CHAPTER SEVEN: For night only
CHAPTER SEVEN: For night only
The journey back to Asphodel Meadows seemed to take half the amount of time with Tomas as company, though watching him attempt to cross Phlegethon’s fires had taken up quite a bit of that time. Mainly because Nika was curious as to how he had crossed the first time and was quite content to watch him balance precariously on rocks on the way back until she’d had to save him from falling in.
Eventually, he’d made it across, and together they continued their journey. This time they went through the Plains of Judgement (for they were coming in the opposite direction of those that were there to be judged and would not be confused with the others), and crossed in front of the palace of Hades and Persephone, which sat on a sprawling acreage of land hidden behind black bars that were decorated in growing vines and blood-red roses. Then, they simply passed the border and they were back in the meadows.
Tar and sand and grass gave way to the smooth, worn cobbled streets Nika had become accustomed to. She caught herself breathing a deep sigh of relief at being back. Tomas sent her a grin, which she ignored – he couldn’t expect her to suddenly become some happy-go-lucky-fucking-skipping-spirit – and together they headed straight for the pub.
Of course, given that the time they got back was mid-afternoon, most of the team were on their break between the rush hours, leaving only Savvas to greet them as they entered the restaurant.
“Well, well, well … what do we have here? Where did you find this bedraggled monster, Tomas?”
Nika scowled. “Call me bedraggled again and I’ll drown you in your own vat of wine.”
Savvas laughed goodnaturedly, before coming around the bar and squeezing Nika into a hug. She hugged him in return.
“It’s good to see you,” she muttered in his ear, his beard scratching against her cheek.
“It’s good to see you, too. I take it you’ve got a plan to get us out of this mess?”
Nika pulled back and looked around at the empty place she called home. “How bad is it? Truly?”
“Everyone’s been offered three hours off, one person dropped from the lunch rota, another from the dinner service. It’s been like this ever since you left.”
“Garth up in his office?”
“Yup.”
“Well then, let’s go and sort this mess out, shall we?”
At the end of the galley bar, to the right of The Nook, there was a staircase that led to the second story where all patrons could find the plumbing. It was also where the staff could find their lockers, and where Nika found Garth, in a tiny shoebox of a back office, crunching token ticket numbers at his desk.
“Going well for you, is it?” Nika asked, leaning against the door jamb.
Garth pulled his thick strands of black hair back from his hands and regarded her. A heavy uneasiness fell between them.
“So, you’re back.”
“I am.”
“Here to officially tender your resignation?” Garth crossed his arms, those silver scales rippling with the effort. Defensive.
“You really think I’d do that? After all this time? After all the things we’ve been through over the years working here?”
“No,” Garth eventually said.
It was Garth who had been the one to see Nika was just a lost little spirit from Tartarus who hadn’t known what she’d wanted, only what she didn’t want. Unbeknownst to Nika at the time, Garth had known what the pressures of family obligation and expectation could do to a Soul: how it could crush them under the weight of responsibility. His great-great grandfather, after all, had been the one to set the libation agreement with Zeus, for no other reason than he was a greedy bastard who wanted more fame, more attention, and more accolades.
When Garth had agreed to give her a trial run, despite the fact she had no experience, he had pulled Nika from the crumbling wreckage of expectations she had always believed herself destined for.
“Well then,” Nika cleared her throat, blinking back tears for the second time in two days – whatever had gotten into her? – “you’ll be pleased to hear the news I bring.”
“Oh?”
“Orpheus is coming to play here. Tomorrow night.”
Garth blinked at her once, slowly. Then again.
“Repeat that for me.”
“Orpheus, the recluse legend, the one and only, is coming to play here tomorrow night. That should draw us in quite a crowd, don’t you think?”
Garth blew out a breath. “You’re serious?”
“And you thought I was leaving for good.”
“Well, fuck. How in Hades did you manage to do that?!”
“I’ll tell you all about that later. Right now, we’ve got a hell of a lot of work to do if we’re going to make this place ready in time. Are you game?”
Garth grinned at her. “Let’s show them all what we can do.”
***
The team, more than happy and willing to be put back to work, had pulled out all the stops.
