Aello Angelopoulos

One year ago, as Spring broke across the Mediterranean ...

The warm morning sun was rich with the aroma of flowering trees and budding olives.  The markets of Thebes were bustling, for this marked the final week of loading for the market fleet that was headed for Malta. The streets were filled with poets, singers, musicians, courtesans, young lovers, and old couples. Mules and oxen pulled wagons, goats were herded with their lambs around the walled estates, and spring chickens ran amok, all pouring in from the villages that dotted these Grecian plains.

As he breathed deeply through his prodigious nose, Alexander was filled with excitement as he took in the vernal panorama of the great city of Thebes. It had been a good winter of study to be sure, but the young agent was eager to return to Ghallis Rock. He mused over his beautiful mentor, his teacher of the past winter. She bore all the assets of classic Greek beauty, with eyes that sparkled and she always bore the scent of lilac on a gentle breeze that ever rifled through her shoulder length raven black tresses. Ahhh, he sighed to himself.

Aello Angelopoulos stepped lightly down the stairs of her family's manor house of their Thebes Estate. Though most of her family's holdings were an ancestral island just off shore in the Mediterranean Sea, this estate was her favorite place, and she made it her home. In her left arm she cradled a book to her side. In her right, she clenched her grip about the top of a fine silk bag, gathered  and tied with a thin silk rope at the top.  Behind her, a couple house slaves followed bearing wine, sweet breads and cheese.

She loved the city, and especially loved it as summer approached. The enchantress was a hopeless romantic and every summer she dreamed of adventures and heroes that sailed, and fought, and loved. Part of her love of Thebes revolved around the community of The Arts and Philosophy. Another was her fondness of the silks and seamstresses of the city. But mostly it was the cosmopolitan make up of its citizens that enthralled her. Athenians, Spartans, Italians, Persians, even Egyptians all were populus in the city.  In addition to the great social variety, it made her own racial traits much less conspicuous. As a sylph, her bloodline ran exceptionally strong in her, and her djinni features greatly enhanced her beauty and grace. But here in Thebes, whispers were limited to wondering where she got "her Persian from" .

She smiled warmly as she welcomed Alexander's embrace in her courtyard. They spoke happy goodbyes, and she wished her winter lover a safe voyage to home waters. She handed him the book and said "for your master". As she passed him the bag she said "for you". He smiled and kissed her warmly as he hande to her a set of matched jewelry that included a ring, a necklace, and two ear rings, all set with alternating emeralds and diamonds. They lingered for a few moments before he returned to his carriage, bound for the ship that would leave on that afternoons tide. She watched the carriage leave, and it was almost out of sight before she warmed herself with a daydream about her upcoming summer love.