A voice in her ear made her jump.
“Ana, quick! Help me take off these handcuffs!” Teo touched Borja’s corpse with the toe of his boot. “The key is right there in his pocket.”
Disgusted, Ana started to kneel, but Liber intervened. He plucked the key from Borja’s trousers and handed it to Ana, who opened Teo’s cuffs. Teo immediately drew his sword and ran to the central portal but stopped short and stared out at the plaza.
“It’s finished,” he called over his shoulder. “The mercenaries have gone.”
“Victory!” the Papa shouted. “Deus has given us victory!”
Teo turned toward Ana, and she ran to him. She could hardly believe what was happening.
“Anastasia!” shouted a voice.
Ana released Teo to see who had called her name. The blond warrior she had noticed before ascended the steps to the portico. Though he was gaunt, Ana now recognized who it was.
“Bard, I can’t believe it’s you!” Ana greeted him joyfully. She had never thought she would see the Ulmbartian army scout again.
“It’s me, alright. And look who I’ve brought with me!” Bard turned and gestured behind him.
Now it was Teo’s turn to be stunned. “Sol! You’re alive!” He embraced the white-haired teacher. Teo seemed genuinely moved as he hugged his friend and clapped him on the back.
The Papa and the Overseer approached the jubilant group. “Which of you can tell me what’s going on here?” the Papa asked.
Sol faced the Papa. “Your Holiness, the army you see before you has come from the marble quarries. Long have these slaves been oppressed by vicious cruelty, but Deus came to us at last. We finally found our strength and rebelled against our overlords. Our numbers were too great for them, so they fled. Then one of our brothers informed us of a great battle that would take place on—”
“Midsummer’s Day!” Liber shouted in his thick voice.
Sol smiled. “Yes, Liber, on Midsummer’s Day. Everyone wanted to be part of the fight against Nikolo Borja, who had oppressed us for so long. We sailed to Roma on the quarry ships and marched straight here. Every man and woman you see has come willingly to serve the cause of Deus.”
The Papa was astounded. “The marble slaves know about Deus? They are Christiani?”
“Yes, Your Holiness, the slaves have become Christiani. In fact, they now know more about Deus than you.”
“That does not surprise me,” the Overseer interjected. “Deus is close to the afflicted.”
“Indeed. But I am talking about more than intuitive knowledge. These so-called Defectives have learned a great secret, one that turned their beliefs on end. All their lives they’ve been treated as worthless. The Exterminati beat them down and terrified them with stories of torment in the next life. They had no hope—no hope, that is, until they learned about the son of Deus.”
“Deus has a son?” Teo’s mouth hung open.
“Yes,” Sol replied, “and he is none other than Iesus Christus. The Pierced One and the Promised King are one and the same. We had it all wrong, Teofil. We assumed the Promised King couldn’t be Iesus because he died in defeat. But as it turns out, weakness and victory aren’t opposites at all. In the strange wisdom of Deus they’re bound together.”
“So Iesus was a martyr king?” Teo asked. “A king who was killed but remained true to his principles?”
“No. It is true Iesus died a shameful death. For a time it looked like a defeat. However . . .” Sol paused, overcome by the gravity of the moment. He had to collect his thoughts before continuing. “The truth is, the Pierced One did not remain in his grave. On the third day Deus raised him again to new life. Iesus came forth from his tomb and walked on the earth once more, then ascended into the sky, alive and victorious forever.”
“This is incredible!” The Papa grasped his forehead in a gesture of speechless awe. He staggered as he tried to take it all in. Slowly a smile crept across his face. “Yet it makes perfect sense,” he said at last. “Deus is a God of deliverance. He gives victory to the weak. How beautiful that his own son should demonstrate this truth in such a dramatic way.”
Sol nodded. “The scriptures say Deus has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.”
“I don’t remember that,” Teo said. “Where did you read it?”
Sol flashed Teo a mischievous grin. “In the New Testament, of course.”
“What? How?I saw it burned to ashes!”
