Author Allen M Werner

Excited, her heart racing madly, Anthea Manikos clenched a wet rail on the starboard side of the Seppioline, a large merchant ship breasting through strange blue waters. She leaned precariously over the side, her tan face catching cool ocean spray, her long brown hair whipping wildly behind her, the golden dress she wore ruffling and snapping, clinging ever so taut to her young body.
– Excerpt from The Crystal Crux – Blue Grotto

Anthea had left her home in Greece. She was on her way to Parthenope to meet a man she had never met, a man she would soon wed.

Anthea had a great relationship with her father and always trusted Nikitas’ judgment in matters concerning her life. And although Nikitas had not personally met the young man she would wed, Anthea believed it would be a wonderful arrangement. After all, he was the son of the Lord of Parthenope and Castellan of the city.

“It’s magnificent!” Anthea gushed, eyes sparkling.
“Vesuvius,” Nikitas interrupted, noting the curiosity in his daughter’s expression.
Anthea purred the strange word as if summoning the silent mountain to speak. “Vesuvius. What a wonderful name. Has there ever been anything to rival it?”
“Indeed,” Nikitas laughed, “it is far blacker and fouler than anything we grow at home.”
Excerpt from The Crystal Crux – Blue Grotto

Anthea spotted three porpoises leaping through the waves beside the ship. Her smile broadened. “It is told by some,” Anthea said to her father, not turning to look at him, “that Parthenope was a siren who drowned herself in these waters after her song failed to lure Ulysses to the rocks.”
Excerpt from The Crytal Crux – Blue Grotto

The ship’s captain, Orio Polani, hearing Anthea, came up and pointed out the island of Megaride ahead.

“The Castel dell Ovo is built directly over the maiden’s final resting place. But we Latins tell the tale of Parthenope differently.”

Orio proceeds to tell her about Parthenope and Vesuvius and how Zeus ruined their burgeoning love affair.

“When the mountain gets to quaking, they say it is the centaur’s rage intensifying. His longings have reached a crescendo and he lashes out. He erupts, destroying the world for the love he has lost. Only the purified waters of compassion pouring forth from Parthenope’s virgin breasts can appease him and prevent calamity.” He paused and righted himself. “That or the blessed blood of San Gennaro.” He made the sign of the cross.
Anthea smiled brilliantly. “I still prefer the Greek telling.”
Orio Polani released a hearty laugh and stroked at his moustache as though it were longer than it was. “You Greeks always do. But you may change your mind if Vesuvius gets to quaking during your stay.”
Anthea turned back eagerly to the mountain and purred. “If only it would. I’d love nothing more than to feel the earth move beneath my feet.”
Excerpt from The Crystal Crux – Blue Grotto

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