By Qohelet
NC17: This story contains scenes of graphic sexual activity between a man and a woman. If you are under 18, or if this is illegal where you live, please go away.
Hercules, Iolaus, Deaneira, Alcmene, and Iphicles are all characters from classic Greek myth who have been temporarily legally appropriated by Universal Studios and Pacific Renaissance Pictures, Ltd. No copyright infringement is intended. Hochma belongs to God, and Jael belongs to me, and both are used with permission. The identities of Jael's family have been altered to protect the innocent <BG>.
Set me as a seal upon your heart (Song of Solomon 8:6a).
You know, I could get used to this, Jael thought as she walked into the tavern. The smells and sights of Corinth were still new and strange, foreign and exotic, to the young woman from Ephesus. She sat down on a bench next to a table and waited for the barmaid, who was busy with a pair of young men sitting in the back corner. Looking over at the two patrons, Jael's eye lit on the smaller of the men, with his curly yellow hair. As the blond flirted with the barmaid, he noticed Jael staring at him and flashed a lopsided grin. In her mind, Jael could hear her sister's voice: Daughters of our people are modest, girl! Stop staring at that man! He's a stranger, not meant for one of us!
The barmaid finally tore herself away from the attractive pair and took Jael's request. A few minutes later she returned with a mug of ale.
"I didn't ask for this," Jael said, confused.
"It's a gift," the barmaid answered. "From him." She indicated the wiry man with the blond curls.
"Thank him for me," Jael responded. She hoisted the mug in the young man's direction and smiled shyly. She was thirsty and had very little money; it was permissible to accept gifts from strangers in times of genuine need. On his way out, the strongly-built blond and his statuesque companion walked past her, then turned and smiled. "Thank you again," Jael said.
"You're very welcome," the shorter man answered, and reached for her hand, bending to touch it softly to his lips. When she pulled forcefully away, he frowned, adding, "I'm sorry. I meant no offense."
She blushed. "My people don't have much contact with strangers. It's a religious thing."
He shook his head, and the blond curls flew. "Strange religion, that divides people instead of bringing them together."
Jael shrugged.
The young man smiled. "Well, hope it doesn't get too lonely. Good night then."
"Good night," Jael said. If you only knew. she thought; here in Corinth, away from family, knowing no-one . . .
Loud cries roused her from her reverie. Before she could move, a man came flying in the window next to where she was sitting, a man with a sword. He hit the table in front of her and rolled backward, landing on his feet. The young blond man came scrambling in after him, brandishing another sword. Neither did not seem to see Jael as they charged toward one another, and in the thrust-and-parry of the scuffle the blond's opponent stumbled and lurched toward Jael. Unable to move, pinned in by the now-collapsed table, she could not evade the blade in his hand, and, bleeding, she slid to the floor as darkness enfolded her.
The next thing Jael saw was the face of the blond's tall companion looking down at her. "Iolaus?" he said, "She's awake."
"Thank the gods!" The wiry young man said as he walked toward the cot where Jael was lying. He reached out a hand and put it to her forehead; she pulled away. "Hush," he whispered. "It's OK. We're not going to hurt you."
Her throat was bone dry. "Stranger..." she croaked.
The taller man handed a cup of water to the one he called Iolaus, who held it to Jael's lips. "Drink." As she tried to pull away, he put his arm firmly around her shoulders. "Drink! Are you so afraid of strangers that you'd rather die?"
She drank.
She remembered little of the next few days: nightmares, or delirium, in which she was on a ship, taking water, sinking...then flashes of a tall brown-haired stranger with muscled arms and a surprisingly gentle touch...glimpses of the man of the soft voice and golden curls...being sponge-bathed by a woman with honey-colored hair... waking drenched in sweat. When she next opened her eyes, a different young man was sitting at the side of her cot, looking down at her with dark pools of eyes.
"Mother? She's awake, I think."
The older brunette woman entered the room and smiled widely. "You are awake!"
Jael's voice was faint. "Yes, lady. And ... who are you?"
"My name is Alcmene. This--" she indicated the young man-"is my son Iphicles. We've been taking care of you since you were injured."
Jael spun her head around to look at the brown-eyed man. "You mean he...he saw me?" She felt the color leave her face.
Alcmene smiled. "No, I did that part. Don't worry. Our women's secrets are safe."
Jael smiled. "How long have I been here? And where is here?"
"My other son brought you here after you were hurt. The man who stabbed you was attacking him and his friend; you got caught in the middle of the fight."
"Your other son ..." Jael racked her brain for the name, "Iolaus?"
Alcmene laughed but shook her head no. "Practically. No, my son is Hercules. Iolaus is his best friend. What's your name?"
Hercules, Jael thought. His legend had reached even to Ephesus. Well that explains those arms! "Jael. My name is Jael. How long ...?"
