The air was cool and very still. Teo’s oily torch had burned low, so he retrieved another from his pack and lit it from the first. As the flame flared to life, Ana walked down the unknown passage.
“Another room here,” she called. There was a pause, then she exclaimed, “Teo! Come quick! I’ve found something!”
Hurrying into the next chamber, Teo saw Ana kneeling beside a white marble sculpture set into an alcove. It depicted a barefoot female figure lying on her side upon a rectangular pedestal. The woman’s head, wrapped in a death shroud, was turned toward the floor so her face was hidden. Both arms rested limply in front of her on the pedestal.
“Look at her hands,” Ana said.
“What about them?”
“See how she’s holding out three fingers in her right hand and one in her left? I think she’s ‘teaching three and one’ like the message said. I wonder what it means?”
“I have no idea. Maybe we’ll find out someday.”
Teo reached to the sculpture and brushed away some dirt. A gash encircled the woman’s neck. “There’s our confirmation. She was beheaded. It’s Holy Cecilia for sure.”
“That means the New Testament must be hidden around here somewhere!” Ana began to clear the area behind the pedestal. “Help me look for it!”
After jamming the torches into crevices in the wall, Teo knelt beside Ana and joined her in scraping away the accumulated debris. As he wiped the mud from one of the flagstones, he noticed something incised into it: a cross.
“Here it is.”
Ana stopped her digging and glanced at Teo. Her long-lashed eyes shone in anticipation of the momentous discovery. For a moment they stared at each other in the flickering torchlight.
“Are you remembering the same thing I am?” she asked.
Teo nodded. “The temple of Deu, when we found the Sacred Writing on the roof.”
“You let me draw it out that time. Maybe now it’s your turn.”
“Back then you were the only one who believed. Now we both do.”
Ana smiled. “I’m glad, Teo. How about if we do it together?”
Teo used his knife to pry up the stone. A black space lay beneath. He and Ana plunged their hands into the hole. A jar of clay was there, its lid sealed shut. They lifted it out.
“Do we dare open it?” Ana bit her lip and raised her eyebrows at Teo.
“There’s treasure inside. I think we have to.” He set down the jar and tapped it with the hilt of his knife. It cracked, and part of it broke away. Wincing, he gingerly drew out a linen-wrapped object, then unfolded the cloths.
It was a book.
On its cover were three words: Le Nouveau Testament.
Ana sucked in her breath. “Is it . . . ?”
“It is.”
Teo sensed the presence of an enemy before he heard the footsteps pounding toward him from behind. Dropping the book, he leaped to his feet and drew his battle ax just as a black shadow descended upon him. A mace crashed against the haft of Teo’s ax. The violent impact reverberated all the way up his left arm.
Ana shrieked and dodged out of the way. Staggering back from his enemy, Teo shoved Ana out the door of the underground chamber.
“Run! Ride!” he yelled.
There was no time to say anything else. The Iron Shield swung his mace in a deadly arc. Teo ducked as it sliced through the space where he had just been standing. The mace smashed into the face of an icon painted on the wall. Jagged shards of brick rained down. The Iron Shield wrenched the mace from the wall and attacked again. Teo parried with his ax. In the classic move of a Chiveisian soldier, he caught his enemy’s weapon in the crook of his ax head, then yanked it from the warrior’s hand. It clattered to the floor.
The Iron Shield stepped back and uttered a dark laugh. He wore black chain mail to his knees. His cat’s eye, a sickly yellow orb pierced by a slit, reminded Teo of their battle in the sea. Sweat trickled down the man’s square jaw. The dancing light of the torches gave him the fierce look of a demon.
“You have led me straight to the prize, Teofil,” he gloated. “Now at last I will kill you. My only regret is that I cannot prolong your death. I will have to pour out my anger on your woman instead.”
Teo slid the sword of Armand from its sheath and pointed the glittering blade at his adversary. “Your pride will be your downfall, lord of darkness. Come! Test your strength against a servant of the living God.”
The Iron Shield reached over his shoulder and withdrew a longsword from a baldric. “Gladly,” he snarled, then leaped at Teo like a wolf closing for the kill.
