Sapphire III: Chapter 9

9. Back in the High Life

Later on in the evening, as the colors of the sky started to bleed red, gently bathing Alec's white cell in their sunset hues, Nikolai left him to change shifts with another guard.  Alec never had a chance to see this new guard, as he remained outside the windowless iron door.  Admittedly, it was something he would have done himself, were he in the opposite side of the situation.  But for now, all he could do was trust in Nikolai, and pray that he had appealed to his affections well enough.

Meanwhile, Élodie was strolling along the deck that wrapped around her room.  The side that faced the sea was wide and furnished with chaise-lounges, colored white to blend in with the floor around them.  She stood by the railing and looked out over the sea, longing to see Alec or Nikolai again and to be free of this place – although she admitted that it was an incredibly beautiful villa, and would have wished to stay for longer were the circumstances different.

She stood motionless by the edge of the deck for fifteen minutes, and just when she finally left to return to her room, she found herself face to face with another familiar person.  The spunky, brown-tinted face and shiny, coffee-colored ponytail were unmistakable – it was Khina, Boris's wife and Élodie's friend from the harem.  Khina appeared overjoyed to see her again.  "El!" she shouted as she embraced her tightly.  "Aw, it's so good to see you again!"

"Ah, Khina!" Élodie said in response, kissing her on the cheek.  "You're a pleasant surprise!  Tell me, what am I doing here?"

"I'd really love to help you, but I'm afraid of Boris.  He keeps me on a really tight leash, he doesn't trust me with any of his work.  Still, it's better than being back home in Iran.  Ever since the revolution, lemme tell ya, Iran is no place for a woman.  Especially not for someone as… let's say, showy as yours truly, I'm not afraid to admit."

Élodie had indeed known Khina to be something of a wild girl, no doubt as a result of having grown up on the streets of Mashhad in the northeast of the country, alone for most of her life.  Before being taken in by Boris, she was known to have stolen her sustenance from the local bazaars, and then sleeping with police officers to bribe them and stay out of prison.  In the time since she joined his harem and married him, she seemed to have grown more civil.  Even her clothing – a long white dress, fastened on one shoulder by a bronze brooch – despite hugging her body closely, was far less revealing than what Élodie was used to seeing her wear.

"So," Élodie asked, "what's it like being married to Boris?"

"Like I said, he can get very secretive.  Sometimes it feels he's even afraid of me.  But, on the whole, he loves me.  We've even had a kid together, a daughter named Morgana.  Actually, I had her long before I got married."

"Then how come I've never heard about her?"

"I dunno, he must've wanted to keep it a secret at the time.  Maybe he plans to bring her up as his heir or something?"

Élodie was intrigued.  "Oh, for what?"

But Khina looked away shyly.  "I'm sorry, I think I said too much."

Élodie was willing to respect her privacy, if only for the moment.  In the meantime, she asked, "So, do you want to take me for a tour around here?  Isn't that what you came up here for?"

"Yeah, you're right!  There's lots to see here, El, you're gonna love it."  And with that, Khina took Élodie's hand and led her downstairs.  The floor they came out into was vaguely divided into four rooms, one on each corner.  One thing Élodie noticed was that none of the rooms could be closed up completely; there was some sort of glassless window or opening in each of walls.  When asked about this, Khina explained, "It's this Greek architecture.  Keeps the place cool year-round."

"Ah, it's beautiful!" Élodie marveled.  "I would love to redecorate my chateau to look something like this!"

Khina giggled at the compliment just as Boris appeared and shared in the laughter.  "Thank you, Élodie.  It's so nice to see you up and about."

"Oh, it's you."  Khina embraced her husband and shared a quick kiss.  "I was just giving El here a tour of the house."

"That's a wonderful idea, in fact, I was about to take her around myself.  Shall I join you two?"

Khina was hesitant to answer him.  With Boris watching over her, she would be unable to show Élodie the deeper details of his operations.  But she was certain that he would be able to find out no matter what, so she resignedly agreed.

Satisfied, Boris led his wife and guest out of the house and onto a crisp green lawn.  As tempting as it was to just lie down on the grass and take in the cool wind of the late afternoon, Élodie found herself being whisked away down a set of stairs, running alongside the main building, that led to a vast stone porch overlooking the Aegean sea to the south.  The two women stopped by the railing to look out at the sea, while Boris retreated back inside to pick up something from his office.  The view was so stunning, they never bothered to ask where he went off to until he snuck back behind them and bade them to come inside.

Élodie and Khina entered the house to find a map lain out on a table.  This map portrayed a series of islands, including a crescent-shaped island to the south.  Boris pointed to this island, explaining, "This island here is Santorini.  It is not the island we are on right now – I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to tell you exactly which one it is – but this is where I've found many of my Atlantean artifacts.  This island is also what is called a caldera.