"A couple of weeks, Jael. Now lie back, you're still weak. I'll get you something to eat, you must be starving." Alcmene left Jael alone a moment, then returned with rich stew and helped her eat. Trapped by her illness into eating with strangers, Jael prayed for forgiveness.
The next morning, Hercules and Iolaus arrived to see Jael sitting up in the sun of the courtyard. She smiled as they came bounding up the path; her eyes were riveted to the smaller man, hypnotized by the way he moved, his golden hair, the sky blue of his eyes. Noticing her staring, he stopped suddenly and looked down at himself.
"Uh ... am I undressed?" His eyes lit up as looked back up at her and smiled.
Jael giggled. "Sorry," she lied; "I'm having trouble focusing." Now I know why we've been warned about strangers ...Blessed are You, God of my people, for having created such beauty!
Hercules came around the corner into the courtyard, grinning ear to ear. "You're up! That's wonderful!" He sat down next to Jael on the stone bench. "We were worried for awhile, but I was sure Mother could bring you through." His smile faded and his face took a serious cast. "I'm so sorry you got hurt--we should have been more careful."
"Who we?" Iolaus interrupted. "I'm the one who got her skewered!" He knelt on the grass in front of her, and took her hand. "Will you forgive me?"
Anything, she thought, blushing. "Of course."
"Not afraid of us anymore?" Hercules asked, seeing Jael clutching Iolaus' hand.
"It's not only fear," Jael responded. "It's been hard since I left home; my people keep pretty much to themselves. I'm never sure of my manners, not knowing how to behave."
"Well," Hercules answered, "you seem to be doing just fine to me."
Jael stayed at Alcmene's for a month, recovering her strength. Iolaus and Hercules and his family were there frequently, and Jael and Iolaus spent hours together chattering about philosophy and mysticism and life. Iolaus had traveled East, Jael discovered, and learned many things which she had thought were superstition. He knew pressure points to relieve pain--or cause it, if necessary. He had learned to read the signs in the air and the tracks on the ground to hunt; he could even call the animals to him and receive the willing gift of their lives when need be. He could navigate by the stars and read the weather from the sky. She, in turn, taught him the lore of her people, the stories of their journeys through the desert and settlement in their homeland, of the blessings granted by their God and the punishment of exile for faithlessness. They read each other poetry for hours, answering Archilochus with the epics of Miriam and Deborah. Finally, one day when Iolaus arrived to see Jael, he found her reading, but she put the scroll hurriedly behind her when he approached.
He noticed she was blushing and reached for the scroll. "C'mon, Jael, anything that can make you turn THAT red must be good!" He grabbed it away from her.
"Iolaus! Stop! I can't show you this, it's ... it's sacred!" Laughing, she wrenched the scroll back out of his hands, only to drop it on the flagstones.
In a flash he scooped it up and ran across the yard, standing just out of her reach. He read a few lines and stopped still in his tracks. "Jael??!!! This stuff is ... well, from what you've taught me of your people, sacred is not the word I would have used!"
"Well, just because we're taught not to get close to strangers doesn't mean we can't get close to anybody! Otherwise, where would our young ones come from?"
"I'd been meaning to ask you about that," he said, blue eyes sparkling with laughter.
Jael pulled a tree branch down from over her head and smacked him with the end. "You promised to take me fishing, not sit here reading! I need less poetry and more sunshine!"
Gathering up the scroll as he took her hand, Iolaus asked, "Why can't we have both?" He helped her up in front of him on his roan mare and they galloped off to the stream.
About halfway there, Iolaus slipped into a daydream, staring at Jael's long dark hair, that covered her back to the waist. He watched the sun glint off her back, and slowly became aware of the movement of her body in front of him, and the back of the horse rocking under him. She smelled of chamomile and cinnamon, and his body started to have ideas of its own about the afternoon....
When they arrived at the stream, he dismounted the mare and reached up to help Jael down. As she slid down the front of his body over his half-tumescent groin, she blushed. "I'm s-sorry," he stammered. "Horses do that to people sometimes." What is the matter with you, Iolaus? When did women start to make you stammer? He shook his head and went to bait his fishhook.
Fishing was slow. Iolaus had draped his fishing line over a tree branch, trusting the rustle of the leaves to tell him of a bite. He and Jael were sitting under the tree, tired of waiting for lunch, tossing grapes in the air and catching them in their mouths. He reached for a particularly large grape, and peeled the skin off, holding it out to Jael. "Your grape is peeled, milady." When she reached out to take it, he pulled it away. "Uh-huh. Open wide!"
