Atlantium Trilogy I: Bride of Atlantis Page 5

  Helen turned to look at her with a mixture of contempt and surprise. “Can you not find your way?”

  Alexis flushed. “I was merely asking if I was free to come and go as I please.”

  “You cannot escape. I see no reason why I should have to trail along with you. I was not told to do so.”

  “Bitch,” Alexis muttered, whirling on her heel and stalking toward the door she could see on the opposite side of the garden. She nearly creamed Thor with the garden door when she flung it open.

  They both halted abruptly, staring at each other in surprise.

  They recovered from their surprise at the same instant, glaring at each other.

  “I should have known they’d send a watchdog,” Alexis snapped angrily. “But I don’t know why they couldn’t send somebody that would be more fun, like a mortician.”

  “Do you always burst through doors as if you were pitched out?”

  Alexis studied him for a moment. “Well, now that we’ve established how glad we are to see each other, bye.”

  She looked around, took her bearings and struck off along a narrow, cobbled street in the direction she thought Adonis’ home to be. It wasn’t as if she could possibly become hopelessly lost. The city had been laid out much like the spokes of a wheel. The coliseum and governmental buildings were clustered in the ‘hub’. Streets formed ‘spokes’ running away from the center, each lined with what appeared to be shops of one kind or another and other buildings similar to the one she’d just left, which she thought might be other apartments. Beyond the shops were single family dwellings, the homes of the Atlanteans. If she followed the street to the waterfront she was bound to find Adonis’ home without much difficulty.

  She just hoped she could recognize it. All the buildings looked very similar, and she had only seen Adonis’ home once, at night.

  Thor fell into step beside her as she made her way through the crowded marketplace, trying to ignore the fact that a good half of the people she passed weren’t wearing a stitch of clothing. A few, mostly older people, wore robes similar to the one Alexis was now wearing. Some looked as if they were ‘dressed’ in exotic body art, merely painted. Some of the younger people were dressed in really wild costumes of feathers, leather, virtually transparent cloth—Atlanteans didn’t seem to suffer from a need for conformity.

  Around her, people were gesturing and nodding, but no one spoke out loud.

  It wasn’t hard, really, to ignore them, despite their outlandish dress, or the lack thereof.

  Thor was another matter.

  “Call me surprised,” Alexis said dryly when he refused to allow her to outdistance him.

  “I was not sent to escort you,” Thor said.

  Alexis stopped, studying him for a long moment. “Aurora says Atlanteans never lie. You say you weren’t sent to escort me, and yet here you are, following me.”

  “Rarely.”

  “What?”

  “Atlanteans rarely lie.”

  “Ah ha!” Alexis said triumphantly. “I knew it!” It was probably the first thing anyone had said to her since she’d been here that she’d wholeheartedly believed.

  Thor smiled faintly but looked puzzled. “You are pleased to know that we sometimes lie? You are an odd creature.”

  The comment immediately raised her ire since Helen had only just referred to her as a creature, repeatedly and not flatteringly. “If you call me creature again, I’ll give you a fat lip,” Alexis snapped.

  Thor’s brows rose. “Violent too,” he said, a faint smile curling his lips.

  “Which you find amusing?” Alexis demanded, trying to decide whether she was being insulted again or not.

  “In one so small, yes.”

  “I’m average. You’re big. There’s a difference.”

  Thor nodded. “About two hands.”

  Alexis’ lips twitched, but she resisted the urge to smile as she turned and started walking once more. “Yours or mine?”

  Thor followed, matching his stride to hers. He looked confused by her question.

  “I mean, yours are about the size of pie plates. If you’re figuring two of those, I guess it would be close. Everybody must look small to you.”

  Thor frowned, a look of concern crossing his features. “This bothers you?”

  Alexis wagged a finger at him admonishingly. “No use fishing for compliments here. You won’t get them.”

  Thor flushed slightly.

