After a protracted silence, Calchas lit into his older brother. “That was criminal. Why did you do that?”
“After dinner, I prayed,” Teris said. “I entreated Apollo and poured a libation, seeking an answer to why we were among these Pythians. Then, I had a vision. Apollo should rule the oracle. Apollo Thearios seeks it.”
“Apollo or you?”
“Don’t be impious.”
Calchas pressed further. “How am I being impious? I’m true to Apollo, too. Your actions don’t fit your reason. This was no virtuous battle. You interrupted a ritual and killed their snake. That was not by Apollo’s ordered oversight.”
“It was the only way to get through to these people,” Teris asserted.
“These people are not the outsiders. We are. I’ve worked, eaten, and slept among these people. I’ve fallen in love with a Pythian. So, I’m one of ‘these people’ now.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Don’t dismiss me. My heart is Chrysanthe’s more than it is my own. Your actions haven’t brought Apollo’s order. You terrified the children and angered the rest.”
“I did it for the good of all.”
“You did it to ravage Aellai,” Calchas said.
“She’s laying waste to the Pythians.”
“As long as I can remember, I’ve heard you are one of Apollo’s favored,” Calchas said. “That he cradled you in your sleep as a young orphan. Yet, you kill our host’s animals while citing Apollo’s charge.”
“Aellai isn’t our host, she’s our captor,” Teris said, then sighed.
“The whole village is our host,” Calchas explained. “The Delphyne was theirs, not a priestess’ snake. Why do you lay waste here? Do you remember what the aulos player among those who raised us said about the gods’ favored?”
“How could I forget? He spouted it almost daily. It went something like — sometimes the gods favor a son because he is righteous.”
“And other times, the gods favor a son to protect others around him,” Calchas added. “For the likes of him otherwise leads to ruin.”
“And then he would lean in to my face and say — and you are favored for both of those reasons,” Teris mimicked.
“Our current circumstances are exactly what he meant by that,” Calchas said. “Who would have known the old fool was prescient? Those favored have greater responsibility. Since you are Apollo’s, you’d do well to better follow diplomacy.”
“You’re right,” Teris interjected.
“Let me finish. And — wait? I’m right?” Calchas was flummoxed by his brother’s sudden admission.
“You sound like Apollo’s diplomatic herald, Calchas. And I’ve been a sorry excuse for an ambassador, although this is the first I’ve thought of us that way. I’ve made a mess of things.”
“I’m still struck dumb by you saying I was right about this — about anything.”
Teris smiled and gripped his brother’s broad shoulders. “While you are innocent and claim the very people that have caged you, I am guilty and thus, caged myself. If the Pythians give me the chance, I’ll make this right.”
The wind changed. The stench rising from the dead snake blew across the cage. Calchas expected Aellai to come out and start dousing the area with perfume any moment.
After a time when all had grown quiet, Calchas’s thoughts turned to family matters and he queried his brother. “Have you ever felt about anyone the way father felt about mother?”
“Like you, I was only a boy when they died. I don’t know what father felt toward our mother, though they seemed inseparable.”
“Have you ever loved a woman with all your heart? Where you’d gladly give up life’s adventures and stay with her forever.”
“That’s a child’s view of a mother and father,” Teris grumbled. “And of life’s adventures for that matter. But no, I’ve never felt that.”
Calchas leaned back on the ground and tilted his head to look at Teris. “I do. My feelings for Chrysanthe change everything.”
Calchas glimpsed someone moving in the shadows, beyond where the men stood guard. Exhausted, he closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.
-
Calchas awoke to a woman’s screams.
“What’s happened?” Teris asked the guards. They shrugged, bewildered as well.
Zosimus came running. “Have they moved?” Both guards assured him the brothers had not.
Zosimus then addressed the brothers as well as the guards. “Lysandra awoke to snakes everywhere, as if the Underworld poured them out among us.”
“No snakes are here,” Teris said.
Calchas soon learned the infestation was targeted to a few huts. Angry villagers came to the cage. Despite the guards’ assurances, the villagers blamed the brothers for the snakes. They toppled the cage and tugged the two brothers upright.
