“I have every idea that you could do whatever you want.” He took her by the hand and led her toward the inner halls.

  “What about Ruth? Won’t she be looking for you?” Nicole asked him.

  “She has Bari to keep her company this evening. She told me that they were going to have dinner together in her rooms. He misses his mommy.” Jozsef laughed.

  “Ye shud ’ave told me!” Mark Andrew rushed about the bedroom in a panic.

  Sophia sat in the middle of his bed with the sheet pulled up around her neck, smiling at him.

  “Why? Besides, you didn’t ask.” She shrugged and the sheet slipped.

  “’ere!” He grabbed her blouse from the floor and threw it at her. “’ow wud I ’ave known? Ye didna act th’ part! Besoides, ye tricked me!”

  “Tricked you?!” She laughed. “That’s preposterous. Look at the difference in our ages! How could such a child as myself have tricked a man of your years? No one will believe you.”

  “No one will…” He spun about and glared at her in astonishment. “And just who d’ ye think I moight be tellin’?”

  “Well, look at you!” She frowned at him and pulled the knit shirt over her head. “You act as if everyone already knows.”

  “If we dunna get out o’ ’ere they moight.” He told her. He could not believe that he had done this thing. He had only just been speaking to himself about how Meredith would be his only love and how he would hold her memory in his heart forever and how he hoped that she would come home to him and so on and so forth. He had been fooling himself! He would never change. What was worse, he was one of those fools that could never do such a thing and then just walk away. Oh, noooo. He always became emotionally involved with them. Sometimes he thought that this was exactly why he was in the position he was in. Not because he had been a ruthless monster half his life. Not because he had shirked his duties and crawled out of the Abyss to wreak havoc on the world, but because he simply could not keep his damnable pants on. Or his kilt or his robe or whatever had stood between him and this sort of thing! But it was not really the physical part of these relationships that brought him to ground. It was the emotional attachment. Why couldn’t he be more like Luke Andrew? But what was he saying? Luke wanted to marry this girl! If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. And what had made this particular sin even worse was that he had played into her hands like a damned fool. Celtic warrior queen! He stopped and closed his eyes. She had climbed out of the bed and was pulling on her jeans.

  “You don’t have to be so upset. You would think that it was you who had been deflowered and not the other way around!” She told him irritably.

  “Deflowered?! My God!” He shook his head and then went to the closet. “Do you have to put it that way?”

  “How would you put it?” She asked him. “I didn’t say I was complaining.”

  “I wouldn’t say it at all. I’d just put it back.” He told her and then shook his head again at the absurdity of the words. It had started out as a joke. He had been quite sure he would frighten her away; that she would never carry through with the ritual bath, but she had gone along with everything. Even the stuff he had just made up off the top of his head. He had almost forgotten who he was and who she was and where they were and everything else for just a while. The bath had become so ridiculous and she had not backed off and then afterwards… well, he could only confess his sin to Simon and be done with it. If she did not tell her father, he would… but her father was dead. Had been dead for years. How could she have kept her virtue for all these years? It was unnatural in this day and age and for such a pretty girl, next to impossible. No wonder his son and Konrad and any number of other members of their little community had been after her.

  “I’m not a child.” She told him as he scrabbled in the closet for a shirt. “You can stop worrying. I’m almost forty-five years old. I’m sorry that my virginity has upset you, but I have been saving it for you. I thought you would appreciate it a bit more.”

  “Of course I appreciate it.” His voice was muffled in the clothes hanging in front of him. “But…” He turned around and looked at her again. “You should have saved it for your husband. That’s how it should be. And what makes matters worse is that my son wants to be your husband!”

  “The Celts didn’t feel that way.” She reminded him. “Besides I know all about you and Sister Meredith. You were never married in a church. You claimed her by the old laws. You simply took her as your wife and she consented. No pressure, no worries. It could be the same for us.”

  “Please don’t speak to me about Meredith.” He looked about the room and saw Merry everywhere. Even the trim on the wainscoting seemed to accuse him.