“That does not stop our God. He has led us to another version.”
“Another version?” Ana stepped forward and stood next to Teo. “Show it to us!”
“My dear Anastasia, you and Teofil have had it in your midst all along, yet you did not have eyes to see it.”
Ana and Teo exchanged glances. She had no idea what Sol meant.
The old man summoned Liber to come close. “Dixit ei Iesus ego sum resurrectio,” Sol said.
At those words Liber closed his eyes and began to chant—not in his normal voice, but with an eloquence that took Ana by surprise. The syllables rolled off Liber’s tongue like honey. He even trilled his r’s like some patrician from long ago. “Dixit ei Iesus ego sum resurrectio et vita,” he recited in a steady, pleasing cadence. “Qui credit in me et si mortuus fuerit vivet, et omnis qui vivit et credit in me non morietur in aeternum.”
Sol translated on the fly. “Iesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he is dead, shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall not die in eternity.’”
As Liber chanted and Sol translated, Ana felt her world shift on its axis. It was as if the disordered pieces of her life suddenly clicked into place like the tumblers in a lock when the proper key is inserted. Now she understood the New Testament did indeed contain power—not mystical empowerment against human enemies, but a message of hope that vanquishes the greatest enemy of all. Whoever believes in the resurrection of Iesus will live forever. That, Ana realized, is true power.
Teo could contain his astonishment no longer. “Sol, are you telling me Liber has the whole New Testament memorized?”
Liber stopped chanting and grinned at Teo. “My pretty words,” he said. “Each has a shape and color.” He was obviously pleased with his accomplishment.
“That’s hard to believe,” Teo said.
“I know,” Sol agreed. “But sometimes those who appear weak-minded have a remarkable capacity for memory or music or calculations. Liber was an orphan raised by the Christiani. His amazing memory was noticed early on, and they began teaching him the holy words. He has perfect retention.”
“I know this man!” the Papa exclaimed. “When I was a young Keeper, it was rumored there was a boy whose memory was like no other. He could store words in his mind like grain in a silo. I had no idea he survived Borja’s purge.”
Ana approached Liber and put her hand on his arm, looking up at him. “Liber, I’m so proud of you. You have a divine gift, and you’ve used it well.” The big man beamed at Ana’s praise.
Sol lifted the flap of the satchel hanging from his shoulder and displayed some parchments. “I’ve already started transcribing Liber’s words, but I could certainly use some help from my brightest student.” He caught Teo’s eye. “The Chiveisi need their own version, don’t you think?” Teo could only gape at the wonder of it all.
The Papa stepped forward and took charge of the day’s chaotic events. He strode to the portico’s central portal. The Defectives milled around the plaza. Smiling, the Papa lifted his hands to them.
“Hail to you, brothers and sisters! I welcome you to Roma in the name of Deus and his son Iesus, the Promised King!” A cheer went up from the crowd.
“Until now you have been known to the world as Defectives. Today I lift that accursed name from your shoulders. You are victorious heroes! You have been chosen by Deus for this hour! And so, my friends, I bestow upon you a new name. From now on you shall be called . . . the Beloved!”
The ch
eer that arose at these words was even more boisterous than the one before. The Beloved embraced each other as they celebrated their new name. Many wept openly, and some even danced with the abandon of the innocent.
As Ana gazed out over the plaza, she found her spirit deeply moved by everything that had transpired. She bowed her head. Though her eyes were squeezed shut, tears welled from them and rolled down her cheeks.
Someone came and stood next to her. Anastasia felt a rough hand slip into hers. She looked up, expecting to see Teo.
But on this day it was Liber.
Rain pattered against the windows of the convent by the sea. The hour was late, and all the sisters had retired for the night. Liber, too, slept upstairs. Only Teo and Ana were awake in the common room with its massive fireplace.
“The fire’s dying down,” Teo said.
He got up from his seat and stirred the coals with a poker, then added a log when a gust of wind rattled the glass panes. Unseasonably cool air had rolled in with the summer storm. Once the fire was going strong, Teo turned back to his chair.