Expecting him to toss it at her, Jael leaned back, opening her mouth. Instead, he leaned forward, sliding it smoothly with his fingers between her teeth and under her tongue. A strange sensation shot through her, beginning where he had touched her lips and ending in the tips of her toes, almost an electric shock. She jumped.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I didn't mean to startle you." He pulled back from her an inch or two, and sat gazing at her. "I meant to ... never mind. Lessee, where's that poem you were reading?" He dug through the carpet-bags on his mare until he found the small scroll. Returning to the shade, he opened it on his lap. As he read, his smile got broader and broader and when he looked up, Jael's fiery cheeks made her forehead and throat look pale indeed.
"This is nothing to be ashamed of, Jael!" Iolaus offered. "It's exquisite!"
"I'm not ashamed, I'm embarrassed. I never thought I'd be reading that with--"
"--a stranger," he finished. "Just once, just for one day, can we forget about that? Can you just see me as me, rather than some separate species of life?"
Jael looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Iolaus. I know it's hard. It's hard for me too, to leave home where I was so insulated from the world and to journey here. You and Hercules and his family have made it so much easier than I have any right to ask. But this--" she took the scroll from his hand-"this is not something we often share, even with one another. I wish you hadn't seen me with it. I wish we hadn't brought it with us."
He took the scroll from her, opened it and read. "But it's magnificent! 'Sustain me with raisins, refresh me with apples; for I am faint with love'."
Just then Jael caught a glimpse of his fishing line, which was wagging from a fish having taken the bait. "I'm faint with hunger, and it looks like we have a fish!"
Iolaus sighed as he got up to go clean the fish.
After dinner, Jael had pulled some long grass from the banks and was weaving it. Iolaus retrieved the scroll again. "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is passed, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come." He shook his head. "Wow." Holding the book out toward her, he asked, "Which is your favorite part?"
Trembling inside, Jael put down her weaving, took the scroll and read. "My beloved is all radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand. His head is the finest gold; his eyes are like doves beside springs of water, bathed in milk, fitly set." While she was reading, Iolaus had moved over next to her, close enough for her to feel his breath on her cheek, his gaze boring into her. She looked quickly away and kept reading. "His cheeks are like beds of spices..."
Iolaus reached out and took her hand, pressing it to the side of his face. She went on.
"...yielding fragrance. His lips are lilies..."
He moved her fingertips to brush his lower lip softly.
"...distilling liquid myrrh."
Then he took the scroll out of her hand and put it down on the grass next to her, as he finished for her: "This is my beloved and this is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem."
Jael's skin was flushing hot, her heart was pounding, and a warmth was spreading from deep inside her belly as she lost her breath. Frozen in time, she wondered what would happen next, knowing that to advance was forbidden, but to retreat would be grief she could not bear. She could not move and dared not run, but waited, as the world sat still. Finally, as if in slow motion, Iolaus raised her upturned hand, still suspended in the air in front of him, up to his lips and kissed the palm. Tentatively, he reached out with his other hand to touch her cheek, grasp the back of her neck, pull her face closer to his and rest his lips easily on hers. Slowly, his kiss became more insistent, until finally he probed softly with his tongue.
She stiffened briefly at the unfamiliar sensation, and he withdrew, pulling back slightly from her. "Jael," he asked quietly, "have you ever been-"
The brunette shook her head. "No." She looked down at the ground. "I guess that means it wouldn't be very good for you. I know Greek girls have lots of experience by the time they're my age."
Iolaus chuckled. "I don't know," he answered, pointing at the small scroll on the ground. "You've got all the directions right there...."
Jael smiled and leaned up against the great trunk of the shade tree, reaching out to the gentle man she had come to care so much about. Enfolded in his strong arms, they stretched out onto the grass and began the dance of love.
Gently, Iolaus kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck. He wandered lazily up to her ears, drawing circles around the lobes with his tongue and sucking briefly before moving on. Each touch, each kiss made her breathe more quickly, fire spreading through her limbs until she felt dizzy. His hand began to wander over her shoulders, down her arms, to her sides, her belly, coming to rest on a breast whose nipple was already straining at the covering cloth. His kisses became more insistent, and her response more enthusiastic, as she mimicked his strokes and caresses of her body on his own. His blue eyes grew sparkling and intense as the pupils became dense and black, his breath coming hotter and more rapidly as he opened the front of her dress and bent to suckle her breasts, first one then the other, feather touches growing more forceful as their passion rose.
His hands traveled down her body, then returned, gathering her skirt up to her waist. As he teased her nipples with tongue and teeth, his hands stroked her legs, up her inner thighs to their apex in its nest of soft brown curls. She gasped when he first touched her womanhood, shuddering and pulling back slightly. With his other hand, Iolaus brushed her face, raining kisses on it, whispering, "Its OK, Jael. It will be OK. Just relax and trust me."