  Sophia crossed the room and took his hands in hers. She looked into his eyes and then smiled.

  “Please stop beating yourself up over it.” She told him. “I won’t tell anyone and I’ll give you time to think about it. There is really nothing you can do about it now anyway. It’s done. Finished and I know you well enough to know that you will do what is right. I have been waiting for you for a long time.”

  “Sophia!” He was speechless. “I can’t marry you! I promised myself and besides, you never told me who you are. I see you and I know you and yet I don’t know you. You are one of us and you keep your identity a secret? Who sent you?”

  “Who sent me? No one sent me. I came on my own. I told you already. I have been looking for you and waiting for you, but tell me…” she countered with her own questions “what did you promise yourself?”

  “I promised myself that I would not do this again. That I would not profane the memory of my wife.” He pulled away from her and went for some socks.

  “What about the bath? What about all those pretty words and ceremonies?” She asked him.

  “Oh, my God. I made most of that up just to scare you away.” He sat on the bed and began to pull on the socks. “Everyone is scared of me. I’ve always counted on it. All I have to do is look at them and they run.”

  Again she was in front of him.

  “Mark! Look at me.” She took his face between her hands and kissed him soundly on the lips. “I am not afraid of you. I have never been afraid of you. I will never be afraid of you and you can lie to me until you’re blue in the face and I’ll believe anything you want me to believe. You can do anything, go anywhere, but I will never be angry with you. If you wanted me to go with you, I’d go. If you want me to stay, I’ll stay. For now and forever, you may as well accept it. I love you and you will love me, too.”

  “Sophia.” He closed his eyes and then opened them. “You never told me what the message is.”

  “Oh, well…” She glanced at the clock beside the bed. “Lucifer said…”

  She stopped as someone pounded on his door.

  “Wait!” He held up one hand. “In the closet… no, in the bath. Go!”

  Sophia hurried into the bathroom and pulled the door almost closed as he went to open the door.

  She had to stifle a shriek when Lucifer pushed him back into the room and closed the door.

  “Uriel!” The angelic chieftain looked about the room. “Did you not receive my message?”

  Mark stood looking at the unexpected guest in shock.

  “I’m sorry.” Sophia stepped out of the bathroom and Mark turned his head slowly to look at her. “I didn’t have a chance to tell him.”

  “Sophia!” Lucifer’s face lit up noticeably.

  “We’ve been busy.” Sophia told the angel.

  “I see.” Lucifer nodded.

  “Anyway, as I was saying, Mark, Lucifer and his companions are joining us for dinner tonight.” Sophia smiled at him.

  “Oh.” Mark nodded.

  “You look different, Uriel.” Lucifer caught a handful of Mark’s dark hair. “What have you done to yourself?”

  “I’ve done nothing.” Mark jerked his head slightly. “This is how I look.”

  “I see. You look much like your son, Luke, the arrogant one.” Lucifer looked back and forth between Sophia and Mark Andrew. “And Michael, the beloved one.”

  “Michael, the beloved one.” Mark repeated. “Where is Michael… the Beloved?”

  “He is waiting for the signal that all is safe here.” Lucifer continued to look about the room. He moved quickly across the floor and poked at the bed with one finger. “Is this where you…sleep?”

  “Yes.” Mark turned about.

  Lucifer plucked up the counterpane and sniffed it.

  “And you sleep here as well, Sophia? Is that jasmine or roses?” The angel seemed quite proud of his recognition of her smell. “Michael said that you might prefer one of the flowery scents for your anointing oil.”

  Lucifer acted as if he had only been gone a few hours or days.

  “She does not sleep there.” Mark Andrew opened the door. “We really should be going downstairs. I need to speak to the others. Let them know that you are here.”

  “I am not here yet.” Lucifer told him. “I will be here for dinner. I will dine with you and Nathanael… and Sophia.”

  “And your warriors? Will they come?” Sophia asked him.

  “They will come, but they will not be dining. We will come at sunset.”