"A caldera is basically a collapsed volcano.  This one has been flooded with water, and the big island forms part of the rim of its crater.  Now, over thirty-five hundred years ago, the volcano that used to exist here erupted with a force so great it ruined not only this island but Crete as well!  Some archaeologists even believe – are you familiar at all with the legend of Atlantis?"

"Only what I learned at the party last weekend."

"Then you should know that some believe that the site of Atlantis was in fact here, on this island, and the civilization was ruined by that eruption."

"What makes you so certain?"

"First of all, it's not my theory to begin with.  It's a fairly recent notion among scientists.  But in particular, there's been a research group doing undersea excavation work just off the shore there.  I believe they're called Aeolus.  Anyway, once I took notice of all the activity, I asked about what was going on.  I was told that they were excavating Atlantean artifacts, and my interest was immediately piqued.  Once I saw some of the items they uncovered, I felt encouraged by their efforts, and began to give them funding for their efforts."

"Are they close to some sort of conclusion?"

"They wrapped up the excavation a few days ago, actually.  You saw the artifacts at the party, did you not?"

"Yes."

"Well, I am planning on selling all those and more to the Hermitage museum in Leningrad.  In fact, they're sending representatives to meet me here tomorrow.  However, I'm going to have to ask you to leave while they're around here.  I'll have Khina take you into town.  If you think my place is beautiful, you're going to love the whole island."  To Khina, he asked, "Does that sound good?"

"Oh, alright."

"That's a good girl."  And he kissed his wife once more before leading her and Élodie along the porch over to a swimming pool.  This pool was exquisitely designed, and consisted of two main parts.  The shallow portion, only three feet deep at the most, was sheltered by a classical-style marble canopy held aloft by Doric columns.  Lining the wide steps into the pool were chest-high walls of glass tiles.  Connecting directly to the shallow end, forming a curving L-shape, was the main portion of the pool, which Élodie estimated to be twenty yards long and considerably deeper at an average of five feet.

At the far end of this part of the pool was a sitting ledge, sunk six inches below the surface of the water, and lying directly beneath a shallow waterfall.  This waterfall led to a third section of the pool, cut off from the main swimming area and tucked into an alcove overlooking the sea to the south.  Secluded and romantic, it was more akin to a hot tub or aquatic lounge.  Upon entering the alcove, she immediately swooned.  "Oh, tres belle!  This would be the perfect place to enjoy the sunset, no?"

"Yes, Khina and I have spent many an evening here.  In fact, why don't you two join me here after dinner?"

Élodie accepted graciously, having nothing better to do.  "Merci, I think that would be most lovely!"  For the moment, she went back up with her hosts to the mail floor of the house for dinner.  Khina prepared lamb souvlaki, a salad rife with olives and cheese, and local red wine for the three of them.  Élodie, however, politely declined her souvlaki, to which Khina asked, "So, you're a vegetarian, El?"

"Non.  I just usually keep to a strict diet, and I guess I just fell in to the habit again, excuse me."

"So, you don't want your souvlaki?"

"Actually, I can see to it that it won't go to waste."  With that, he abruptly left to take the skewered lamb and a glass of wine downstairs to the new guard by Alec's cell, who in turn delivered it to Alec, and returned posthaste to his wife and guest.  Neither of them dared ask where he had run off to.

After dinner, he took them to another corner of the main floor, where he had stored some of the artifacts he was planning on selling the next day.  There were no surprises to be found for Élodie, who had already seen them at the party in Monte Carlo.  For the time being, she still had her mind set on taking a dip in the pool, which her party set off to do directly afterwards.  But on the way there, she realized to her chagrin that her bathing suit was still back at her home in France.  "Do you have a spare for me to wear?" she sheepishly asked Boris.

"Say no more, my lady," he responded gallantly, taking a detour with Khina into some changing and shower rooms located in the lower floor of the house, adjacent to the patio.  When they emerged, Boris in slick black trunks and Khina in a blue-violet bikini reminiscent of her old harem outfit, he was holding something behind her back.  Élodie was pleasantly shocked when he revealed it to her – it was her white-and-green bathing suit!  "Oh la la!" she gasped with joy.  "How did you get that?"

"…I had it brought up with you," Boris bluffed.  In truth, he had read her mind earlier on to get an image of what her swimsuit looked like, then teleported it the thousand-odd miles to their location.  (To which Khina lovingly commented, "You've really come along in those powers of yours.")

"Boy, those men you had kidnap me, they sure gave me the special treatment!"  Boris laughed weakly along with Élodie as she left to change.  She returned promptly, and within moments, the three were enjoying themselves enormously, swimming lazily about the pool and enjoying the sunset from the comfort of the alcove lagoon.

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Eventually, the sun fell and the lights around the pool area switched on, illuminating the pool a vivid, soothing turquoise.  Élodie tried to stay up as long as she could, but soon she decided to call it a day, and headed back to the womens' changing room before retiring for the night.  Khina joined her, but Boris stayed behind to swim and give them some time alone.

