"Demetri, I'm telling you I had phoned my brother when those redheads just appeared from nowhere."

"And I think you were dreaming; there was no one with you."

We were in the reception, sitting on the pale-toned sofas, bickering. Donatella had a look of consternation on her face. Once every often she would glare at me.

"That's cause they left!"
He gave me a concerned glance. I wasn't mad. I know what l had seen!

"Maybe the stress of the past few days has got to you."
"Or this castle is haunted." I replied icily.

Heidi strode in then with a blue, sheer dress and high-heeled wedges. Her face was an emotionless mask.

Demetri stood and shrugged at her. She looked behind her, and not too far was Marcus dawdling behind, his brows strained.

"Heidi, call Ms Bianchi once more. Demetri make preparations for Makayla's meal and accommodations."

I had to strain to hear him nicely but his personnel thought he was clear as a bell. Demetri went away and Heidi stood beside Donatella, who flinched when their elbows brushed.

"Forgive me, I had a chat with my brothers and prior, we had attempted Ms Bianchi's line, but she had not responded as of yet."

I nodded, despondently.

"Let us go to my chambers."

I stiffened. He looked carefully at me but said no words. At the threshold of his room his back stooped, a blaze sparked in his black eyes. His nostrils flared. I gaped at him.

"You ok?"
His fiery eyes caught mine and the fire was put out.

"I am."

His face was not contorted in rage but it had hints of worry and resentment.

He sat on his bed which had imprints of my body and he took the copy of the novel ,Heidi, in his hand and stared at it. I stood there awkwardly before closing the door.

"Do you wish to hear some tales?"

I slowly padded up to his bed before sitting next to him. It was probably afternoon. But I had to think of something else, not that I would never get home. Not that I would be a pauper on the streets of Volterra.

"I want to mention two characters l never mentioned of Greek mythology, Meleager and Atalanta. Atalanta is a virgin huntress, and Meleager was her compatriot. I would like to explain how the fates function through these characters."

He had tugged me out of my spiral of negativity.

"When Meleager was born, the Fates predicted he would only live until a piece of wood, burning in his family's hearth, was burnt to ash.

Althaea, his mother heard their prophecy, by chance, and immediately doused and hid it in their attic in an oak wood trunk.

The boy grew into a formidable hunter. Oeneus, the king of Calydon, commanded Meleager to gather up heroes from all over Greeceto hunt the that had been terrorizing his kingdom."

He was a soft-spoken guy so l had to lean close and stay bat-silent to hear his story.

"He gathered great men, the Argonauts, Atalanta, the virgin hunter and his love interest, as well as his uncles and younger brother. Atalanta wounded the boar and Meleager killed it. He gave her its hide since she had pierced its tough flesh first, and he was hoping she would finally take notice of his love.

Meleager's uncles , the famed archer and grew enraged that the prize was given to a woman. Meleager killed them in an argument.

When his mother discovered this in revenge, she placed the piece of wood, she had hidden so long ago into the hearth. And he perished. So, that the prediction of the Fates be fulfilled."

I looked at his lap.

"That family was more than dysfunctional; son kills uncles and mother kills him in spite? That is cold."

"Many families of old cared of their honour, Althaea was only avenging the honour of her maternal home, rightly so. What would you do if someone did that to you?"

I thought about his words.

"If someone hurt my brother, Jamal I would feel like killing them but murder doesn't right murder."

Marcus looked at me with an impressed look. He continued.

"You see, when a man was birthed, the Fates threaded his future, guided his steps, and created consequences for each action according to the Gods.

But the fate of a man is not permanent, the gods or even the person, himself could influence his own life. They became the goddesses of death, Moirai Thanatoio, due to one of the sisters deciding the day of death of a person born."

"They were consistently portrayed as three spinners, each of the three Fates had a different task, revealed by her very name: spun the thread of life, measured its allocated length, and cut it off with her shears.

Sometimes, each of the Fates was assigned to a specific period of time: controlled the past, the present, and the future."

I was resting against his black, fluffy headboard. My curls against his jacket, on his arm. His legs were on the floor.

Mine were curled beneath a throw Demetri had brought earlier. The light being slanted through his dark curtains had reduced to a drop a minute.

"Psyche was a gorgeous woman. She became revered soon in Greece as a mortal reincarnation of the Love Goddess, Aphrodite.