Chrysanthe shouted. “Good people, stop! The Apollon visitors didn’t do this. Aellai did. She had me gather all the snakes from the pit and must have set them on our women elders’ homes. I didn’t know she would scare them this way.”
“That sounds like Aellai — scare her people to get what she wants,” Teris said.
“I meant she scared the snakes. They’ve grown very tame,” Chrysanthe explained.
“Momma! Look,” a child called out.
Aellai was lighting the ground torches. Soon, the priestess stepped onto the platform and called out. “Pythians, come! Another judgment from Python has arrived.”
The villagers ushered Teris and Calchas to the platform and held them fast.
With her audience gathered, Aellai stretched her arms forth, palms down, and bellowed. “Python has spewed forth the Underworld upon us, placing a terrible curse upon our unborn. No child will be born alive until we appease Python. Our women will weep, and our men will toil heirless unless we avenge the Delphyne’s death. I have an elixir, a deadly poison. Our men must force it down the strangers’ throats. Their deaths are required.” Aellai held the bowl aloft, stretching her arms forward.
Murmurs of protest erupted among the villagers. They did not take killing lightly.
“Enough!” Lysandra shouted. “The snakes were not from the Underworld. I smelled your perfume, Aellai. You set the snakes on us. And I shall not allow you to afflict our women with your self-appointed curse.”
Aellai’s eyes widened as if she’d happened upon a wild boar. Calchas gathered she’d blundered in trying to fool the village’s eldest. They would be the most savvy in recognizing trickery.
“Do not — do not doubt Python’s priestess,” Aellai said. “With Python as my witness, I’ll not look on these two brothers alive for another day.”
The villagers argued. Some were uncertain what side to believe. In time, murmurs against Aellai became louder.
Calchas’s anger toward his elder brother dissipated. Though in the wrong, Teris had acted from his faith. Aellai acted as a lying tyrant.
“Chrysanthe?” Zosimus questioned.
Chrysanthe stepped to the front of the platform. The moonlit sky and ground torches gently illuminated her silhouette.
“While an assistant’s duty is to serve the priestess, the priestess’s duty is to serve her people and the gods, who value truth,” Chrysanthe said. “Lysandra’s words, not Aellai’s, are true.”
“Betrayer!” Aellai scurried across the platform, beseeching the villagers standing nearest. “She is not a priestess. I am your priestess. Listen to me alone!”
“Aellai released the snakes into the homes to scare us. But our elders are more wise and discerning than that trickery,” Chrysanthe added.
“Aellai, step down,” Zosimus commanded. “You’re found out.”
The villagers’ revolt against Aellai surprised Calchas.
“Betrayers! You will see the curse is real, but I shall not,” Aellai retreated to the back of the platform. “You have defiled your priestess. You all have defiled me. I’ll not live among such impious wretches. If not them, then me.” Aellai gulped the poison from the bowl.
“No!” Zosimus rushed to her. He caught Aellai as she fell, liquid dribbling from her mouth. She convulsed sharply. Zosimus struggled, holding a flailing Aellai in his arms. By the time Lysandra reached them next, Aellai had grown still.
Soon, Zosimus and the older men carried Aellai off the platform to an embankment outside the village to await burial preparations. While a few villagers hung their heads in mourning, others appeared relieved by Aellai’s passing.
-
“What are we to do about Apollo’s devoted?” Lysandra asked when Zosimus and the others returned.
“They were confined for interfering with a ritual,” Zosimus said, addressing the villagers. “It should be a priestess’ decision. We must first install the new priestess, but we now have no snakes after they all fled the huts.”
“I have one,” a little girl in the crowd said, pulling it from her sleeve.
Chrysanthe hurried over to retrieve the snake. She asked the girl how she obtained it.
“When I heard Lysandra yell about the snakes, I ran outside to look. This snake slid to me. I grabbed it from my feet.”
“This is a sign, Kalypso. You are to be the new priestess’s assistant.”