  Alexis was both surprised and intrigued. She decided his bashfulness was cute. She wasn’t used to seeing men blush, not when they looked like Thor anyway. She couldn’t imagine him suffering a moment’s self-doubt.

  If possible, he looked even more uncomfortable. “It seemed, before, that you found me … threatening.”

  Alexis’ eyes narrowed to slits. “We are NOT going to be friends if you refer to last night, EVER again! I was not in my right mind. Adonis had hypnotized me or something.”

  Thors brows rose. After a moment, a faint smile curled his lips. “I was referring to when I was trying to ... ah … coax you to come with me.”

  “Oh.” Alexis blushed but looked at him suspiciously.

  “You said I looked big enough and angry enough to break you in half.”

  “Oh.” Alexis thought about it a moment, though she would really have preferred never to remember the previous night, again, as long as she lived. Her lips tightened. “I didn’t say that. Maybe I was thinking it, but you had no business prying into my private thoughts, damn it!”

  Thor fought a round with his patience. “I was not prying. It is hard to tell the difference when you are accustomed to living as we do. I do not set out to ‘read’ your mind--mostly not, anyway--it is just there, as if you have spoken.”

  Alexis wasn’t sure she believed him.

  “It is truth. I swear it.”

  She supposed it sounded reasonable. It was a little hard to judge when she couldn’t do it herself. That didn’t mean she liked it. She resented the hell out of it.

  “I was only curious to know if my size is something that offends you.”

  “How could it offend me?” Alexis asked, not that she was more than half listening. She was still irritated about the lack of privacy for her thoughts.

  “Threatens you then.”

  Alexis shrugged. “Now, no. When you’re pissed, definitely, but don’t think just because you’re bigger than me that I’m going to let you bully me around.”

  Thor stopped, pulling her to a halt, tugging at her arm so that she was looking at him. “You have no need to be so antagonistic. No one here will offer you harm.”

  Alexis took leave to doubt that. “I suppose you think rendering someone unconscious isn’t violent?”

  “You were harmed?”

  Alexis was obliged to admit that he hadn’t hurt her, but that didn’t change the fact that he’d manhandled her and dragged her, naked, into public.

  “This bothers you?”

  “It bothers me a hell of a lot that you people keep reading my mind. I find it very, very rude!”

  “You have the ability to prevent it—but I was referring to a discomfort regarding a lack of clothing.”

  Alexis stopped, ignoring the last remark, which, in her book, hardly deserved an answer. “I do?”

  “You were not aware of this?”

  “Must you always respond to a question with a question?”

  Thor chuckled. “I thought we were conversing.”

  “Not very well. How do I prevent it?”

  “I must suppose much the same as we do.”

  “Which is?” Alexis asked with determined patience.

  “Hard to explain,” Thor said meekly.

  “That’s so helpful!”

  “You are welcome.”

  “You are familiar with sarcasm, I assume?”

  “Not very, but I do recognize it,” Thor said solemnly.

  Despite her irritation, Alexis couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, I’m still not forgiving you f
or dragging me in front of the council naked as the day I was born.”

  “My humblest apologies. I had not realized it was so important to outworlders.”

  “Hmm. I had noticed nobody around here worries much about it,” Alexis said dryly.

  “We have no need to feel shame about our bodies. Many wear clothing to adorn themselves, or shift, depending upon their abilities and nature. Some wear clothing because they are old and feel the cold or damp more than the young. But there is no real need to cover ourselves. The climate is maintained at a temperature comfortable to most.”

  Alexis wondered how he could make something so radical sound so reasonable. Finally, she shrugged. She supposed it was reasonable—to him. Nakedness wasn’t something she had any desire to get used to. Besides, where would be the fun, and excitement, in seeing someone naked for the first time? If you got used to it, it didn’t seem like there’d be much of a thrill.

  Thor grinned.

  Alexis glared at him admonishingly. “Stop it!”