“Sit by me,” Ana invited.
She scooted over on the little settee in front of the hearth to make space for him. There wasn’t much room, but Teo didn’t mind. He thought Ana looked very beautiful in the fire’s soft glow. He slid next to her and propped his feet on a hassock. The warmth radiating from the fireplace felt good on the soles of his bare feet. Ana also wiggled her toes toward the dancing flames. Teo’s bearskin cloak covered their legs. She reclined against his shoulder, then swiveled her head and looked up at him.
“What next, Captain?”
“I guess we’ll stay here for the time being. I want to translate the New Testament as fast as possible.”
“How long will it take?”
“Sol is making a text in the Old Words from Liber’s memory.” Teo shook his head in amazement. “I can’t believe after all our searching, Liber had it in his head the whole time!”
“I know. We just didn’t bother to ask.” The two of them grinned at each other, then broke into laughter at the astounding things they had experienced.
“Shh! You’ll wake the sisters,” Ana said, touching Teo’s lips with her finger.
“I doubt it. I can hear the housemother snoring.”
Teo’s comment made Ana laugh even harder. Their amusement was a mixture of irony, jubilation, and relief after so much distress. They enjoyed the shared moment, until finally it passed and their laughter died down.
Teo heaved a sigh. “So to answer your question, I don’t know how long the translation will take. Sol has to go from the Old Words into Talyano. Then I can take it into Chiveisian speech.”
At the mention of her homeland, Ana’s mood turned from carefree to pensive. Her eyes narrowed as she stared into the fire, lost in thought. Teo waited for a while, then ventured a question.
“Do you ever think about going home?” He was unsure whether Ana wished to talk about that subject, yet he didn’t want to dodge it in case she did.
Ana’s gaze remained fixed on the crackling logs. At last she turned to Teo. “Did you know it was exactly one year ago today that we left Chiveis? I remember because it was the day after the summer solstice. That was a difficult time for me.”
“So then . . . you do miss home,” Teo said lamely.
She nodded. “Yes. I can’t deny that. But at the same time, I am home. I’ve learned to be like a twig on a flowing stream. I go where I’m taken by Deu, and where I’m taken, that’s where I’m supposed to be.”
“I think I know why Deu led you from Chiveis. He had people he wanted you to meet. You have a gift I’ve never seen in anyone else.”
“Oh, Teo, I’m nothing special.”
“Yes, you are. You draw people to yourself, and you change them in the process. Look at Vanita. She used to be a social climber. Beautiful but empty. Now she’s transformed. Back there at the basilica she stayed by your side until the end. You showed her a different way to live.”
Ana dropped her chin and fiddled with her skirts. “I don’t know. Maybe. In any case, I’m glad Vanita is at peace.” A smile broke across Ana’s face. “Can you believe she’s going to sail around like some kind of pirate queen of the high seas? I think she’s going to shave Marco’s profits to zero! She’ll make him sell his loot so cheaply to the peasants, he’ll barely clear enough to keep the Glider shipshape.”
Teo chuckled. “Yeah, Vanita seems very happy with Marco.” He paused, growing more serious. “What about you, Ana? Are you happy?”
The question made Ana sit up and turn toward him on the settee. She bit her lip and considered her reply. “Yes, I’m happy. Deu has blessed me.”
“I wonder if”—Teo swallowed before continuing—“if there’s something that would make you even happier.”
Ana looked at Teo from underneath her eyelashes. A little smile turned up the corners of her mouth, and color rose to her cheeks. “Yes, Teo. There is one thing I want very much.”
Inexorably they moved toward each other. Ana’s lips were parted, and her breathing was rapid. Teo closed his eyes, sensing her desire.
A fist pounded on the front door. Ana jumped back at the sharp sound and let out a little gasp.
The wind howled around the eaves. Upstairs several of the sisters opened their doors, and the housemother hurried into the common room. Teo and Ana stood up from the settee.