Rae, genius baker that she was – though Nika was still loath to admit it – had created canapes that practically leapt off the trays, they were so moreish. Juicy prawns wrapped in bacon and dipped in honey, pistachio scoops of sorbet on mini sterling silver teaspoons, and curry bombs that exploded in your mouth when they made contact with a tongue, had all the creatures of the Underworld moaning in delight as they gathered in the pub.
The rest of the kitchen staff were busy preparing the food for those who had chosen to dine with them tonight; their usual three-course menu, perfectly cooked, impeccably presented, all with complimentary bottles of Savvas’ homebrewed wine.
When Savvas and Tomas had gone to spread the word earlier that Orpheus was performing, the voice in Nika’s head had said no one would believe them. But, the two dryads, oak and water alike, had charmed the pants off of anyone who would listen to them, it seemed, for all the tables were full. Even those who didn’t choose to dine milled around the bar – a line now six people deep – craning their necks, hoping to get a view of the maestro that they’d heard of but never heard play.
Thankfully, Rae’s canapes were keeping them quiet while they all waited.
“You’re sure he’s coming?” Garth muttered out of the corner of his mouth as he slithered up to Nika at the hosting station.
Together, they looked towards the wealth corner, where a small platform had been set up as a stage in place of the tables. Those had been moved into the bar now crammed with Souls. The lights that illuminated the small platform caused the rows of wine bottles on the back wall to glow and sent flirting flickers to the audience that waited. The other side of the wall, where the carvings of all who had come to dine with them, appeared to be watching the empty stage too.
“They’ll be here,” Nika said.
“They?”
“Oh, didn’t I tell you? My mother’s escorting them. It was only under the cover and protection of night they could travel out of Tartarus without Hades throwing a hissy fit. My mother’s words.”
“Your mo—? Well,” Garth said, cutting himself off, “We’re in for quite a time.”
As if she had heard them, Nyx appeared in her corporal form and whispered in Nika’s ear. “We are here. Where would you like me to escort Orpheus and his wife?”
Nika cleared her throat and muttered under her breath, “On the stage. Over there.”
Without confirmation, the wisp of power that was her mother skirted past her. Nika couldn’t help it; she shivered. To be close to something that was so powerful yet unseen caused a biological reaction even a daughter could not control.
Then, as if by magic, Orpheus and Eurydice appeared in a plume of black smoke on the stage, the golden lyre in hand. A hush rippled through the crowd, as if they couldn’t quite believe their eyes, before a roar of cheers and applause rippled back.
“Well…” Orpheus chuckled, squinting out into the audience, “I wasn’t quite expecting to be so popular after all these years.”
A chorus of laughter and cheers rung out amongst the crowd again.
“I see some of you are eating,” Orpheus continued, “and I don’t want to disturb your meal, so let’s start with a soft melody I played to call my Eurydice, here, back to me when we were finally together again, shall we?”
The crowd cheered again, even those with their mouths half full, as Orpheus pulled a couple of the barstools on stage up to the microphone, only to offer it to his wife, before he took the other one and sat beside her.
His fingers began to pluck over the strings so quickly it didn’t even look like he was touching them as a sharp, sweet melody began to play out. Orpheus’ mouth opened, and he began to sing, looking at no one but Eurydice.
Nika couldn’t hear the words. All she could hear, all she could feel, was the sharp sting of bitterness at being torn away from one she loved, a trickle of hope that tickled that back of her eyes and throat, and the long, mournful longing of the low notes that carried the song – like waves – through the atmosphere. Looking around, she saw that same melancholy she felt on the faces of those around her. A few were crying. A few were smiling. All the lovers were holding each other, as if scared the song was a prophecy they, too, would have to endure.
Her gaze settled on Tomas, who was standing behind the bar with Savvas, the glass in his hand almost forgotten as he absentmindedly polished it.
He caught her eye.
‘Can you hear what they’re saying?’ he mouthed at her, then pointed to his ear and lips.
She shook her head. When Tomas continued to look at her, she deliberately leaned her head towards Garth and whispered to him to break the tension.
“Since when have Tomas and Savvas been so close? They aren’t …you know, together now, are they?”
“Nah,” Garth leaned down and whispered back. “A few night’s back, Tomas stood up to a couple of rude patrons that Savvas was tired of dealing with. After that, they proceeded to get very, very drunk on Savvas’ wine together. I think your protégé might have been stolen out from under you, but I don’t think Savvas is interested like that.”
