  She lifted a copper pitcher from beside the bowl and added more water until the basin was nearly completely filled.  The oldest of Rhea�s Seers peered down intently, watching as the water slowly stilled and became a smooth, mirror-like surface.

The glassy surface of the water reflected candlelight and soft shadows in the cavelike room.  The shadows began to recede, crawling away from the reflection like stealthy animals.  Cybele watched calmly as her vision unfolded and created clear images in the holy water.

A man, tall, pale, sickly-looking with spindly limbs, dressed in a fine toga dyed brilliant purple, his hair messy, badly groomed. Our new First Citizen of Rome!  Ever a dashing figure. Cybele observed with detached curiosity as Caesar Augustus walked languidly across a brilliantly polished marble floor.  Grasping the heavy folds of his toga in his left hand, Augustus slowly knelt to humbly offer prayers to his family�s ancestral gods. Great Mother of All!  He�s actually weeping!  I did not know he could! The Oracle watched, fascinated, as the weakling, spineless, back-stabber destined to be remembered as one of the greatest emperors in Roman history crept forward on his knees, struggling awkwardly with the heavy folds of his cumbersome toga, to embrace an idol cast in solid gold, a life-sized depiction of the goddess Isis-Aphrodite.

It was the idol Julius Caesar had ordered crafted in the likeness of his beloved Kleopatra.  Augustus buried his tearstained face in the statue�s golden thigh, his thin lanky arms wound around the idol�s hips.

Cybele nodded.  Finally, it all made sense.  Augustus�s persistent animosity towards Marcus Antonius after the general had won a civil war that helped put them in power; his extreme anti-Eastern sentiments.  His offer to spare Kleopatra and acknowledge Egypt�s sovereignty if the Egyptian Queen sent him Antonius�s head (and what other pledges of good faith would you have required of Kleopatra? Cybele wondered idly.)  His march on Alexandria with relatively little bloodshed.  His subsequent adoption and care of the Queen�s younger children after her suicide.  The fact that he never incorporated Egypt itself into the Roman empire but kept it a separate entity, part of Rome but not truly Roman, in his personal care.

He was not in love with her, Cybele was sure of that.  A man like Augustus was in love with power and position more than anything.  But he must have been fascinated by the Egyptian Queen who reeked of power and position, who governed a country far richer and more productive than his own.  A woman honored as a living deity before and after her death.

Cybele shrugged as waved her hand lightly over the top of the basin to dissipate the image of the weeping Caesar.  It was an interesting thing to know, but it ultimately made very little difference in the new emperor�s destiny.

Abruptly, the Oracle turned back to Marissa and told her the priestess must be allowed to leave service and return to her family as soon as she wished.  Marissa nodded and Cybele wondered if the powerful seer guessed what she had Seen in the scrying dish had nothing to do with the other priestess.  It mattered little.  If a person gifted with Sight learned anything fast it was discretion.

�You always were a generous creature.�

Cybele whirled away from Marissa and the altar to face the intruder in her doorway.  She was not a person easily frightened or surprised but the hard voice with its tinge of cruel amusement made the hair on her limbs and the back of her neck stiffen.  Adrenaline rushed through her and she had to clench her fists to force herself not to change, to keep her voice steady and unruffled.  He laughed softly at her efforts, no doubt he smelled her fear and it gladdened his filthy black heart.

Marissa rose from her seat and walked towards the handsome man with the harsh voice.  Her eyes took in his long Moorish robes and head covering and she briefly wondered how he could stand to be covered like that in the late noon heat.

�Sir,� she began, deliberately making her voice low and soothing.  �This is the Oracle�s private sanctuary, you cannot just come in here.  The temple priests can help counsel you.�

�Are you sure about that?�  His voice was soft and dark with threat.  He leisurely traced an abstract pattern on the carved doorframe.

Marissa looked at him confusedly.  Cybele took a deep breath and reached out with her Vision.  He had not killed anyone, merely struck two of the priests unconscious when they attempted to stop him from entering her private chamber.

�I am sure,� Cybele answered firmly.  The man responded with a feral grin.  �Tell me why you are here, Angelus?�  His very name on her lips made her want to vomit but Cybele had had nearly fifty years to learn control, fifty years to try and forget him.

