The Ancient Evil, page 10
part #25 of Red Cross of Gold Series
“Look out there!” Mark Andrew turned him about, pointing out toward the west. “Do you see anything?”
“Are you crazy?!” Corrigan shouted at him. “I don’t see anything but sea and sky!”
“There is your kingdom, Alexander. Beyond the sea in Ireland. The land of your forefathers!”
“Of course! But, I can’t see that far.” The King protested.
“Then look again!” Mark shoved him against the stone parapet. He spun him around and shoved him to the other side facing east. “And, there! What do you see?”
“I see the Isle of Ramsay.”
“Look further and you will see your own history!” Mark leaned close to his ear. “You are one of the chosen people. The Holy Blood of the Annunaki runs in your veins. You have lived an irreverent life and shamed your father. Now is the time to face up to your destiny, little King. You had best come to grips with reality. I came from the time before time! If you dare to misuse your authority as granted by my brother as King of Ireland, I will come and visit you in the night. I am the King of Terrors! The Prince of the Grave! Lord of the Seventh Gate! I answer to none but God! Do you understand me?”
Mark had one handful of Corrigan’s bright red curls as he pressed the pretty face against the rough stone.
“I understand!” Corrigan managed to squeak.
“Gud!” Mark backed away from him. “Remember, where you came from, Alex, and, understand, where you may go.”
Corrigan tugged on his yellow surcoat and straightened his feathered cloak before walking stiffly to the trap door leading down into the mews.
111
Six months passed and Luke’s coronation as King of England, Scotland, and Wales was over. Corrigan was safely ensconced in Dublin. Parliament had reacted almost exactly as de Bleu had predicted. The rather youngish French Knight had a knack for politics and a winning personality. It seemed he almost single-handedly put Luke on the Throne and then Corrigan. A new Prime Minister was elected and Parliament reconvened to run the business of the nation. Luke Matthew’s contributions to the national coffers went a long way to making him an instant hero. Lavon was directly sent off as ambassador to France, and then to Norway, and Sweden, and, finally, to the Germanian Kingdom to negotiate the possibility of raising an army to invade Louisiana. His success was mind-boggling, and he not only accomplished his mission with astounding speed, he also helped the ailing countries he visited, cope with the remaining problem of the refugees from the American continents. Before long, he had won the respect and admiration of all the Monarchs of Europe and more countries rallied to support the war much like they had once rallied to send the Crusaders to the Holy Lands in ages past.
Mark Andrew had returned to Scotland to work on the economic problem faced by his brother, and, then, the Knights of the Council had gathered together and transported the skulls to Wewelsburg Castle. The twelve skulls had been set in place in the circular room in the bowels of the castle in a solemn ceremony. Each skull had been set upon one of the pedestals about the room by a different Knight. Schumacher had stood in for Luke Matthew and Peter Rushkin had filled Lavon’s place. The only thing missing was the male skull which belonged on the center pedestal. Mark Andrew was still not certain where this skull might be. It had not been the head of Bran the Blessed. That one had been restored to its place in London, and the ravens had returned to the sight of the fallen White Tower, as soon as, they had brought the skull there and placed it in a specially constructed vault which would stand until the Tower was rebuilt around it.
The skull of Sidon was still missing, presumably in the hands of Jozsef Daniel. The skull of Santa Lucia had been returned to the church in France by the very thief that had taken it from its reliquary. John Paul had come to Wewelsburg with the news he had done everything in his power to stop the spread of the dark powers in the western portions of the former United States and Canada, but the Ancient One had finally come to the west and used not only the skull’s power, and the Urim and Thummin against them, but also the Igiggi army from beyond the Sixth Gate. The remaining partisans in the mountains had fled before the horde, but few had escaped. John had then tried everything he could think of to lure the Ancient One out of his strongholds in the mountains, but it had been futile. General Watkins as Lord Supreme Governor of Louisiana remained firmly entrenched. Even John Paul was unsure whether the Skull of Sidon was male or female or if it belonged with the others. The net they had established in Germany was powerful, but the central piece was still missing, and until the proper piece was put in place, there was still the danger of Jozsef Daniel placing the wrong one there, and the world as they knew it would cease to exist. Further, John Paul reported, Marduk had disappeared. He would have to go in search of the elusive Lord of the Sixth Gate. They would need him before it was over.