Nika scoffed quietly but something uncomfortable stirred inside of her once again. Tomas had cared enough to come after her. He had literally walked into the pit of hell to find her. And though she found him infuriating and puppy-like in his naivety, he had managed to stand up to her a few times in a way that surprised her. Perhaps she would be okay losing him as a protégé if it meant …
The song ended and Nika snapped back to the sound of clapping all around her.
It had just been the song. She sighed in relief.
“Thank you. Thank you,” Orpheus chuckled, still casting loving glances at his wife. “I must admit, I said to my love on the way over here that I wasn’t sure I could still play this thing,” he held up the lyre for all to behold, “but she still sings true.”
Another round of applause broke out until Orpheus held up a hand to quiet the crowd.
“Now, I would like to offer you all something I have never shared with the living or the dead worlds before.”
Feverish whispers broke out.
Orpheus chuckled again. “Fear not, I shall put you out of your misery. You see, it is not I who is truly the maestro of music, but my wife. Who can sing and dance in a way that will entrance all the male Souls – and a few of the women, I should imagine – like no other. And, she has agreed to sing and dance for us tonight. So, if you wouldn’t mind obliging an old gentleman?”
The crowd whooped, some rising from their chairs to clap insistently.
Eurydice smiled in that demure way of hers at them, as if both grateful for the attention and unneeding of it. It was an alluring sort of star quality. Of course, she only had eyes for her husband as she went to stand at the microphone and began to sing.
Not wanting to be caught up in the music again – or alone with her intrusive thoughts – Nika began sweeping the tables. She moved swiftly and deftly between them, clearing as she went, refilling glasses where she could, taking whispered orders with no need for a notepad and accompanying pencil, and delivering the food from a kitchen doing their best not to crash about. Even the pots were trying their best to be silent.
By the time Eurydice was done with her song, all the sections had been taken care of again. Yes, Nika was very good at her job.
Happy that everything was dealt with, Nika stepped out the back of the staff entrance to take a breather in the cool, night air where twilight had descended.
Her mother appeared beside her a moment later.
“You run this place.”
It was a statement, not a question.
“Well, Garth owns it.”
“Yes, but you run it.”
“I do.”
“You’re good at it.”
Another statement.
“I am.”
Nyx looked down, gave Nika a prudent look, and then turned to face the purple sky in front of them.
“I shall speak to Zeus and Hades regarding your little place here.”
“About what?”
An arched eyebrow from her mother.
“I mean, excuse me?”
“It is clear you love this work, and no daughter of mine is going to work herself into the ground only for that upstart, Zeus, to take what he wants. I will tell both him and Hades that I am to be the new investor of the—” Nyx looked at the sign hanging over them, “Zeus’ Watering Hole,” she said, distastefully.
Nika was still caught on the first part. “You want to be our investor?”
“I have already spoken to Orpheus and Eurydice. They have agreed to play once a fortnight at this place, under my protection in the cover of night, and within the walls of this establishment. By day, I’ve suggested they stay out of the way of anywhere Hades might be publicly, but I’m sure he will not cause trouble knowing that I have a personally vested interest in them now. You and your team will be able to assist with matters such as accommodation. Am I correct?”
Nika nodded. “Yes. We can find them safe harbour during the day.”
“Well then, I shall go inside and talk with this Garth, ensure he has enough tokens to keep this place you love so much still running. Away with this silly libations nonsense. I certainly didn’t need it, and I did just fine. So will you, especially with the pull having Orpheus here will give this place.”
“Thank you, Mother.”
“There is one last thing.”
“Yes?” Nika laughed. She should have known.
“Your father and I would like to dine here, sometime soon I should expect. The food looked rather good, and it seems a shame our likings are not on that wall.”
“Yes,” Nika found herself agreeing, “it does.”
“Then it’s settled. I shall go and have a word with Garth. First thing on the agenda is to get him to change the ridiculous name of this place.”
Nika smiled to herself, as her mother stepped back inside. No doubt that would be an interesting conversation to be a part of.
“There you are.”
Nika glanced behind her to see Tomas’ head poking out from the doorway. “We’re turning tables for the next round of guests to see Orpheus perform. You’re needed.”
Nika glanced at her watch, coiled around her in a snake-like fashion. It blinked, then showed her that the evening was almost halfway through.
“Well then,” she said, turning towards Tomas. “Let’s get on with it.”
***
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