The attack was furious and unrelenting. Teo was hard-pressed to fend off his aggressive enemy, and he had no chance to counterattack as he mounted a desperate defense. Each blow from the muscular warrior felt like the strike of three men, or five, or an entire legion of souls. It was all Teo could do to parry the thrusts with his ax and sword. He knew he could not withstand such a fierce assault for long.
The Iron Shield’s sword lunged at Teo’s gut. Sidestepping, Teo swept the blade aside with his ax. Then the dark warrior did something unexpected: he smashed his gauntleted fist into Teo’s chin. Stunned, Teo dropped his ax and stumbled backward.
The Iron Shield pressed his advantage. Seeing that Teo’s left side was now unprotected, he drew back his sword and prepared to bring it around. Teo knew a slashing blow like that would easily sever his arm from his shoulder.
Something flashed in the corner of Teo’s vision. He heard a loud crack as splinters exploded against the Iron Shield’s forehead. Spinning, the warrior knocked the new assailant to the ground. Teo saw Ana sprawled on the floor, clutching the broken stub of a human thigh bone.
Foolish woman! Foolish and courageous!
Teo sprang into action. Before the Iron Shield could resume his assault, Teo stabbed and forced his enemy to defend himself. Blood trickled into the man’s single good eye as he parried Teo’s cuts and thrusts. The Iron Shield kept wiping the blood away, but his vision was obviously impaired. The battle had turned.
Suddenly the Iron Shield whirled and grabbed Ana by the arm. She cried out as he put his blade to her throat.
“Give me the book or I’ll wash her in blood,” he growled.
“No, Teo! Don’t do it!” Ana struggled against her captor, but he held her in a vise grip.
Teo knelt by the sculpture and picked up the New Testament, keeping an eye on his opponent the whole time. “Let her go,” he said.
“Throw the book over here.”
Teo held it low and eyed the Iron Shield. The man would trick him if he could.
“Don’t do it, Teo! Not after all this!”
The sight of Ana in the Iron Shield’s grip was more than Teo could bear. He pitched the book on the floor, not far from his enemy’s feet.
I’ll attack him when he reaches for it, Teo thought. I can make this work!
The Iron Shield snatched a torch from the wall and shoved it against Ana’s back. She screamed as her cloak caught fire.
Aghast, Teo ran forward.
The Iron Shield scooped up the book and disappeared into the shadows with the torch.
“Help me! Teo! Help!” Ana’s voice was frantic. Her cloak was ablaze. She was wreathed in flames.
Teo ripped the burning cloak from Ana’s neck, its clasp flying across the room. Underneath the cloak, her peasant gown smoldered. She writhed as she tried to get away from the heat. Teo held her firmly and swatted the fabric until the fire was out, then dashed to the hallway. The Iron Shield was gone.
A hole had been singed in Ana’s garment. The smooth, white skin of her back was reddened, though not blistered. Teo poured water from his canteen on the burn. Ana arched her body and hissed but did not cry out. He tore a piece of unburnt cloth from her cloak and soaked it thoroughly, then pressed it to her skin as a cool compress. Holding it there, he listened for his enemy’s return, but all was quiet in the tunnels.
“Oh, Teo,” Ana murmured, “the book . .
.”
She turned and looked at him. Though they said nothing aloud, they communicated their grief with their eyes. Ana slipped into Teo’s arms, clutching the sleeves of his tunic.
“We lost it,” she said, her voice heavy. “We found the book of Deu, and then we lost it.”
I lost it, Teo thought.
The remaining torch winked out, and the catacomb went dark.
CHAPTER
15
Liber knew that Miss Vanita had told him to stay put while she went out to buy fish at the village’s docks. But Liber didn’t want fish. He wanted the new kinds of food. And Miss Vanita hadn’t left him any.
The heavyset man rose from his bed in the lodging room he shared with Teofil. Reaching into a pouch on the dresser, he removed a round piece of metal with a picture on it. He knew what it was. Everyone thought big Liber was dull. Huh! I’m not dull! I know how things work!