Mark Andrew had spent many long nights wandering the corridors of the drafty old castle, wracking his brain for some lost memory, some piece of missing information that would lead him to the right choice, but he had never learned much of the powers from the time before time, and the crystal skulls had never figured into any of his learning, either in this time, or the time before, when he had been called Hermes, or even before that when he had been Chequetet, Arelich or Volmalites! Everything he had learned about them had been no more or less clear than what Jasmine de Bleu or Eduord de Goth knew of them. He, and Christopher Stewart, and Izzy d’Ornan, along with Izzy’s new wife, Gloriana, who just happened to be a linguistic scholar, had combed through the archives, searching, endlessly, for any reference no matter how obscure to the skulls. Even Nostradamus had said nothing of them. They were found no where in the Nag Hammadi scrolls, nor were they mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls, or any of the ancient Judaic Scriptures, Arcana, or Kaballa. Konrad had searched every fragment in his father’s vast repository and nothing had been forthcoming. The best they could reason was there were many more than thirteen of them, and each had a place and a function in the world, and not all of them belonged in Germania.
Gloriana had brought her two sisters, Bethany and Sophia, to live with them in Germany. They were all exceptional young women, well schooled in the ancient languages by the monks on the Isle of Ramsay. Well-educated, well-mannered, and well-endowed. The three Italian beauties had drawn a great deal of attention from the other members of the Order living at Wewelsburg, with each of the single Knights and some of the apprentices vying for the two available sisters’ attention. They had been quickly dubbed, the Three Graces, and even Eduord de Goth had taken a great liking to Bethany, and she had attracted the attention of not only Konrad von Hetz, but Luke Andrew as well. Only Lucio, who was still preoccupied with Catharine, paid no attention to the girls… girls! They were not girls, they were all over twenty-five, and the Knight of Death wondered how in the world they had stayed single so long with all the young men available and searching for wives on the Isle of Ramsay. Sophia was the quietest of the three, but she seemed disinterested in the attentions of the Knights and apprentices. He thought, perhaps, she had left behind a fiancée or boyfriend on the island. At any rate, Mark could only see the presence of the two sisters as more trouble that he did not need, but he could think of no valid reason to cut short their visit with Gloriana.
There were a number of servants employed at the castle now, and it did not seem as sinister and hollow as when they had first arrived. The spring had come again and the rundown gardens had been rejuvenated. Much of the evil aura that had plagued the place since mid-twentieth century had been dispelled. He wished sincerely, spring would come to his heart, but his thoughts were still frozen in the dead of winter. John Paul had not brought Meredith with him and, by that, he had been terribly disappointed. He had thought John might allow her to return to him, but when he had put the question to him point blank, John Paul had simply shaken his head. It was not to be. He had lost her once and for all. Semiramis held no attraction for him, after what she had done to him, and Inanna had made her home in England with his brother even though he still thought of her whenever he heard the thunder or felt the rain on his face. At those times, he seriously considered taking her up on her offer when this thing was finally finished, but, at the moment, she was basking in her fame, entertaining crowds of curious visitors every day in her new home in the center of the London Zoo. Lemarik had, unfortunately, emptied the rest of the zoo, sending the animals ‘home’. She never tired of the endless attention she received from the constant parade of tourists from as far away as Australia who came to see her. Luke Matthew was building her a great chamber beneath the new White Tower for her at Merry’s insistence. Merry also insisted Mark Andrew come to visit them because his brother missed him terribly, but he could not go on two accounts. For one, he could not afford to leave Wewelsburg as long as Jozsef Daniel was still out there and for two, he could no longer bear to look at Merry Ramsay.