Ignoring the urgency building in his own body, he helped Jael find a comfortable position on the grass and turned his tongue's attention lower. Slowly, he traced a lazy path up the inside of her right thigh, kissing and licking and nibbling as she began to moan wordlessly. As if of their own accord, her hips began to move before he ever reached his goal, and her thighs clamped hungrily around his head as he found the bud of sensation deep within her cleft. She was soaking wet with her own excitement, and as he pursued her clitoris with his probing tongue, drinking her deeply, she reached down and clutched at his golden curls. Finally, her entire body stiffened and she lost herself in waves of satisfaction, to the sound of a muffled scream. Whimpering with a mixture of desire and relief, she reached out for him. Pulling away from her tender places, he moved up her body to kiss her fiercely as he divested himself of the leather pants bridling his swollen manhood.
Stroking her hair and her face with one hand, he used the other gently, gradually, to open her legs and guide his straining shaft home into her depths. As he entered her, she gave a gasp at the twinge of pain, but as he began slowly to thrust inside her, he murmured, "Ah, love, that's over, I swear, I'll never hurt you again." He reached down to stroke her nubbin as he pumped in and out of her, straining to hold himself back until he had again felt her tense and gasp, breath coming ragged, her hands thrusting under his arms and up to his shoulders, holding on for dear life as he filled her with his seed. Spent, he rolled off her and collapsed onto the ground, gathering her up into his arms.
Now I know why my mother warned me about strangers! she thought as she curled up next to him, and they both drifted off to sleep with her head on his shoulder.
It was well into the afternoon when Jael awoke to a pair of soft blue eyes gazing down at her. Iolaus was lying next to her in the grass. "Well it's about time, sleepyhead!" He bent down to kiss her gently.
As the fog in her head cleared, she remembered what had happened earlier. Oh gracious God, forgive me! What have I done?? She turned her back on her lover and said, "Iolaus, please take me back to Alcmene's. Now." I don't know how I'll face her, Jael thought, but I don't have anywhere else to go.
Puzzled, he reached over and put his hand on her shoulder, trying to turn the woman back toward him. She pushed her skirt back down and staggered to her feet, running to where the mare was grazing. Flinging herself onto the mare's back, she cried out in pain as her fresh wound hit the animal's backbone. Tears flooded down her face.
Iolaus got up and walked over to the mare, gently lifting Jael off her back. "Hush, sweet, hush. Come on, wade in the stream, it will help." He tied her skirt up around her waist and helped her into the stream.
"It's cold!" she complained.
"That's the point," he answered. "The cold takes away the pain and the swelling. At least, it always has when I've gotten hurt."
"You've never had a hurt like this," she shot back.
His face clouded and he did not answer, but instead walked into the stream himself and took her in his arms. "I know, Jael, but wouldn't you rather the pain had come from someone who cares about you than from someone who sees you as property, or a brood animal?"
She thought a moment, then smiled softly. "I guess that means I shouldn't complain, huh?"
"You complain all you want, sweet; I'll listen. But I can't promise I won't want an encore performance." He nuzzled her neck softly as the water made music with the rocks along the shore.
It was evening before they got back to Corinth. The cold water had made Jael much more comfortable on the ride home, but she was still walking a bit stiffly as she and Iolaus brought the extra fish he had caught to Alcmene for dinner. Alcmene stifled a smile as she looked at Iolaus, then at Jael, then back at Iolaus, and he flashed her a grin. He quickly put a finger to his lips as Jael left the kitchen for the room where she had been sleeping. Alcmene handed Iolaus a knife and pointed at the fish. "Make yourself useful, OK?" She followed Jael into the back of the house.
Alcmene found Jael sitting on her cot, staring at her ruined dress. When the older woman entered, the younger tried vainly to cover the telltale stain. "Child, child, do you think I'm so old that I can't remember?" She sat down to Jael and took the girl in her arms. "It's all right, it will be all right. We're about the same size, you can have one of my dresses. It happens to every woman, and we all survive."
Jael's brown eyes were bright with tears. "You don't understand, Alcmene; you can't. This means I can never go home again. With my people, once a woman lies with a man she has to marry him; and if he won't have her, no one else will want her either. My father could have ordered both of us killed!"
"He could order, perhaps, but I'd like to see anyone try to carry it out," Alcmene said. "His messengers would have to contend with both my sons and Iolaus too! We've all grown to love you, Jael."
"They're all safe; my father died just before I left Ephesus. My brother is head of the family now, and he wanted to marry me off as soon as it was proper." Jael smiled. "You feel like the mother I never had, though" she continued. "My real mother died when I was young, and my father raised me alone."
"I'm honored, Jael. Your mother would have been proud of you. I'm happy to be able to help you meet your womanhood." She hugged the younger woman. "Now, change your dress and let's go feed your hungry man."
After dinner, Jael packed Iolaus off to his own house, leaving the two women alone. For awhile they sat in front of the fire, Alcmene with her mending and Jael reading. After some time, Alcmene asked, "So what are you planning to do now?"