As Boris's head bobbed in and out of the water, he saw another indistinct figure approaching the pool.  When he stopped to take a good look at the person, he was pleasantly surprised at who he saw – Nikolai had just arrived.  He stopped at the edge of the pool and rested on his knees, waiting for Boris to swim over before kissing the tip of his nose.  Their foreheads rested on each other's as Nikolai greeted his old friend with a friendly, "Good evening, Boris."

"Pleasure to see you again, Comrade Nikolai.  So what brings you here?  Other than to grace my presence?"

Nikolai tried to hide his true motives for the moment.  "Well, for one, I was thinking that it might please you even more if I joined you in the pool?"

"It certainly would.  Do you still wear the same trunks before?"  Just the mention of Nikolai's swimsuit – a pair of tiger-print briefs, brought back many pleasant memories to Boris's mind.

"Ah yes, I see you still haven't forgotten about that, have you?  Well, sadly, I know I brought them with me, but I haven't been able to find them for the past day or two."

"Oh, but you don't need them anyway."

Nikolai couldn't help but blush from the pleasure of this suggestion.  But the next statement that came out of his mouth was not of approval, but objection.  "My… I'm flattered, Boris, but… what would your wife think?"

This disappointed Boris.  "Why must you bring her up, Nikolai?" he playfully complained.  Then all of a sudden, he thought of something that made him change his stance.  "But wait a minute, don't you want to wait to see Elodie again?"

"…You have a point there."

Now it was Nikolai's turn to look disappointed, but Boris did his best to keep his friend from staying too glum.  "Oh, but you're so cute when you're flirting with me.  My wife might not approve of it, but don't stop trying."  And he ruffled Nikolai's puffy hair before he got up and returned to the house, and Boris continued swimming.  Five minutes passed before Boris had forgotten about him.  He finally stepped out of the pool, and headed into the changing room just off the porch.

Meanwhile, Nikolai stood out of sight, looking up at the house and planning his next move, when he witnessed a light turning on in the upstairs penthouse.  Although it was a seemingly ordinary occurrence, the penthouse seemed like a logical place for Boris to be at this time of night.  But he knew that the only way to the roof was through the penthouse; if Nikolai was to sneak up there undetected, he wouldn't be able to go that route without being detected.

So Nikolai had to make his own path to get to the roof.  He searched the perimeter of the house when he found something promising up on the ground floor.  Parked directly next to the side of the house was Khina's car, a white open-top Jeep with splashy pink and purple stripes painted along the sides.  There was no roof to stand on, but the hood gave Nikolai just enough height to jump up and grab the ledge of the house balcony.  He was deeply grateful for the physical training he had received under the KGB; without it, he wouldn't even have the strength to pull himself up.  As it was, he still struggled, but managed to get over the ledge.

Upon setting foot on the balcony, Nikolai took a moment to catch his breath.  He leant on the side of the penthouse when he heard someone moving about in the room.  Expecting it to be either Élodie or Khina, he peeked into an open window, but instead saw Boris coming up to tuck Élodie in to bed.

The host arrived in the bedroom, carrying a decanter of some liquid and two small glasses.  Élodie, still clad in her day dress, turned her head to see him coming in, and asked, "Oh, hello, Boris.  Where is Khina?  I thought she was supposed to tuck me in."

"My dear, she simply couldn't stay up.  It's been a long day for her, and I need her tomorrow."

"What for?"

"I have a meeting taking place here tomorrow.  In order to maintain privacy for this meeting, I have instructed Khina to take you into town.  The main city is quite beautiful."

"Even more than this place?"

"Well, it's like this place, but more of it."

Élodie giggled at Boris's witticism.  Now that the ice was broken, he proceeded to offer her a drink from his decanter.  "Shall I interest you in some ouzo, my dear?"

"Ouzo?  What's that?" Élodie asked, now growing concerned about Boris's true intentions.

"It's only brandy."

By now, Élodie had become suspicious, and politely declined the alcohol.  "Merci, Boris, but I'm not interested in anything to drink right now."

But Boris was unfazed.   I don't need alcohol to get you to do what I want anyway… he thought.  He merely took Élodie's hands in his own and stared into his eyes.  Psychic current flowed from his palms to hers, lulling her into a state of trance.  Once she was under total hypnosis, he leant his head down and kissed her.

This simple action was too much for Nikolai to bear.  The very instant before their lips touched, he withdrew from the open window in shock.  For a moment, he was unable to do more than curl up under the window in despair, listening to the sounds of their growing pleasure.  When he finally forced himself to get up, he snuck off the verandah and back into his room downstairs.  All through the rest of the night, he cried, face-down on his bed, while plotting revenge against his lover-turned-enemy.