Athena on the other hand; Colin smiled at his unintentional joke, Athena was another kettle of fish altogether. Despite her iron clad exterior and those piercing grey eyes, when he and Athena had been in such close proximity, not much more than five minutes ago, Colin was struck by how incredibly attractive she was.
Upstairs in his room Colin showered, turning the temperature lower as he finally soaked away the stresses and strains of the previous twenty four hours. Being more than a little aroused was not an unpleasant reaction to the firmness and proportion of the female form he had just accidently handled, but it wouldn’t do; it would spoil the lines of the suit he was about to wear.
Colin checked his wardrobe. Several new items had been added to his collection since he had left his room after the grand tour this afternoon; he resolved to ask Erebus whether they had a tailor on site; to have provided three suits in varying colours, as close to ‘made to measure’ as made no difference was nothing short of a miracle. Colin looked at his reflection in the cheval mirror and was impressed at the smart, rugged looking guy of forty three summers that he saw.
“Amazing what a good suit can do” he thought “I look like a male model and worse still, I give the impression that butter wouldn’t melt; I need to dirty up a tad, get some jeans, a Judas Priest t-shirt and a clapped out leather jacket back so that I look more like a guy who has nineteen kills to his name and more to come. This Larcombe Manor style of life will make me soft!”
As he descended the stairs towards the dining room he found Erebus waiting for him in the hallway.
“You look very presentable Phoenix, well done! A word to the wise; Athena had a pretty torrid time of it before she came to us, she’ll tell you some of it tonight, but she’s buried a lot more very deep inside and she’s vulnerable; despite her outer shell. I wouldn’t like to see her hurt dear boy, understood?”
“Perfectly Erebus” Colin replied.
He accompanied his host and leader into the dining room. The other four senior Olympus members fell silent. Clearly Colin was not to be privy to everything that was discussed when they were spending time together. Either that or it was Erebus who expected a respectful silence when he entered, or perhaps demanded it.
“Good evening” Erebus began “let us two get a drink and we’ll join you; I think we should make time for proper introductions then before we sit down to dinner.”
The steward who had brought the afternoon’s tea and cakes was now acting barman. There was nothing as vulgar as a bar in the room naturally, but a silver tray on a side table held a selection of light drinks and glasses. As soon as they returned to the others with their chosen drinks, Erebus began the introductions.
“May I introduce our newest operative to you; his code name is Phoenix.”
He moved to take a place next to Athena, between her and the three men.
“Phoenix, may I introduce Thanatos, Alastor and Minos.”
Each man stepped forward and shook Colin by the hand; he was surprised by the obvious warmth of their welcome, expressed by Thanatos:-
“Welcome aboard. We’re very glad you’ve been able to join us. People of your calibre are thin on the ground Phoenix. I’m sure the Olympus Project will benefit from having you around.”
Erebus took Athena by the elbow and gently persuaded her to step forward “You two have bumped into one another already! For a more formal introduction; Phoenix this is Athena.”
Colin took the hand she grudgingly extended and lowered his head a little; without breaking eye contact he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. Athena was not amused, but with Erebus watching their every move she quickly looked away and headed off to take her place at the dining table. Before she sat down she looked back and said:-
“I wouldn’t expect you to know this Phoenix” she said, stressing his code name as if it were something nasty or inferior “a gentleman waits for a lady to offer her hand with the knuckles towards him; this will indicate her willingness to receive a kiss.”
“I’m no gentleman” replied Colin “I can only apologise. Your colleagues had given me such a warm welcome that I assumed I was among friends. Perhaps the training I am scheduled to receive while I’m staying at Larcombe Manor will include matters of etiquette? Will you be my teacher I wonder?”
Athena scowled at him and shook her linen napkin vigorously as if she was wielding a bullfighter’s cape. Colin smiled to himself. He knew he was getting to her; it might be interesting to find out if the ice maiden would melt. He spotted Erebus at the opposite end of the table; the old man was frowning as he switched his attention from Athena to him and back again.
“I think we should forget all this nonsense and enjoy our dinner. We have a lot of ground to cover later.”
The drinks steward had slipped out to summon the dining room staff and they soon brought in the first course. The steward returned in the role of sommelier and the meal progressed, rather like the luncheon earlier, with superbly prepared food accompanied by sympathetically selected wines. Conversation was at a minimum on either side of the table and Colin just let the various courses excite his taste buds.
They had Var Salmon from the Faroe Islands for a starter served with Avocado and Grapefruit Sabayon; Colin wondered where the salmon paste in his sandwiches at Shaw Park Mines had come from because they never tasted anything like this!
As they waited for the main course the Three Amigos chatted to Colin about his grand tour and what he thought of the clever conversion of the ice house. The frosty nature of the sidelong glances coming from the lady on the opposite side of the table from his new friends reminded Colin of what the ice house would have felt like if it had remained untouched.
When the Bresse Duck with beetroot, cabbage and verjus arrived all six people around the table tucked in with relish; it was magical and the Pinot Noir the steward poured was a more than acceptable combination. Colin sat back and rested for a while as he finished off his third glass. He was mellow.
Their dessert was mercifully light on the palate; they enjoyed a slice of champagne cheesecake with elderflower and raspberries that Erebus informed him had come from the walled garden, as had the beetroot and cabbage for the main course.
“My complements to the gardener” said Colin “in that case.”
Athena stifled a laugh.
Was that the first crack in her armour Colin wondered? Erebus ordered coffees and brandies for the drawing room and suggested they all moved along the corridor so that the night’s main event; the unveiling of the stories behind the other founder members of Olympus and why their code names were chosen.
“Are we sitting comfortably?” asked Erebus five minutes later “then let us begin!”
CHAPTER 7
ATHENA — the goddess of intelligence; skill, peace and warfare. Also of battle strategy, handicrafts and wisdom. According to most traditions, she was born from Zeus’s head fully formed and armoured. Poets describe her as ‘grey-eyed’ or having especially bright, keen eyes. Her symbol is the olive tree.
Athena rose from her chair and stood beside Erebus.
“I was born in London in 1974; my parents had a place near Vincent Gardens in Belgravia. I spent my school days at boarding schools in Surrey and Berkshire. I studied Classics at Clare College, Cambridge leaving in ’95 with a first class honours degree.
Until I went up to Cambridge, I hadn’t met any ‘real’ people. My parent’s friends, if I saw any at all when I was home for the holidays, were upper class, privileged and extremely wealthy, like my mother and father. None of them had very much to say to a small child; or indeed a teenage girl. Even at University, there was an ‘us’ and ‘them’ divide. Students from schools such as my own were well represented and it seemed incumbent upon us to stay within our own social circle; join the ‘right’ clubs and societies and so forth.