Worst of all, he still had regrets about Lucio Dambretti, and he blamed Semiramis for that. He would never forgive her. He would never forgive himself, and he could not bear to see the Golden Eagle with Catharine de Goth. It was horrible. His disdain for men with tendencies such as those displayed by Alexander Corrigan was far exceeded by Lucio’s contempt for what he considered abominations. Mark Andrew fully understood the concept of Unity as applied to the male and female form, and he could only hope someday he would be able to return to the state of androgynous bliss he had known before he had become separated from himself. Sometimes, he thought of his friend and former companion, Ashmodel, and wondered what he was up to, but these thoughts did not last long before he was returned to reality by the problems at hand. And, he even became angry with Ashmodel for returning the memory of that wonderful time of innocence to him, but all in all, he was comforted to know Ashmodel had made the same offer as Inanna. He at least had two options to consider for future reference. He knew he could not stay with the Order any longer. Too much had happened.
But, the skull problem taxed his brain, and he hated thinking. There had to be something, somewhere he was missing. Edgard d’Brouchart was no help at all. He knew even less about the skulls than Eduord de Goth, and they constantly argued in the drawing room over brandy about the possibilities and permutations.
The only thing that cheered him was the almost daily letters written in his brother’s heavy hand. King Ramsay made it a point to record his daily activities each night and every morning, he sent them off by special courier to his brother in Germany. They arrived some two to three days later, but Mark was still pleased to receive the precious letters and kept them in a silver box in his room. Answering them took his mind off his other troubles for a time, but brought new pain as he thought of eventually abandoning his brother… his son… to his own destiny after caring for him for so long. He could not imagine Luke Matthew sitting at a computer terminal, typing e-mails. Someday, he would bind the letters in a leather volume, and present them to Prince Michael. Someday, if he could manage to thwart the efforts of Jozsef Daniel, he would do a number of small things, tie up some loose ends, and then make his swift and silent departure from this world. And, there was one last little problem that nagged at him. Bari Adam Kadif, AKA Joel Isaac Grenoble had disappeared before the ‘battle’ of the Isle of Ramsay. Reuben and Simeon had taken the young man south to Rushen, and he had simply disappeared after the second day. No one had seen him or heard of him since. None of them could locate him by any means, practical or magickal. It was as if he had simply vanished from the face of the earth. When things had calmed down a bit, Omar had traveled far and wide in Europe looking for him, but it was hopeless. The Prophet had nothing to go on and no clues to follow, but he had felt it necessary to at least make some effort to find his missing son. The thought of Bari brought another loose end to his mind. The child’s head lay in a lead-lined box in the corner of the basement chamber under St. Germaine’s Cathedral on St. Patrick’s Island. Someone would eventually have to cut it open.
Chapter Five
I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness
“You cannot be serious!” Catharine ran barefoot along the balcony, chasing after the figure of the Golden Eagle as he stampeded down the wide stairs with his black bag slung over his shoulder just out of her reach.
“Stop!” She clambered down the stairs, tripped over her long, dressing gown and was only saved, as he turned and caught her, at the bottom of the stairs.
“Dammit, Catharine!” He righted her against the heavy railing in the main hall of the castle. “You are going to break your neck. And, maybe mine, too.”
“I should break your neck!” She told him as he continued down the stairs. His boots echoed loudly on the marble floor. “You are going to certain death. There are people there who know you. Lucio, please listen to me. I saw it.”
Lucio spun on her and caught her shoulders before pressing one finger against her lips.
“Hush now, bambina. I told you I was going, and I am going. The ceremony is done, and the… things are in place. The others will have to deal with it now, until I return. If anyone can protect you, Mark Ramsay can do it, and he is here. I will take all of your warnings with me. How can I go wrong? And, if Brother Ramsay is not enough, there is the Grand Master. Believe me, il caro mio, you will be fine.” He kissed her nose, and smiled at her.