  Lucifer turned away from the bed and walked out of the room. Mark Andrew stepped into the hall and Sophia followed him. Lucifer was gone.

  “Dammit!” Mark Andrew spun on her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We forgot.” She shrugged. “I hope he likes Hotch-Potch and Bannocks!”

  The entire estate turned out to see the ‘parade’ as the last rays of the sun lit up the underside of a banded formation of pink and purple stratus clouds which seemed to converge on the point where the sun set and the band of mounted warriors rode up the western meadow. They carried no banners or flags, but rode, seemingly out of nowhere, in a V-shaped configuration of rainbow colors. They needed no heralds to convey the majesty and glory of their assemblage. Michael Ian was on the southern flank while Galen Zachary rode opposite him on the northern flank. Both of the Templars were dressed in white with the familiar red crosses on their mantles and surcoats. It was all Catharine and Apolonio could do to keep Lucio from running down the meadow to meet them, but the Grand Master had ordered everyone to remain quiet and stand their ground as the angelic chieftain made his grand debut. D’Brouchart knew that Lucifer would not want his show disturbed or otherwise usurped by an emotional display from the Golden Eagle even if it had been twenty years since he had seen his son. Lucifer had always been very particular about making his entrances at any given battle or gathering with great dignity and pomp, displaying his power and splendor as the leader of one of the Creator’s most destructive forces ever set against the powers of darkness. Edgard could see that nothing had changed.

  Lucifer was at apex of the formation in his shining crimson. His gold crown sparkled on his forehead and a golden glow seemed to emanate from his head as he led his people toward the barn where the residents of Ramsay’s estate stood in small, silent knots watching them with mixtures of wonder, fear and excitement written on their faces. Several elves were on the roof of the barn and hanging from the second floor windows, also watching this with great curiosity. Mark nodded to himself as he watched this display, recognizing a vaguely familiar sight from aeons past. The V-shape allowed the energies of the warriors to concentrate on the leader, creating the ‘angelic’ glow that filled the spectators with fear and awe. It had worked wonders on the ancient enemies. Mark noted that it still worked fairly well on these modern specimens.

  Edgard, not to be outdone, had ordered that his Knights and apprentices turn out in full Templar regalia to meet the guests. They stood together wearing either black or white uniforms as their marital status demanded. Mark Andrew stood on the Grand Master’s left in his black uniform and Barry of Sussex flanked the white-clad Master. Only Luke Matthew was missing from this assembly and Mark Andrew thought it very sad and very typical that Luke would not be there to greet his returning son. If he would have had more notice, he would have insisted that Luke ride up from London, but his week long absence had precluded the possibility of Luke Matthew being there before the week was out and he had no idea how long Michael would stay if he could stay at all. Mark’s heart caught in his throat as they drew closer and he could see that Michael now looked exactly like his father and Jozsef Daniel. His long hair hung down his back from under his shining silver helmet and he was smiling a brilliant smile. This was also his son, his grandson. Galen, on the other hand, looked very grim and proud as he rode alongside and slightly behind an angel warrior dressed in black. The warriors wore the crested helmets similar to the plumed affair that the mighty Djinni favored. Their long, horse-hair plumes were dyed the same color as their respective mantles. Their horses also sported plumed helmets between their ears and trotted proudly, tossing their heads and snorting. Extraordinary animals.

  Lucifer halted directly in front of Edgard d’Brouchart and slid from the saddle first. The rest of his company drew up in a horizontal line behind him, but remained mounted. Their light blue eyes darted back and forth nervously at the assembly waiting for them.

  “Nathanael.” Lucifer took off his helmet and bowed his head slightly to the Grand Master. “It is an honor to meet you again, my brother.”

  “Lucifer.” Edgard returned the nod. “It is our honor to greet you in friendship and brotherhood.”

  “Uriel.” Lucifer smiled slightly at Mark Andrew and then looked about quickly as if searching the small crowd for someone in particular.