The Love Goddess soon became jealous of the attentions mortal men gave her and see sent her son Eros to punish the woman, either by making her fall in love with an ugly man or by making mortal men repulsed by her form."

"Wait didn't you tell me Eros was a primordial God and so how is he her son, when she came after?"

Marcus smiled.

"Very good observational skills you have there. In later texts, he was rewritten as the goddess' progeny, as it was less complicated."

I nodded.

"Eros beheld her and he was smitten, so he did as her mother wished, in a manner. No man approached her; they were intimidated by her beauty due to Eros. Her parents began to worry of their daughter's future, so they consulted the Oracle of Delphi.

The Oracle made it known to them that her only hope of betrothal was if they abandoned her on a rocky outcrop, where she would meet her husband.

She would never be allowed to know his face and would only meet him in the evenings; so, the parents wondered what fearsome beast this was, their daughter would wed, if he wouldn't even let his wife see him."

The was a rap on Marcus' door.

"Enter."

Demetri bowed as he entered; in his hand was a tray with pasta and a brown stew with herbs seasoned over it.

Beside the dish was a glass tumbler with a cocktail. Marcus whispered something to him and Demetri bowed again before exiting.

Demetri had handed the tray over to Marcus, the lovely scent wafted towards my nostrils.

I looked at it zealously. He slipped it gently into my hands.

"Here, you must be hungry."
I gave him wide eyes.

"What about you?"
"I will feed later on."

I was wondering about the choice of words. But since he insisted l inhaled the meaty odour and gulped it down.

"But Psyche's parents knew not to go against the Fates' decision. So, they left her on the hill above the sea, alone...Zephyr, the East Wind took her up and dropped her outside a palace.

In the palace she wandered in it. It was dark, now evening time. She attempted to light a nearby torch, but a voice bid her not to.

It told her the terms of her marriage to him, would be he would love her and she could whatever she liked but never were she to see him."

I washed down the pasta with the drink. It burnt slightly on my throat but it was citrus-y and had a taste of berries.

"Hmm, this is good. What's in this?"

He had been entranced so much by his own tale that he stared at the wall, he moved his gaze to the glass in my hands.

"I think cranberries and orange."

I licked my lips in satisfaction. He smiled a little. And l remembered how close we laid together and my heart kicked up its beating.

"The husband visited her by night and then after a time she was pregnant. She was overjoyed but worried greatly. How would she raise her child with a man she had never seen?

When she asked her friends what she was to do one day when she visited them, they told her he was waiting to kill her, out of envy they poisoned her heart against him, for they were not happy.

They gave her a dagger and told her to strike whilst he slept. Then one evening after he fell asleep; she took an oil lamp and her gifted dagger. When she put it near his face, she saw how beauteous he was.

He was not a beast! He was a God, the God Eros. In her surprise she dropped the lamp and it burnt his face. He woke and was saddened.

He told her she betrayed him and did not trust him. Gods and mortals could not love as equals and this was the only way he could be with her.

He revealed to her that his mother wanted to punish her, for no wrong of her own but he pricked himself with his own arrow and fell in love with her. He said that now that she knew who he was they could be together no more..."

I belched and I felt red hot.
"Excuse me."

Marcus grinned.
"Now that you have finished dining l will finish my story and we will wait for Ms Bianchi in the reception area, alright?"

I nodded.

"Psyche realised her error in doubting her husband and set out to prove she was worthy to love him, as a mortal.

She was intercepted by Aphrodite during her search. Aphrodite said she had to complete three tasks to prove she was worthy to be with her son."

I saw it had become dark and I pulled on his sleeves.

"Marcus, as much as I am enjoying this, I think I need to finalise my travel plans sooner, rather than later. Do you mind telling me the ending and talking about the tasks Psyche did later?"

He smiled.

"Of course. Now, where was I? Oh, yes. She successfully completed her tasks but had to deliver a box to Aphrodite. She opened it in curiosity as she wondered what was in it.

Aphrodite had tricked her of course and put some sleep in the box. She collapsed on the road. Hermes found her and send a message to Eros that his wife was in danger.

Eros rushed to her and he realised he was wrong. His wife had braved a goddess all alone to be with him. She was more than his equal. He took her to Mount Olympus and begged Zeus to help her. Zeus amazed by the love they had for one another, made her immortal and she bore Eros a child."