He was still so beautiful, the gods themselves envied him.  His body was still every bit as firm and strong as it had been the night she had crawled out of his bed, bruised and bleeding, hurt as a whipped child, not understanding how a creature so gorgeous could also be so heartless and evil, so pleased by suffering.

A mere human lifetime was not enough to forget that.

�I am here to consult the Oracle of Rhea Silvia,� Angelus replied airily.  His tone suggested the two women were stupid for not realizing the obvious.

Cybele nodded thoughtfully as she searched the handsome demon�s face for clues.  �Very well,� she answered at last.  She gave him her back, turned away to face her priestess.  �Go back to the vestibule, you are needed there,� she said softly.  She made herself smile reassuringly at Marissa.  Despite her best efforts, Cybele was certain the younger woman saw her through her, sensed her fear, saw the trace of that innocent child-woman she had been so long ago.  �Go along,� Cybele urged her, letting firm command trickle into her soft voice.

Marissa bowed respectfully to Cybele and glowered warningly at Angelus.  The priestess swept out of the sanctum, swishing her flowing robes to one side as though brushing against Angelus would soil them.  Angelus raised his eyebrows.

�Does she know?� he asked.

�She probably guesses�something,� Cybele answered quietly, clasping her hands in front of her.  �Come in, Angelus.�  Her voice did not tremble.

The vampire strolled through the comfortably decorated chamber.  Hewn from stone, it resembled nothing so much as a luxurious cave.

�I hope you hold nothing against me, Sybil.�  He draped his limbs gracefully into the chair Marissa had just vacated.  �After all, I kept to our bargain.  No broken bones, no permanent scars or injuries, no maiming.�  He smiled smugly at her shocked gray-green eyes.

�My name is Cybele,� she returned coldly.  �As to lasting grudges�you forced me to lay with you by threatening the lives of my kinsmen.�  How odd, that she could keep the rage out of her voice when she said it to him.

�We both know I was never any threat to your people. They hunted me. I would have been perfectly right to kill them, but you did beg so prettily for their lives...�  Angelus let his voice trail off and drummed his fingers softly on the table beside him.

�Tell me what it is you want to know.�  Part of her soul burned in outrage because what he said was technically true.  If her younger brother and some of their cousins hadn�t decided to go vampire-hunting they probably would never have met.  His interest had been in the city residents.  Not their clan.  In fact, in the normal scheme of things, Angelus would have gladly avoided them, preferring the easier pickings in Rome.

Cybele remained silent and watched Angelus carefully as he told her his situation.  The Oracle listened with fixed concentration, noticing every change in inflection and tone as he spoke, his facial expression and movements.  Vampires were never easily read, the demonic entity polluting their bodies inhibited the soul�s functions.  Souls were what seers read.

�Did you take the woman�s blood?�  Cybele asked drily when Angelus was finished talking.

�No.�  Cybele raised her eyebrows at the soft note of surprise in the vampire�s voice.  It was as though he just realized he hadn�t fed on Kordelia and that fact was strange in itself.

�But you lay with her last night�all night?�

�Yes.�

�Have you washed yet?�  Angelus frowned at her question.  �If her essence remains on your flesh, I may be able to read more from your skin,� she explained patiently.

�No,� he replied shortly.  He hadn�t bathed, as was his custom when he first rose.  He had wanted to keep Kordelia�s scent on him, near him, a pleasurable reminder of her secret sweetness. It�s her smell clinging to me that�s keeping me from going mad because of this damn headache!

Cybele�s lips twitched slightly and she motioned Angelus to stand up.  She approached the large man slowly, unwillingly. The last time I was this close to him he bit my throat until I screamed myself hoarse. She was almost able to laugh at his surprised start when she leaned against him and hugged him.  The Oracle closed her eyes and pressed her face into his massive shoulder.

Angelus gasped as his brain flip-flopped and seemed to spill through his pores.  He bit his lip as various fragments of his memories shot out of his mind towards Cybele.

Kordelia, standing on the patio, hand on hip, watching him.  Her naked breasts, large and sensuously stained with wine.  Her sighs, moans, and pleased little cries.  His fingers twined with hers on her breast.  Her tight young body taking all of him as he pounded into her on the table.  The sweet weight of her astride him, her swaying breasts, silky hair, warm bottom.  Teary eyes begging for more...Her snarled threats, eyes glowing eerie unnatural green, her incredible strength as she throttled him and pinned him down helplessly...