“I am not worried about me. I am worried about you! King Ramsay is planning an all out invasion of Louisiana any day now. You will be caught in the cross-fire. How will you ever get out? How do you expect to find one woman in all that chaos? I’ve seen war before, chere`! She’s probably moved a dozen times since Sir de Bleu found the address for you. She could be anywhere. She could be dead. It doesn’t matter.”
“She cannot be dead.” He smiled at her. “You know that and… I have to find her so we can clear the record and make things right. I am tired of living a secret existence that is not a secret at all. I have my sons to think of.”
“But, you do not have permission to go.” She reminded him. “The Grand Master will be livid when he finds you are missing.”
“That has never stopped me before, il dolce mio.” He kissed her once more on the lips and hugged her more tightly. “Now be a good girl and go back upstairs before someone comes. I’ll be back, as soon as possible, and, then, we can make our plans for the future.”
“Lucio.” Catharine lowered her eyes. “It is possible we may never see each other again.”
“Don’t say that.” He hugged her once more and his flip attitude dissolved. “If it is so, then it is so. It is…”
“The will of God! I know.” She smiled up at him. “But, you only say that. You don’t really believe it.”
He turned away from her and started for the doors.
“Lucio.” She ran after him once more and pressed something cold in his hands. “Take this! I made it for you. It is a sign and symbol of our eternal love.”
He looked down at the small black stone. It was rounded, smooth and etched with an ankh symbol carved inside a Star of David, surrounded by a serpent with its tail in its mouth.
“Eternal love? Eternal life.” He smiled. “What a burden.”
He slipped the stone in his pocket and kissed her forehead once more before leaving her weeping in the hall.
111
Vanni sat on the window sill in the western tower of the castle with Selwig beside him.
“There! Did you see it?” He asked in a low whisper and pointed down toward a spot on the walkway at the base of the tower.
“Yes!” Selwig nodded. “What do you think it is?”
“I have no idea. It looked like a shadow or a wisp of smoke. But, it moves like it’s alive.”
Selwig shuddered. He did not like this place at all. It was full of ghosts and specters.
“It probably is.” Selwig told him. “Let’s go back downstairs and play chess.”
“I’m tired of playing chess.” Vanni told him.
“Then let’s go out to the stable and talk to the horses.”
“I’m sick of talking to the horses, Selwig. They never have anything new to say!”
“Then let’s go up to the mews and practice flying.” Selwig suggested, hopefully. He really wanted Vanni to teach him to fly.
“I can’t. I promised my father I would not do that any more. Not for a while any way. Not until, I am more practiced at landing. He was terribly angry when I broke my wrist.”
“Weeeelll, how about some music? Greta and Gabriel are finished with their lessons by now, and we could go up to your room and practice a while.”
“Selwig! You are afraid of that thing down there, aren’t you?” Vanni turned his amused eyes on the Tuathan. Vanni was afraid of nothing above or below ground. Selwig was afraid of many things in this world.
Selwig shifted the yellow bag on his shoulder and shook his head. “I am not afraid, I am simply cautious. There are many things here better left alone. Have you not seen them in the staircase and in the hallways?”
“I have seen nothing that poses a threat to us.” Vanni told him. “These things are simply shades of souls which are confused and lost. They simply need to accept the fact it is time to move on. They are to be pitied, not feared. My father told me so, and he knows these things.”
“Then why don’t you tell them so, and show them where to go?” Selwig asked him.
“I can see them. I didn’t say I could communicate with them. They don’t seem to notice me.”
“That’s good!” Selwig said with conviction. “I wish I could say the same. They seem to be very interested in me. Yesterday… two of them clawed at my bag.” He clutched the bag more closely to his chest.