Kalypso’s father clamped his hands onto his daughter’s shoulders. and protested. The girl had only seen seven harvests. Chrysanthe entreated him in whispered earnest. Eventually, Kalypso’s father relented and released his daughter.
“We need two more snakes,” Zosimus said.
“Allow me,” Chrysanthe answered. She went to the platform’s edge and slapped the ground rhythmically. Several snakes slid forward and Chrysanthe lifted two.
“Let us perform the installation,” Zosimus announced.
Zosimus led a simple ceremony. He, Chrysanthe, and Kalypso exchanged the snakes between themselves, over and over. The three became bathed in sweat. Finally, as the sun peaked over the horizon, Zosimus completed the ceremony with a few words. He then stepped off the platform.
“Will the new priestess perform the snake dance to determine the brothers’ fate?” Zosimus asked.
Wide-eyed, Kalypso held all three snakes, looking overwhelmed. Chrysanthe whispered in her ear. The little girl nodded and took the snakes to the priestess’s hut.
“No reading is needed,” priestess Chrysanthe said. “Teris, you have seen what has happened since slaying our Delphyne. You claimed Apollo’s censure. What say you now?”
Teris stepped forward. “I acted in anger and haste. I do believe Apollo seeks to engage the oracle of Delphi. But after consulting with my brother, I know my killing your snake of Python was wrong. I am sorry and accept your punishment. I only request Calchas be freed, for he cares for you as his own people. And he cares for you, Chrysanthe, more than any other.”
Teris then sat on the ground in surrender.
“It is fair to say that I cared for the well-being of the snake, more than Aellai ever did,” Chrysanthe said. She then stood still and paused for a moment.
Calchas noticed several village elders in the crowd, Lysandra among them, nod in agreement and support.
“I am saddened by the snake’s death,” Chrysanthe said. “But it was not the Delphyne itself, but a living symbol of it. What that means among the gods and greater beings we’ll leave for another time. But for us here and now, Aellai’s true nature was revealed by the snake’s death. Through her own hand, we all saw the demise of Python’s priestess. Such a passing of Python’s own symbolizes a passing of how things have been.” Chrysanthe paused her speech and walked the length of the platform, before continuing.
“Apollo’s devoted challenged and outlived Python’s. The events reveal to me that Apollo has indeed claimed our oracle. Is not Apollo a higher god of authority than Python? Is he not better received among many in our region?”
Some villagers murmured approval. Others stayed silent, looking afraid.
Chrysanthe stepped off the platform. “Let this not be a time of fear, but of courage. Apollo’s claim is a blessing. More people will come to our oracle for guidance under the far-shooter’s authority. Our oracle’s rituals changed from the old ways once before. So they change again by the might of Apollo so we may better serve all and prosper under his adoption. In this light, Teris, as Apollo’s devoted, may receive our mercy and be released. Zosimus, does this ring true?”
Zosimus nodded his agreement. Lysandra walked to Chrysanthe, clasped her hands, and nodded as well. With the three in unified agreement, the villagers dispersed peacefully.
Calchas could scarcely believe it. The brothers were both freed, and the oracle had become Apollo’s.
Zosimus took the brothers aside. He asked if, after resting, they’d complete the arch with him later that day.
“First, I must thank you for your leniency,” Teris said.
“It was priestess Chrysanthe’s decision,” Zosimus said. “In light of Apollo’s ascension here, you should offer libations of gratitude.”
“Of course. And under piety to Apollo, we will finish the arch work,” Teris said. “We’ll then leave afterward.”
Zosimus left the brothers so they could nap in his hut.
Calchas felt heartsick. “Why should we leave? Things have changed.” He had no desire to lead an ongoing nomadic life, traveling from village to village. Since leaving the traveling band, they’d been to eight other villages. Teris insisted Apollo wanted them to move on each time. Calchas’s protests to stay were always dismissed.
“Things have only changed for the moment,” Teris said. “You are naïve, young brother. Things will return to what they were. People recreate what they already know.”