"I don't know. I have nobody here, and I can't go home now even if I would be willing to marry whoever Josiah might choose for me." She put down the scroll in her hands and ran one of them through her dark hair. "What can I do, Alcmene? All my life I've been taught that someday I would grow up and have a family, that I would come a virgin to my marriage bed, and that I would grow old surrounded by grandchildren. And now all that is gone forever! I wish I'd never walked into that tavern the night I was wounded. Or maybe I just wish the sword had been a little farther to the right." She fingered the scar under her dress, just under her left arm.
"You do not wish that," Alcmene insisted. "You love Iolaus, and he loves you, I think. You two are good for each other! I've not seen him laugh so much in a very long time. And my sons have gotten very fond of you; they both always wanted a sister, and I could never give them one."
They sat in silence for another few minutes. Finally Jael said, "Alcmene, you know Iolaus so much better than I do; do you think he'll ever settle down?"
Alcmene put down her mending. "I don't know, Jael. He certainly wouldn't be happy doing anything except what he is doing, and that means never knowing if he will come home from whatever adventure he and Hercules are on. Could you live with that?"
"Right now, of course, but what about later, what if I want a family?"
"I don't know, Jael. If he were to make a commitment to anyone right now, I know it would be you, but I'm not sure he'll ever be ready for that. He's always taken one day at a time. On the other hand, I know he's deeply envious of what Hercules and Deaneira and their children have, of the stability and the security and the closeness. I guess it all boils down to you--what are you willing to take for as long as he's willing to give it?" Alcmene got up and walked over to where Jael was sitting and took her hands. "You don't have to decide tonight. Sleep on it."
Jael stood and gave the older woman a hug. "How much longer are you willing to put up with an uninvited guest, Alcmene?"
Returning the hug, Alcmene answered, "Oh, you stopped being an uninvited guest a long time ago."
That night she slept fitfully. Faces haunted her dreams; her brother, her sister, her aunts and uncles, the elders of the Ephesian community. Fingers pointing, they condemned her with angry voices. Slut! Whore! And with a stranger! What would her father think? How dare she come back here! And suddenly she was running, running through the pouring rain and darkness, thunderbolts striking the ground all around her. A deep voice cried out from far above: how dare you call yourself a daughter of My people??? You sold yourself for sweet words and soft kisses!
Suddenly, a thunderclap woke Jael from her dream. Outside the weather echoed the nightmare she had just seen, and in her panic she bundled up her few possessions and ran out to the road. Blindly, she dashed through the night, slipping in the mud, scrambling to her feet again, running toward nowhere. As light broke, she found herself at the stream bank where she and Iolaus had spent the afternoon, where she had given him her innocence and her heart. Falling at the base of the tree-trunk, her face wet with rain and tears, she fell asleep, exhausted.
The next morning Alcmene woke and went to rouse Jael. The younger woman's bed had been slept in, but neither she nor her belongings were in the room. Well, Alcmene thought, either she got up early and went to Iolaus, or he got up early and came here for her. Smiling, she fixed herself breakfast.
Well before midday, Iolaus arrived at Alcmene's. "Where's Jael?" she asked.
"You mean she's not here?" Iolaus asked.
"No, isn't she with you?"
"No! When did she leave?" A frown furrowed his brow.
"I don't know," Alcmene answered. "She was gone when I got up."
"Where would she go? Do you think she went back to Ephesus?" Iolaus' face was a mask of concern.
"No, I can pretty well guarantee she wouldn't do that." Alcmene pulled another chair up to the kitchen table. "Sit down, Iolaus. I have to share something with you."
He sat.
"I know Jael has shared a lot with you about her people." Iolaus nodded, and Alcmene continued. "I doubt if she told you one very important thing: after one of their young women makes love with a man, she is fit only to be his wife. No other man will want her or have her. After yesterday, she can't ever go home again, not and expect to lead a normal life. She'd be a shame to her family, and an outcast."
Iolaus sat motionless for a long time. Finally, he looked over at Alcmene and asked, "Why didn't she tell me?"
"Don't you know? She loves you, enough to refuse to take your freedom. And she knows you would feel obliged to take care of her, even if it wasn't what you really wanted." Alcmene took Iolaus' hands. "You two need to talk. Soon. Before Aphrodite has her way with you both again.
The honey-haired woman stood. "So go find her. Work it out. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't."
Iolaus went outside and started following Jael's footprints in the dried mud. His old hunter's tricks would get a workout today.
Jael, meantime, had awakened, collected her things and started on again. She was headed for the hilly countryside surrounding the road toward Athens, the road she had traveled alone on her flight from Ephesus just a few weeks ago. She had discovered and slept in an abandoned hunter's hut on the side of a rise, looking down on the road, where she could be safe for awhile. There was water nearby, and edible plants, and a village down the road a bit where she might be able to trade for bread. I just need to be alone to sort myself out, she mused.