He looked out the window. A road followed the coastline. In the distance ships came and went from the busy harbor. It wasn’t far. A man could walk there without much effort. In places like that, people set out food to look at. If he gave them the round metal things, they would let him have their food.
Simple.
Liber put the metal disc in his pocket and closed the bedroom door behind him.
The sun was high and hot when he reached the port of Roma. Many of the pedestrians gawked at him. Before he lived on the isolated island of Hahnerat, people had often been taken aback by his large stature. Their stares did not surprise him. Even so, Liber didn’t like the attention. Feeling unsure of himself, he withdrew into his mind and began to utter his comforting, monotonous syllables. Meanwhile, his eyes scanned for food.
At last he saw it: a stall filled with the juicy red fruits he had recently discovered. Stasia had called them “apples of gold.” Each was plump and shiny, with a spiky green tuft on top. They were eaten in slices with white cheese and basil. Very delicious. He would need a lot of them.
“I want those,” Liber said to the shopkeeper behind the stall. He held up the disc.
The man laughed. “That coin wouldn’t even buy you one,” he said. Liber didn’t understand what that meant.
“I want some,” he repeated, reaching for the red fruits.
“Hey, hands off!” The man slapped Liber’s wrist. He was just like Drake—a rough, mean man.
Liber brandished the metal piece. “Give me the apples!”
“They’re not apples, you freak, they’re apples of gold, and you don’t have enough to pay for them!”
Liber felt agitated. This wasn’t going like he planned. He stomped his foot and grabbed a fruit. The shopkeeper darted around his stall and began to reach for it, shouting curses.
“What’s going on here?” an authoritative voice demanded.
Both men ceased wrestling and turned to the speaker. He wore a dark robe with a low-hanging hood that overshadowed all but his mouth. The shopkeeper let go of the fruit and shrank back.
“N-nothing,” he said, easing away. “He can have it!”
The robed man approached Liber. “Hmm, what’s this? It seems we have a Defective running loose.”
The man’s words were confusing, but even worse, he radiated evil in a way Liber didn’t like at all.
“Go away,” he said.
“I think it’s you who needs to go away.”
The man withdrew a dagger from his cloak and stepped forward. Liber was scared now.
“You will come with me,” the evil man said.
I will not!
Liber balled his fist and smashed the man in the face. The man flew backward into the stall, scattering the fruits in a squishy mess.
Terrified by what he had done, Liber rushed from the marketplace and did not look back.
Teo pounded his fist against a table in Ana’s guest apartment at the basilica. He was grimy from his foray into the underground tombs, and his rough tunic made him itch. Nothing was going right. He stared out the window, his frustration boiling over.
“That book was the key to everything!”
“It’s okay,” Ana ventured. “At least we’re alive.”
“It’s not okay!” Teo whirled to face her, then immediately softened his angry expression when he saw the startled look on her face. He hung his head and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you, Ana. I’m mad at myself. I feel like . . .”
“What?”
“Like I let you down.” He stared at the floor.
Ana came to him and put her hand on his arm. “Let me down? Teo, how could I ever feel that way after all you’ve done for me?”
He shook his head, not lifting his eyes from the floor. “I made a vow to you. I said I would find the New Testament and take its message back to Chiveis. Now that will never happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I had it in my hands! I should have been watching for enemies. I should have known the Iron Shield would follow me.” Teo smacked his fist into his palm. Despondent, he looked directly at Ana. “It’s my fault. I’m a failure.”
Ana’s eyes widened, and her lips made a circle at his words. “No, Teo! You’re not a failure!” Her voice was tinged with emotion. “You’ll never be a failure to me.”
She moved forward and encircled his chest with her arms. As Teo held Ana’s slender form against him, he felt a sense of peace return. She clung to him for a long time, smelling of lavender from the oil they had applied to her burn. Finally she parted and went to her bedside, then returned with the Prima. She flipped it open and placed her finger on the text as she scanned it.
“You know the story of Joseph?”