Angelus pushed Cybele away with a hoarse cry, overwhelmed by the vision�s intensity, all the strong emotions of a night�s passion in one moment. 

Cybele stared at Angelus in undisguised shock.  Then she began to laugh, a low melodious ripple of amusement.

�I congratulate you, sir, and your fate.  Your new bride is truly exquisite!�

�What do you mean?�

�Your pretty prize from Egypt is not human, Angelus�at least, not all of her is,� the Oracle amended.  �She has demonic lineage.  Incubus, to be specific.�

Angelus frowned and waited for her to say more.  Cybele sighed.

�Your woman�s mother.  What happened to her?  She�s dead?�

�Yes,� Angelus replied shortly.  �Her health declined after�� he paused.

�After her daughter was born?�  Cybele finished helpfully.  �The mother pined away for her lover.  Incubi are fascinating and addictive lovers.  Notoriously insatiable.�  The middle-aged seer shrugged.  �It�s likely he wearied of her and left her once the child was conceived.�

Angelus shook his head.  �Apollodorus acknowledged Kordelia.  There were never any rumors of his wife being loose.�

�Incubi are shape sifters.  If he desired a virtuous married lady, he would have come to her in her husband�s guise only�ahem!�their relations would have been more vigorous than normal.�  A grim smile touched Cybele�s lips as she recalled the brief feeling of Angelus�s astonishment when his well-used woman turned to him, tears in her eyes, and asked for more.  �Incubi also love mortals in their dreams.  Their natural plane is the Dream World and they are more powerful there than anywhere else.�  She crept back to her comfortable padded leather chair, and sat down.

Angelus nodded cooly.  That explained why Kordelia could hold him fast in his dreams, as though the strength of a vampire halfway into his third century was nothing.  It explained how effectively she was able to injure him and his own attacks had done her no harm.

The Oracle was laughing, high and sweet like a very young girl.  She laughed so hard her eyes grew moist and she wiped them with the back of one slender hand. It is too funny!  All the mortals he has taken and corrupted or killed through the years!  To come to this!

Angelus�s heart darkened with rage.  He would go home and kill Kordelia.  Strangle her with his bare hands or drown her in the tub.  No one was going to have control over him!  Not in life, not in dreams, not ever!

�I wouldn�t,� Cybele advised as he turned to leave.

�What?�  Angelus paused but didn�t look back.

�It�s too late to end it that way.�  The middle-aged lady did not bother to hide her glee at his situation.  �You�ve tasted her body.  You�ve had a touch of her blood, not much but enough.�

�So?�

Cybele giggled and covered her mouth with her hand before she went on.  �You�re not furious because you want to kill your woman,� she said lightly.  �You�re furious because you�re suffering to have her legs around you this minute!�  She pointed a long finger at him for emphasis.  �You�re lucky you rushed over here without bathing, Angelus, it�s only the trace of her smell on you that�s helping you to manage that aching itch in your head!  The attraction between you is unavoidable.  You wanted her near you when she was a mere child.  You were hungry before you mated and starving afterwards! If you kill her you will starve forever!�

Angelus actually gasped as the seer revealed his own inner fear to him.

�Incubi are kindred to vampires.  They feed on sexual desires and dreams,� the Oracle continued calmly.  �They don�t require a physical body to feed.  If you kill her...well...the only way you could feed her would be through dreams...�

Where you are helpless and she is all powerful. The unspoken warning was thick in the sandalwood incensed air.

Angelus shuddered and walked away without looking back. 

Cybele waited, listened carefully.  When she was certain the vampire had gone without harming any of her people, she rose from her chair and padded on silent feet towards the little alcove where she slept.  A tiny altar stood between her bed and the corner of the alcove, sacred to Apollo Lycius, the Wolf-God, one of her own family deities.  

Her change was smooth and easy, a mere flexing of limbs and mental control.  Though smaller than most of her species, Cybele�s lupine form was still impressively larger than a normal wolf.

The graceful, slender salt-and-pepper wolf sat for a long time before the altar, deep-set green eyes fixed on the idol in rapt attention.

For years I prayed for that monster to know something of the pain he visited upon others.  I never imagined I would be able to witness it personally.

The female wolf�s tail waved softly and her mouth opened in a gesture that might have been a smile on human lips.

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"Spoils" Part XI

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