“I may be naïve, but you are the cynic. You sound like an old man that can no longer work his fields, sure of the way of the world, while risking nothing in it. We can help Chrysanthe and these villagers create anew. The ethereal fields of Delphi are plowed for sowing. What better way to keep Apollo foremost here than for his devoted to stay and work these ethereal fields?”
“We aren’t bound here. You are joined with me, brother. Tomorrow, we’ll continue our journey.” With that, Teris turned away to sleep.
Calchas found it hard to breathe. He felt bound to his brother, but couldn’t bear to leave Chrysanthe. Upon hearing Teris snore, he rushed to the priestess’s hut and called out for her.
Chrysanthe emerged, appearing radiant in the morning light. “Calchas?”
“Will you walk with me again to the shore?”
“I must attend Aellai’s burial. Then, the snakes need to be recovered and fed. They won’t fare well on their own after so long in the pit. I also must introduce Kalypso to her new duties as assistant. I have much to do and can’t leave for the shore today.”
“Then I’ll be bold. My brother wants us to leave tomorrow. The only way for me to honorably remain is by a stronger joining. If you would marry me, I could stay. I know this is sudden, but I’d do my best to make you happy. I’d bring you all the shells along the entire sea’s shore, if you’d be my wife.”
“Oh, Calchas, I have no need for shells. But, I’ll gladly be your wife if Zosimus agrees.”
“Zosimus?”
“My father left this world long ago. So, it falls to Zosimus to approve my wedding.”
“I’ll ask him now.”
“As priestess, I had better do that. Let’s go to him together.”
Calchas and Chrysanthe went directly to Zosimus, who readily agreed. The marriage ceremony would take place the next morning.
Calchas worried his brother might argue against it. But, when Teris woke and heard the news, he hugged Calchas, wishing him well.
Later that day, the brothers completed the arch with Zosimus. When they finished, Lysandra taught Calchas about their marriage ceremony customs. Though excited, Calchas slept well that night.
-
The next morning, Zosimus performed the marriage ceremony. During it, Lysandra took a large circular wreath of laurel and twisted it to form two circles next to each other. Along one continuous line, the wreath could be infinitely traced back and forth between the circles. She then clasped the center with a reed. Finally, she placed the entwined wreath’s circles over the couple’s heads. That symbolized they were yoked together forever as a married couple.
So adorned among the village onlookers, Calchas felt exposed and awkward until he and Chrysandra ducked into the priestess’ hut.
-
The next morning, as the sun peaked over the horizon, Teris called from outside the newlyweds’ hut. Calchas hurried out to greet him.
“Teris, please stay. There is so much that can be done in Delphi. You can make a life, a home of your own.”
Teris shrugged. “What would I do? You are a man now and no longer need my guidance. In fact, you likely have surpassed me in wisdom already. What purpose could I serve here?”
“I have a thought about that,” Zosimus said, startling the brothers who’d failed to notice his approach.
“What are you thinking, Zosimus?” Calchas asked. “Teris, he has an idea for you.” Calchas clapped his brother’s back in support.
“If an Apollon oracle proves a great attraction, we’ll need a building. We must receive querent seekers and accompanying entourages somewhere,” Zosimus said. “Teris, you did good work with the arch and are more talented in that regard than either me or your brother. We could use your skills. Will you please stay and work on our building project?”
“My skills are rather limited and I’d have much to learn to do so successfully,” Teris said.
Calchas face fell. He didn’t know what more to suggest to get his brother to stay.
“But I am willing to learn,” Teris answered.
It took a moment for Calchas to realize Teris agreed to the project. He then hugged his brother fiercely.
“May this building be the first of many,” Zosimus said, clasping Teris arm.
“Calchas, is your brother staying after all?” Chrysanthe asked, standing outside the priestess’ hut they now shared.
“Yes,” Calchas laughed, bounding over to hug his wife. Holding her, he looked back to his brother and closed his eyes. Calchas felt something he hadn’t felt since that fateful day he and Teris were orphaned.
“Home,” Calchas whispered. “We are home.”
-
The End
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