“Yes. It’s in the book of Beginning. He was thrown down a well. His brothers sold him into slavery.”
“Right. Joseph was as good as dead. He lost his family, his lands, his people—everything! For a while he was even in prison. But Joseph stayed faithful, and at the right time Deu raised him up to be a mighty king. That’s how he was able to save his brothers during the famine.”
“So what’s your point?”
“Listen to what Joseph said to his brothers.” Ana bent her head to the page and read aloud. “‘You intended to do me harm, but Deu converted it to good, to accomplish what has happened today, to save the life of a numerous people.’ See how the evil circumstances became part of Deu’s greater plan? Even though Joseph’s brothers meant to injure him, Deu was doing something else—something bigger and more grand. He had purposes Joseph couldn’t see until later.”
Teo put his hands on his hips and exhaled a heavy breath. He gave Ana a wry grin. “So, Miss Theologian, are you saying Deu wants to overcome my failure by making me a king?”
Ana closed the book and returned Teo’s smile. “No . . . I’m saying we shouldn’t lose hope when something bad happens. Deu may have purposes we can’t see. He’s the kind of God who brings victory out of what looks like defeat.”
Teo reached toward Ana and put a hand on her shoulder, staring into her blue-green eyes. “Thank you,” he said. “I guess I knew that. I just needed the reminder.”
She stepped closer, tilting her head to look up at him. “So what do we do next, Captain?”
“I think we ought to pray.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
They knelt side by side in front of the window of the guest apartment with their palms upraised. Each took a few moments to ask Deu to show them the way ahead. Teo’s prayers were especially earnest, for he had no idea what path to take.
When they finished praying they stood up. Ana brought out a plate of fruit, cheese, and bread, along with some leftover wine. They sat across the table from each other as they ate lunch.
“Any ideas?” Ana asked.
Teo chewed a slice of dried apple. “I was thinking about how David fought the giant warrior.”
“What about it?”
“How he took courage and confronted the giant boldly. He went on the attack because he knew Deu was with him. He t
ook the initiative to face his enemy. Maybe it’s time we did the same.”
Ana’s face lit up. “That’s exactly what I was thinking! Why have we been the responders all this time? Borja’s thugs keep attacking us and putting us on the defensive. We should take the fight to him!”
“I agree—and I have an idea about how to do it.”
“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” Ana said with a knowing smile. “What did you have in mind?”
“I want to free the Overseer from Borja’s dungeons. No telling what he’s suffering down there.”
“That palace looked huge. How would you know where to find him?”
“Last night I was browsing the Papa’s library. He had lots of books about Roma—its streets, buildings, infrastructure, urban planning, stuff like that. One of the books showed a floor plan of the palace on the Pincian Hill. It was built long before Borja got hold of it. The dungeons are underground in the south wing.”
“The Papa said nobody can fight their way into those dungeons,” Ana pointed out.
“Who’s talking about fighting? I plan to go in secret. All I need is a disguise that will let me roam the halls without suspicion.”
Ana frowned. “Excuse me? Don’t you mean we need a disguise?”
“Oh come on, Ana! I’m doing this alone. You think I’m going to take you by the hand and lead you into the enemy’s lair?”
“You think you could stop me?” she shot back.
Teo acted displeased, though secretly he loved Ana’s spirit. “I’m not taking you with me, and that’s final,” he said.
“You have to take me.”
“Why’s that?”
“I’m your ticket in. I’m part of your disguise.”
“How do you figure?”
Instead of answering, Ana went to a dressing table and rummaged through her bag, then returned with a pair of tweezers. Her smile was impish as she extended her hand and pinched the tweezers in front of Teo’s face.
“I hope you’re secure in your manhood,” she said, “because I’m about to make you very pretty.”
Teo peeked through the knothole in the shed near Borja’s palace. The fountain outside the brothel had resumed its normal flow, and now the courtesans lounged around it once more. As Teo considered his outfit, he was tempted to open the valve again and flee the scene. He felt ridiculous wearing a eunuch’s livery, with pomade in his hair and a touch of rouge on his cheeks.
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