  He looked contrite.

  It was an act. He wasn’t contrite in the least. She could tell by the unholy gleam in his eyes. She steered the subject in a more comfortable direction. “What did you mean when you said ‘shift’? Aurora mentioned that too.”

  “Molecular acceleration. We have found that we can change ourselves physically to suit our needs, and sometimes only for amusement.”

  Alexis looked down at Thor. “Are you saying you aren’t actually wearing anything?”

  “Clothing is required in council, but it would restrict my ability to change if I found it necessary so I … shift. I appear to be clothed.”

  Alexis studied him thoughtfully for several moments and finally turned and began walking once more, wondering why he made himself appear to be wearing clothing, now, if he was comfortable without it. On the other hand, she had to admit she was more comfortable talking to him when he at least appeared to be wearing something. And she supposed, after some thought, although she’d never considered such a thing before, that the danglies between his legs might make life a little difficult if you were an action hero and had to worry about swinging in the breeze. They would definitely get in the way, especially his danglies.

  She glanced in that direction thoughtfully before she considered whether he might notice her perusal, then, self-consciously, looked quickly at his face. She couldn’t help but notice he was looking a little flushed—apparently he had noticed.

  Feeling a blush rise in her own cheeks, she decided just to pretend she hadn’t noticed and picked up the conversation again. “It sounds logical when you say it that way, the shifting thing, but—people can’t do that. How could you accelerate your molecules?”

  Thor smiled wryly. “We simply do, much as you move without thinking, blink, breathe, reach for something.”

  “Sounds like magic.”

  “Magic is either sleight of hand—not real—or something not fully understood. When man first discovered fire, he thought it was magic.”

  “I suppose you have a point, except this shifting thing isn’t something humans can do, not ordinary humans anyway. They don’t have telepathy either.”

  “Not now—not in your time, no.”

  “The time walking thing again. We can’t do that either.”

  “Only Atlanteans can.”

  “No one else? Not even people in the future?--Because I’m assuming by your other comment that you mean people, someday, will be able to speak telepathically.”

  “To my knowledge none save us time walk—but, yes, in the distant future, in the distant past. It is something man had, lost, but will find again.”

  “And you actually know this?”

  “Yes. I know this.”

  “This really gives me a headache.”

  A look of concern crossed Thor’s features. “More likely it is the mind talk. Unfortunately, you will not be allowed a band until the council rules upon it.”

  “That thing Adonis put on his head?”

  Thor nodded.

  “I thought it was something to make him appear to be wearing clothes!”

  Thor chuckled. “No! Do not offer violence. The band is to protect us from others, to give our thoughts privacy. We can filter this talk out at will, but it can be tiring. The band protects us without the effort.”

  “But I can’t have one?”

  “Not until it is decided whether you will go or stay. Until then, the only time you will have any privacy is when you are alone inside a building, or house. Few have the ability to penetrate the walls.”

  Alexis sighed. She was obliged to admit it was perfectly reasonable, that they wouldn’t want to give her an advantage until they knew whether they could trust her or not, but it was damned inconvenient. Headaches aside, how was she supposed to … she cut that thought off.

  Thor looked at her. “You have blocked your thoughts.”

  “I did?”

  Thor stopped walking. “I am curious to know how you learned this.”

  “Beats me,” Alexis said, stopping as well and glancing at her surroundings.

  “And this means?”

  “I don’t know. I wish I did.” She saw with some surprise that they had arrived at Adonis’ home. Pleased that she’d found it so easily, she looked back along the street they’d traversed, realizing she’d been so engrossed in conversation that she’d hardly noticed anything along the way. “Well—thanks for walking me.”

  Thor bowed. “It was my pleasure.”

  Alexis studied him a moment. “Why did you walk me? I mean, if you weren’t told to.”

  Thor’s brows rose. He looked away for a moment, as if considering his answer carefully, before he looked at her once more. “Curiosity?”