Arriving at the hut toward evening, she collected fallen wood for a fire. It looks like rain again tonight, she thought, and used her small knife to cut branches. After starting the fire, as the night grew colder and the rain came, she wove the branches together into a cover that would hold her body's warmth until morning. After making sure the fire would last, she lay down with her feet toward the flames. I can stand anything, she thought, as long as my feet are warm!
As Jael was falling asleep, Iolaus was squatted down over her trail. "Blast it all," he said to himself, "I'm going to lose her in this rain." Dripping wet and scowling, he made a lean-to under a tree and tried to nap.
With the morning light, Jael went to the stream to wash and look for some food. She collected some wild onions, some small dark berries, and managed to catch a small fish, and made a stew that didn't taste half bad. Later that afternoon, though, she felt ill, and went back to her sleeping roll.
As she slept, Jael dreamed that she was back in her family home in Ephesus. She was baking bread, kneading the dough, feeling it come to life in her hands. Suddenly her father was there, sitting on the other side of the table where she was working.
"Papa!" She ran around the table to embrace him. "You look wonderful! Sit, sit!"
Smiling, Jael's father took her hands in his own and sat her down next to him. "He's a good man, you know," he said to her. "He'll treat you well, your young fellow."
"But Papa, he's not one of us."
"So nobody's perfect!" the old man answered, shrugging his shoulders.
Suddenly the room faded from around them and a woman appeared, clothed in brilliant light. Jael put her hand up to shield her eyes and whispered, "Who are you?"
The figure spread her arms, showing a gossamer gown glinting gold. "I am Hochma. I have chosen you. When the time is right, you will come to me." The woman disappeared, and the room went dark. As the light faded, Jael heard a dog howl, and a deep voice saying, "...and when the time is right, I will come to you."
It took Iolaus an entire day to find traces of Jael again, just before evening made it impossible to go on. After a restless night, he recovered the trail that led to the ramshackle house by a stream. Carefully he pushed the broken door open and peered inside. In the dim light inside he saw the dress Alcmene had given Jael lying on the floor, and her belongings scattered about, but there was no sign of her. Well, she's got to come back some time, he thought, so I'll just wait here. He leaned up against the wall next to the open door and dozed off.
A screech wakened him from a light sleep, just in time to throw his hands up over his face as a wild creature attacked. Instinctively, he jumped to his feet, spinning around and kicking, hearing a sickening crack as the creature flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall and sliding into a heap on the floor. Iolaus ran over to determine who--or what--it was, and saw a woman, completely naked, covered in dirt, long dark hair matted with leaves and twigs. A trickle of blood ran down her cheek as her jaw began to swell and change color. "Sweet Artemis," he whispered. "It's Jael."
Quickly, he stowed all her belongings in her travel-sack. As he was gathering them, he saw the half eaten fish and a cluster of midnight blue berries. That explains it, he thought; if she ate those, she'd be truly mad until they wear off. He wrapped her in Alcmene's dress, and laid her gently across the back of his roan. Climbing up behind her, he urged the horse headlong through the rain back to Corinth. As evening fell, he arrived at Alcmene's, to find the house deserted and locked up. She must be with Hercules, he thought. There's no room for us there; I guess that means my place. Iolaus took the horse's bridle and led it, bearing the still-unconscious woman, to his home.
Jael did not awaken as he bathed her scratched and bruised body and washed and combed her matted hair. He wrapped her in blankets and tenderly lay her on the bed close to the fire, curling up next to her and falling fast asleep.
Jael didn't know where she was. It was cold and wet and she felt dizzy. Shaking her head, she looked down and saw Iolaus, riding full-tilt down the road like he was fleeing from Tartarus, a figure slung across the horse in between his seat and the horse's neck. Looking closely from her high perch, Jael couldn't make out who the figure was.
"That's you," a soft voice said from behind her left elbow.
Jael turned to see Hochma standing next to her. "That's me? But I'm here!"
"Your body is there, your awareness is here."
"But ... how can that be?"
"I'll show you," Hochma said.
Suddenly Jael was back in her battered body, freezing cold, in a warm tub of water with tender hands sponging her back. Iolaus was speaking softly to himself as he cleaned the dirt of the forest off her. When he turned her over to wash the other side, the peaks of her nipples broke the surface of the water and he felt his body starting to respond.
"Iolaus, you're a pig," he said to himself. "You hop in bed with her, chase her away to get poisoned, kick her in the face, then hey! You're ready for an encore! So she's out cold, what difference does that make?
"What have I done to you, Jael? It never dawned on me that you would think it was anything besides a good time, a chance to make each other feel good. And it's not like I wasn't warned; I mean, you told me I was your first. But no, I had to treat you like a bar girl, created just to scratch my itch.
