Derae’s soul sped from the temple, glorying in the sunlight, moving up through clouds and across the ocean. Far below her she saw the mainland of Greece, its rearing mountains and arid plains. Tiny triremes were anchored in the bay near Athens, and fishing-boats bobbed on the waters around them. South-west she flew to Sparta, hovering above her old home, seeing her mother and her sister in the courtyard.
Sorrow swept over her; she did not wish to see them like this – rather she desired to see what was. The scene blurred and shifted and she watched herself running from the
gateway, down to the meadow where the girls could exercise, while on a nearby hilltop she saw the boy Parmenion lying on his belly, waiting for a glimpse of her.
The scenes were painful, but she could not resist following them through. She watched again his rescue of her and their first day of passion hi the summer home of Xenophon. She could not bear to see her death so she remained with Parmenion, observing with horror as he destroyed Nestus.
Then she followed his journey to Thebes and his brief, passionless encounters with Thetis the whore. Anger flared in her. How could he, she wondered?
Yet, despite her anger, she felt pride when he planned the retaking of the Cadmea and watched, astonished, as he collapsed and was carried to his bed. She saw Mothac’s concern, his anger at the physician and, at the last, his desperate pleading with the whore, Thetis. And this time she watched the complete scene, hearing Parmenion whisper her name in his sleep.
He was delirious and thinking of her!
Joy flooded her. She wanted to reach out and touch him, to tell him she was alive and that she cared for him. But cold reality came to her like the breath of winter. I am not alive, she realized. And I can never have him.
She urged time on – seeing him run on the training field, floating close to him, her spirit face mere inches from his own. Reaching out, she tried to stroke his dark hair, but her fingers moved through his skin and the skull beyond, his thoughts tumbling into her mind.
As he ran he was thinking of the days in the mountains, before then- secret was out, of making love in the meadows and holding hands beneath the trees.
She withdrew from nun, for his bitterness touched her like the acid that had destroyed her eyes. Her joy evaporated and she returned to the temple and a world of darkness. Tamis helped her to dress.
‘What did you learn?’ asked the old woman.
‘Love is pain,’ she answered dully. ‘What will you teach me today?’
‘I will teach you to see,’ Tamis told her. ‘Spirit eyes are far more powerful than the orbs you have lost. Concentrate. You have loosed the chains of your soul and you float now inside the cloak of your body. At any time you may draw aside that cloak like a veil. Try it. The gold and the blue.’
Derae focused on the looped stem, andjose. ‘Not too far,’ shouted Tamis, catching the falling body and lowering it to the floor. ‘You must retain control of yourself. Come back!’ The priestess returned to her body and climbed to her feet. ‘It will take practice,’ said Tamis, ‘but merely move your spirit head forward while holding your body still.’ Derae tried. For a moment it seemed to work, she could see and yet still feel her body. But then dizziness overcame her and she stumbled into Tamis, who held her upright.
‘It will come,’ Tamis promised. ‘But each step is a victory. And now we must work. You must learn. We must identify all your weaknesses.’
‘Why?’
‘You have joined the eternal war, Derae, and you now have a deadly enemy. The Dark God will also be testing you, seeking a way to destroy you.
‘That is a frightening thought,’ Derae admitted.
‘As it should be – for, when the crucial moment of conflict comes, I will be dead and you will be alone.’
*
Parmenion paused at the top of the ridge and gazed down on the tents of the Spartan army. They were set out in a long rectangle along the valley floor close to the city of Thespiae. Swiftly he counted the tents. There were five lines of fifty, with each tent housing ten warriors – 2,500 fighting men, not counting those billeted in the city.