  Alexis studied him thoughtfully. Although it sounded perfectly reasonable, under the circumstances, Alexis had a strong feeling that that was only a partial truth.

  He looked uncomfortable. “I do not wish us to be enemies.”

  Alexis was surprised. “I hadn’t really thought about it one way or another.” Her lips twitched. “I don’t know you well enough to hate you—yet,” she said jokingly.

  Thor looked away. Alexis couldn’t tell anything about his expression except that he had obviously not understood that she was teasing, and it had not made him happy.

  “Hey. I was teasing. I probably won’t be here that long, so what does it matter anyway?”

  “It matters.”

  The simple statement bothered Alexis. Although she wasn’t certain what to make of it, she had a suspicion that he wasn’t talking about being ‘just friends’ and she wasn’t sure what constituted morals here in Atlantis. Would it be even be acceptable, assuming she wanted to be friends? Or would she become a ‘scarlet woman’ or something like that? Helen had said she was his first wife, suggesting they, the men, at least, took more than one. She did hope he wasn’t angling to catch himself another wife, because she didn’t care what their traditions were, she didn’t believe in polygamy.

  Thor looked startled, disbelieving, then annoyed. “My first wife?”

  Shaken abruptly from her thoughts, it took Alexis a moment to catch up. She nodded, realizing he’d read her thoughts. Which was beginning to confuse the hell out of her because she was having a hard time remembering what she’d said, and what she’d only thought. It was like picking up the habit of talking to oneself, and then discovering you were going around muttering out loud and everyone could hear you. “Helen.”

  “She told you this?” he said incredulously.

  Alexis stared at him. “Told me what?”

  “That she was my wife?”

  “Yes. Where else would I have heard it?”

  Thor’s lips tightened. “We are not wed.”

  “Uh oh. Guess she won’t be confiding in me again, huh?”

  Chapter Five

  Alexis watched Thor stride away, back in the direction from which they’d come. He didn’t look very happy.

  She shrugge
d. How was she to know Helen had blatantly lied to her? Or that it would bother Thor, for that matter?

  Undoubtedly Helen had decided to take advantage of the fact that Alexis was the only person around who wasn’t telepathic and therefore would have no way of knowing whether she was lying or not.

  The question was, why? And why that particular lie?

  After a moment, Alexis dismissed it. Maybe, if she was here a while, she’d figure it out.

  She was a lot more interested, though, in figuring out a way to make certain she wasn’t here for a while.

  Turning, she climbed the steps to the house and tried the door. It wasn’t locked. Lifting the latch, she cautiously poked her head inside. “Is anybody home?”

  She heard footsteps. A moment later, a girl entered the foyer from one of the rooms that adjoined it. She was dressed—in body paint and nothing else. Fortunately for her, she had a lovely figure. Like most of the Atlantean women Alexis had seen, she was tall, willowy, attractive and very blond.

  Oddly enough, Alexis didn’t feel inclined to hold it against her, despite a lifelong antipathy for tall, willowy blondes.

  The girl smiled, gesturing for Alexis to enter.

  Alexis was more inclined to retreat. She must have gotten the wrong house after all, she decided.

  The girl frowned, moved her lips in a way that was almost comical and finally managed to speak, beckoning with her hand at the same time. “Come. Come.”

  Alexis still wasn’t certain whether to go in or not. Somehow the place didn’t look familiar. Of course, she hadn’t been in any state to pay a great deal of attention to her surroundings, but it seemed to her that the foyer had been tiled in white marble, not gray slate as this was.

  The girl, who looked to be around sixteen, bobbed her head, gestured. “Yes. You stay here.”

  Alexis thought that was what she was saying anyway. She spoke like someone to whom English was a second language, or like someone who’d never spoken before.

  This was going to be fun.

  Alexis moved inside, closed the door behind her and looked around. The impression that she was in the wrong place continued to tease her.

  “I show room.”