  “Brother.” Mark Andrew did not return the smile. He knew that the angel was searching for Sophia among the ladies and he did not like it at all.

  Lucifer stepped back and swept his mantle about magnanimously, drawing himself up to his full height.

  “Is there someone of these small ones to care for the horses?” He asked and Edgard waved to the two young stable hands who took care of the Templar horses. The two young men stood mesmerized as the angel presented his glittering reins to them.

  “I would present my brothers.” Lucifer nodded again and the angels began to dismount one by one as he called their names. They each bowed briefly with grave dignity and then handed over their horses to the grooms. Michael and Galen were last to dismount.

  “Of course, you know your own kith and kin.” Lucifer spoke to all of them in general. “Michael, the Well-Named, much beloved by us and Galen, also proven in battle as a credit to his kind and worthy of respect and honor.”

  Again, Apolonio had to take hold of his grandfather’s arm to keep him in formation.

  Lucifer’s gaze fell on Lucio and he frowned slightly before moving very quickly down the ranks. He stopped directly in front of Dambretti and looked at him from first his right eye and then his left.

  “You are the Golden Eagle.” Lucifer told him after a moment. “The father of the little one. Yes. And…” He leaned close to him and seemed to smell of him before taking hold of his dark curls. “Yes! The father of the other… the Nephilim, Vanni? Yes! But tell me…” he changed to his left eye “how came you and your golden son to bear the same mark on your face? Are these things also traits of birth?”

  “They were caused by weapons, your Grace.” Lucio told him darkly. He did not appreciate being kept from greeting his son. “My son is, as you say, a credit to his kind.”

  “Ahhh. You are angry. Good!” Lucifer smiled at him. “You may kiss your son, if you wish.”

  Lucio glanced at the Grand Master and d’Brouchart nodded his approval. Lucio walked toward Galen slowly. He stopped in front of Galen who finally broke into a broad smile, crinkling the scar on his own cheek.

  “Son.” Lucio returned the smile and then they fell on each other, hugging and kissing each other repeatedly.

  This concession seemed to break the tension and the rest of the angels moved forward to inspect the Knights and apprentices as if they were sizing them up at a slave auction or even, perhaps, for the main course at a barbecue. The Knights did not know what to make of this, until Azael and Ariel began to move up and down the line of people, hugging and kissing them and calling them by their given names as if they had known them all their lives. The others followed suit and everyone, including the grooms and the groundskeepers received kisses on both cheeks and tight hugs. The only ones left out of the greeting ritual were the females. The angels nodded to each of the women, called them by name, but did not touch them. They had gained much information from the minds of the men during the ‘examination’. It was a very strange ceremony, but it was soon over and the angels again lined up behind their chieftain.

  “We will dine now.” Lucifer announced and started off toward the house. The others followed him single file down the walkway. Michael lagged behind and walked beside Mark Andrew.

  “How is my father?” Michael asked him after they had exchanged a warm greeting.

  “He is well, but very busy. He will be ready to kill me when he learns of your return. I’m sorry that I couldn’t have him here to greet you.” Mark Andrew apologized. “I only learned that you were coming today.”

  “Tell him that…” Michael stopped as a high pitched noise split the air briefly. “Oh, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later!”

  Michael hurried up the walk with Galen close behind him. The noise had apparently been a summons. The two Templars fell in behind the black clad angel and did not look back.

  Lucio caught up with Mark on the walk.

  “What is this, Brother?” He asked under his breath. “Are they still hostages? Am I going to be allowed to speak with my own son or not? Santa Maria! Did you hear him? I’ve never seen such arrogance. You may kiss your son. How dare…”

  “Oh, yes you have seen such arrogance.” Mark Andrew interrupted him. “When was the last time you looked in the mirror?”

  “I have never been that bad!” Lucio protested. “And did you see how they treated the women? They acted as if they were… dirty or something.”

  “They will not touch the women. It is not what you think, Brother. Just let it be.” Mark Andrew told him in a low voice. “They are not used to the company of men, much less women.”

 

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