For over six hundred years, Darius of Agremon has fought wars on behalf of those who needed his skills in combat. As a lechagos on Strongili, he spends his days commanding the Minoan coastguardsmen against pirates and marauders. His nights are spent alone, for despite having had wives in the past, he has watched them all grow old and die, childless, as he continues to live.
So when he senses immortality in an olive farmer’s young daughter, Darius bargains to take her to wife when she is old enough to marry.
A foundling, Stella works in her adoptive father’s orchard above Akrotiri, climbing the ancient trees to prune and to harvest the strings of pearls from their branches. She fears invaders when she watches flaming arrows arc in the sky, a sign the island is under attack. She worries about how the ground quakes beneath her feet and steam erupts from cracks in the ground. She wonders at the odd tingling she experiences whenever Darius of Agremon is near, a sensation not unlike the one she feels when spending time in the oldest trees.
Unaware of the arrangement her father has made with the lechagos, Stella thinks she has been sold into slavery when Darius comes for her. Her youth has been spent admiring the man who helped her father’s business thrive. Now she has only contempt for him and his hard-headed manner, despite the pleasures he incites whenever he claims her body.
While the earth trembles and a volcano threatens to destroy the island of Strongili, these two will have to forge a relationship that will last far longer than a lifetime—one that must endure an eternity and the disaster that’s about to wipe out the only home Stella has ever known.
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“You will release her,” Darius said in the language he deemed closest to the one they spoke.
“I think not,” her captor replied with an evil grin. He pinched a lock of her hair between his thumb and forefinger. “Red-headed whores always bring much coin at the slave market.”
Darius bristled, and for a moment he was glad Stella couldn’t understand their language. “Release her, or you will die,” he stated. Then a flicker of recognition had him thinking he had seen the man before.
The tallest one, who stood opposite Darius, allowed a huge grin, spreading his arms wide while he asked, “By what sword?”
At that very moment, a flaming arrow arced through the sky to the east, capturing the attentions of the marauders. Darius took the brief opportunity to duck sideways and sweep a foot against the nearest invader’s leg.
Dislodged from beneath him, the leg’s kick straight out from his body sent the man stumbling backwards. He landed hard on the ground, and as he did so, Darius helped himself to his sword. He plunged it into the invader’s neck and quickly pulled it out at the very moment the leader lunged into action.
Aware the man holding Stella was moving backwards, Darius dared a glance in her direction before he met his attacker’s first move. Stopping the sideways slice of his sword with his newly acquired weapon, Darius winced at the ineffectiveness of his counter move. Although the weapon was poorly balanced—the sword’s slightly curved blade was thicker toward the end—Darius managed to adjust his hold on the hilt to compensate and he took another swing.
The leader jumped back, apparently surprised at the agility Darius displayed. “Your moves defy your age, old man,” he said before beginning an attack.
| Language | Status |
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Greek
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Stefanos Karampalis
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Portuguese
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Tânia Nezio
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