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So I did, tearing the tissue paper rather than keeping the child in suspense. And itwas a shoe box. But
inside that, carefully protected with more tissue and quite a bit of bubble wrap, was the wide-mouthed
kylix I'd drunk from at Tala's, that first evening.
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A cup?
I caught my breath as I lifted it by one of its two ceramic handles and, on closer inspection, recognized
its age. It was in pristine condition but, having been passed down within the family, it might easily be from
a time before theTempleofIsiswas swallowed by theMediterranean.
Though smaller than most Kylikes, the cup had the shallow bowl and narrow base of a standard Greek
offering vessel. But this time, with no wine in it, I could see the image painted inside the concave surface
of the bowl.
A Greek-styled rendition of the goddess Isis.
I felt suddenly light-headed and it had nothing to do with my likely pregnancy! The force with which
multiple realizations hit me was dizzying. After its conquest by Alexander the Great in the fourth century
BC,Egyptbecame predominantly Greek. Cleopatra herself had descended from Ptolemaic, aka Greek,
ancestors as much as from Pharaonic. This cup was Greek.
"There's more than one Isis Grail," I whispered in amazement. And it made sense. Wouldn't a goddess
with ten thousand names and millennia of worship across most of the ancient world have more than one
cup?
Just like the rhyme had implied.Isisis everywhere, she cannot be contained.
Look for her where she is honored.
I'd drunk from an Isis Grail my first night inEgypt!
Suddenly, so much made sense. The familiarity I'd sensed when I did the ritual in my hotel room. The
goddess's indulgent chiding,You wish anothergift ?
I'd been given a gift at Tala's house, without even knowing it! And it didn't take long for me to realize
what that had been. Tala was a doctor. She'd told me her grandmother had been a midwife. Apparently,
medicine ran in her family.
I remembered how sure I'd been that Rhys was badly injured in the cisterns. After I'd inspected his
injuries, they seemed less severe. Then there were the accidents in the Alexandrian harbor. Lex's
miraculous recovery from the poison.
My limited knowledge of first aid had only helped.
My gift of healing, compliments of the goddess Isis that was a gift beyond measure.Magic .
My eyes burned with gratitude gratitude towardIsis, gratitude toward Tala, gratitude toward Jane and
Kara for giving me the chance to earn this chalice. Now I really did have a collection of goddess grails
started. A collection of two.
"Don't you like it?" asked Kara, her little brow furrowing. So I put the kylix back in its padded box and
gave her slim frame a hug.
"Yes," I assured her. "Yes, yes, yes. This may be the best gift anybody has ever given me."
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Smiling, she poked a finger at my chalice-well pendant. So I gave it to her. Another convert.
Sensing his nearness deep in my womb, I looked up and saw Lex in the doorway, neatly pressed and
watching us as if he took pleasure simply from the sight of me, and I smiled true welcome.
The cup was perhaps thesecond best gift.
I'd been guarding my emotions with Lex for so long, I'd almost forgotten how blissful just being in love
could be. Seeing his smile as our eyes met. Going to him for a welcoming hug& and a long, lingering kiss
that seemed to draw us to a place completely outside of time.
Jane cleared her throat. "Children present," she warned us laughingly, as we drew apart.
"My apologies," Lex told her, then asked me, "Are you ready to go?"
We'd already agreed that I'd stay overnight in his hotel before my British cousin, Lilith, came to fetch me.
Our nominal excuse was that I could "rest up" from the long flight fromCairo, although how much rest I
would actually get&
I felt mildly flushed, from the expectation. If the paparazzi got any pictures of us on the way out of Jane
and Kara's press room, I can't imagine anyone would miss the fact that he and I were crazy about each
other.
The limousine that pulled up to the curb as we left the terminal shouldn't have surprised me. "If we're
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