"I never appreciated--Gods, I've been so selfish. If I'd had a real family, I'd sure never have given them up just to take a lover. Especially one like me! When am I going to learn? And I just keep hurting you." He reached up to brush a tear from his cheek.
Jael tried to answer, but could not get her mouth to move. A moment later, she looked down on the two bodies in the heated tub, watching Iolaus cradle her gently in his arms, holding her against him. His face was buried in her long dark hair, and he was shaking. "I'm so sorry," he whispered into her unhearing ear.
Hochma spoke again. "Do you see? You can slip in and out of your body as easily as you take off a dress."
"Is this why you came to me?"
"Yes. And to show you your heritage." Hochma swept the air with her right arm and the two women were on a foggy road through a canyon. In front of them was a chariot drawn by figures with six wings. In the wink of an eye, the two were inside the chariot, rising upward. They stopped before a tall building having two huge paneled doors. The doors opened and the two women went inside, where rows and rows of cases held thousands of scrolls.
Hochma took one of the scrolls down and unrolled it. Inside Jael saw pictures of herself as a child, of her father and brother, of Iolaus with his hand on her belly swollen with child. "What is this?"
Hochma rolled up the scroll and replaced it. "When the time comes you will know. Be careful, though; if anything were to happen to your body while your spirit travels, you could be trapped in the land of the dead."
Suddenly Jael was back in her body, and she hurt all over. Groaning, she tried to turn. Iolaus snapped awake and spun over on his side to face her.
"You're awake!"
Jael chuckled. "Ouch. It hurts to laugh. But we've got to stop meeting like this."
Iolaus took her tentatively in his arms. "I'm so sorry, Jael. I didn't want to hurt you. You lunged at me like a wild woman! I didn't have time to think." He pushed the wet hair out of her eyes. "It was the berries you ate. They make people crazy."
"Oh good. I guess that lets you off the hook." She kissed him on the end of the nose. "Now, I'm exhausted, I'm freezing, and every part of my body aches. All in creation I want is a good night's sleep--" she fingered her sore and swollen jaw--"and never to look in a mirror again."
They both slept late into the following day. Jael woke first; she rummaged around in the pantry until she found some ground oats, and relieved the hens of three still-warm eggs. By the time Iolaus was awake, Jael had a breakfast ready of oatmeal, soft-cooked eggs and salted meat, and was slicing ripe olives for the top of the eggs. She was moving very stiffly.
"Here, let me carry that," Iolaus said over her shoulder, taking the oatmeal pot. Halfway through breakfast, there was a knock at the door and Hercules entered.
"Did you find--ah, I see you found her!" Hercules swept into the room and started to spin Jael around into a hug, then stopped when he saw the huge bruise on her face. "What in Tartarus happened to you? Did you get the name of the driver of that wagon?"
Jael nodded solemnly. "His name was--"
Iolaus interrupted. "It was me," he said softly.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. Kicked her clear across the room."
Hercules picked his friend up by the front of his vest. "Let me guess. Ares made you do it?"
"No, no, it was my fault, Hercules," Jael interrupted. "You see, I ate these berries..."
Hercules set Iolaus back down on the floor and erupted into a peal of laughter. "Maniai. You're lucky, one of you could have wound up dead."
"That's not all that happened, fellows. Sit down, Herc. Want some oatmeal?" Hercules shook his head as Jael explained to the two men how she had been travelling with Hochma, leaving her body behind, and that she was supposed to be able to do that whenever she needed.
"Don't tell Salmoneus," Hercules advised; "he'll want the numbers on next week's winning lots." Picking up the platter of salted meat, he asked, "You guys going to finish this?" and began to pick it clean.
"I haven't tried it out yet, but I really want to" Jael went on. "Hochma warned me, though, that I need someone to make sure my body is safe, because if anything were to happen to it, I might get caught in the land of the dead."
Iolaus raised a hand. "I can do that."
Jael shook her head. "Your careful attention to my welfare is how I got this way!" She laughed.
"No, Jael, I think you should give Iolaus a chance," Hercules interjected, "He has already shown us that he's got a strong interest in your ... uh ... physical form. "
Iolaus shot his best friend a look that would have killed a mere mortal. Hercules laughed again and got up from the table. "Mother sent you some clothes, Jael. Where would you like me to put them?"
"I'll come with you," Jael said. "Iolaus can clean up after breakfast."
Once they were out of the house, Hercules put his arm around Jael. "OK, now you can tell me how you really feel. What are you going to do?"
"Do? About what?"
"Don't play innocent. Mother told me what you explained to her."
Jael chuckled. "Yeah, but I've had time to think about it, and I realize that I could probably go back to Ephesus anyway. It's not like Iolaus branded me or something, there's nothing showing on the outside. Well, except this shiner." She rubbed the side of her face. "And even that will go away in time."
"So are you going back? Would you like me to go with you?"
"I don't know. I don't want to go back. I just don't know what other options I have." Jael shrugged.
"Come on. You've become the sister Iphicles and I never had; Mother dotes on you! You know you're welcome to stay with any of us, as long as you like." Hercules hugged her gently.
"But I couldn't stay here knowing that--"
"you and Iolaus couldn't be together," Hercules finished.
Jael nodded.
Hercules reached into his saddlebag and produced a bundle of dresses that he handed to Jael. As she turned to go back to the house, he put his hand on her shoulder. "Iolaus is a good man, Jael. He'll do right by you."
Jael turned to smile at her friend. "In a way, that's what I'm afraid of," she said, and went back inside the house. Iolaus was waiting, sitting on a stool in front of the fire. She put the bundle of clothing down and turned back toward him.
In unison, the two of them said, "We need to talk." The golden-haired man got up from his seat and helped her over to the long couch, where they sat sideways, cross-legged, facing each other. He took her hands and spoke first.
"Alcmene explained to me what it meant for you to let me make love to you. I had no idea--"
"You're not bound by my people's customs," Jael interrupted. "And so you're under no obligation to me."
"You don't understand, Jael." He shook his head, and the bright curls cascaded. "I've never--"
"I know," she said. "You never intended it to mean anything more--"
"By the gods, woman, will you shut up and let me finish a sentence?" He was almost shouting, and startled her into silence. "I'm sorry," he continued. "I didn't mean to raise my voice. But you're in such a hurry to help me minimize what happened, and I don't want to."
Jael frowned. "I don't understand."
"When I first met you, you were terrified of strangers. You didn't want to drink the water I tried to give you! You scarcely ate. You flinched when one of us touched you. And now look! We were able to come as close as two human beings ever get to sharing the same flesh--you and me, the stranger. You wear our clothes, you speak our language, you even cook our food! You're not the person who came here from Ephesus, Jael. And you can't turn back time to go back to being her."
"You're right. There are things I hated about the way my people live, and I don't miss those at all. But they are my roots. And isn't that what family is about? They take you in when you've got nowhere else to go?" Her eyes welled with tears.
"I don't know. I never had that kind of a family. And you do have somewhere else to go." He reached up and wiped the tears away. "Alcmene loves you; you could stay with her as long as you like. Or with Herc and Deaneira."
"I know. They've been wonderful to me--"
Iolaus finished his thought. "--or you could stay here, with me."
Jael stared at him, speechless for a moment. "You don't have to take me in. Please don't feel sorry for me."
The wiry hunter made a fist and pounded it against his knee. "Are you bound and determined to misunderstand me?" Taking both of her hands in his, he raised her fingertips to his face. "I do not feel sorry for you. That's not what this is about. And I don't feel guilty; neither of us has done anything wrong." He kissed the palms of her hands and held them gently inside his own.
Taking a deep breath, he started again. "I am so lucky that Herc and I went to that tavern. I have been so-so blessed to have you in my life. And I don't want to lose you. I would miss the poetry, the talk, even the arguments!" Locking his soft blue eyes with her golden brown ones, he whispered, "Don't go back to Ephesus. It would break my heart."
Blinking back tears, Jael pulled her hands away and got up from the couch. Iolaus' eyes widened as his gaze followed her to where her belongings were hanging from a peg in the wall. She reached into her travel-bag and pulled out the scroll they had been reading that afternoon at the river. She opened it, found the section she was looking for, and came back to sit again opposite her lover. "Remember this?" she asked with a wicked smile.
"Uh-huh," he answered. "I thought it was too sacred for strangers." A grin flashed across his face.
"Be quiet and listen. 'Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion fierce as the grave.'" She re-rolled the scroll. "That's me; that's what you get if I stay. It won't be easy for either of us. We have to really want to make it work, because we're still from very, very different worlds." She reached out and took his hands again, lifting them to her face and kissing the palms, then clasping them inside hers. "But I don't want to leave you. It would break my heart."
Iolaus leaned forward, unfolding himself to push her backward onto the couch, running his hands through her long dark hair. As he began to kiss her softly, they heard a tap on the door. Lips still locked, they both called, "Go away!"
The voice from outside was Hercules'. "It's me. Iolaus, we have to go. Ares' dog is loose again..."
Jael laughed, pulling away from Iolaus a little. "And the demigod dogcatcher needs help?"
Her lover scrambled up from the couch and grabbed his sword. "You haven't seen this dog." He opened the door, then dashed back to the couch and kissed Jael again, hard. "I'll be back as soon as I can." Then the two men left.
I'd better get used to this, she thought as she got up from the cushion. God of my people, hold Iolaus in the palm of Your hand and bring him home safe to me.