“Who is it?” the housemother called.
“Sorry to disturb you so late at night,” replied a muffled voice. “The Papa has come to see you.”
Teo and Ana shared a late breakfast the next morning with the Papa and his small retinue. The housemother kept fussing over her esteemed guest after the meal, trying to make him comfortable. He thanked her, then asked if he could speak to Teo and Ana privately. They went outside to some benches under an umbrella pine.
The Papa shook his head at Teo with an appreciative smile. “Much has changed since you arrived in Roma, Teofil of Chiveis. Much has changed indeed.”
“For the better, I hope, Your Holiness.”
“I should say so. Things could hardly be better for the Christiani. We have opportunities now I could never have dreamed of before. And that is why I wish to speak to you—to both of you, in fact.”
Teo nodded. “We’re listening.”
Ana felt a little nervous, but she gave the Papa her full attention.
The Papa rose from his bench and stared across the sea, then turned back to Teo. “Take a look at this.” He withdrew a scroll from his sleeve. “I’m curious if you can read it.”
Ana peered over Teo’s shoulder while he scanned the scroll. She was surprised to discover she could read it too. It was written in a language much like the speech of Chiveis.
“I can read it,” Teo said. “It’s essentially my native tongue. The text says wisdom consists of two parts, knowledge of ourselves and of Deu.”
The Papa’s face lit up. “Excellent! So you could speak this language if necessary?”
“The dialect is a little different, but yes.”
“In that case I have a mission for you.” The Papa’s tone was matter-of-fact.
Ana’s heart jumped. A mission? What does that mean?
Folding his arms across his chest, the Papa resumed his seat. “Let me explain what I have in mind. As you know, the Beloved came to Roma from their enslavement at the marble quarries. One of those slaves was from a very distant place, a place known to me only by reputation until now. It’s called Marsay. The slave confirmed what I already suspected: Knights of the Cross live there, men who speak a tongue similar to that in which Borregard’s diary was written. Furthermore, those Knights are in contact with a people upriver from them. The text I just showed you comes from these upriver folk. The Knights believe they are open to receiving Christianism, although no formal contact has been established with them yet. So, Teofil, I think you can see the strategic role I’d have you play here.”
“Because I know these two
languages?”
“Yes. And because you are a warrior who can travel great distances, confront dangers, and overcome obstacles. It’s hard to doubt Deus has appointed you to the task I have in mind. Only you can do it.”
“And what exactly is that task?”
“I want you to become my liaison to the Knights of Marsay and bring me copies of whatever religious texts they may have. I also want you to journey upriver and explore the possibility that the people there might become Christiani.”
Ana could remain quiet no longer. “That would take a long time,” she said, trying to keep her tone neutral.
“No question. The seas would close for the winter before Teofil could return. He would not be back here until the following spring.” The Papa looked at Ana and addressed her with tenderness. “I know this would be difficult for you to endure. And yet I must forbid you from going with Teofil on this mission, if indeed you are inclined to do so. He must not be double-minded for this task. Your role is to wait with holy patience, trusting in the care of Deus. I do not know you well yet, Anastasia, but from what I have observed, you are a woman of righteous character who could do this thing I ask.”
Ana remained silent.
The Papa stood up. “My friends, I shall take my leave now. You must consider my request and come to a decision regarding it. I will return to the basilica, for I have much to do in these exciting times. If you decide to take up the yoke I have laid upon you, come see me and we will begin to make plans.”
As the Papa rode away with his retinue of priests, Ana found herself distressed.
“Let’s take a walk,” Teo said, heading toward the beach. Ana slipped off her sandals and followed him.
They walked for a time in silence. The sun’s warmth felt good on Ana’s shoulders, but her heart was in turmoil. At last Teo stopped walking and turned toward her. She met his gaze, dreading what he would say.
“I believe this mission might be from Deu. I’d like to know if you think I should go.”
Ana felt tears well up, but only for a moment, and then they receded. She straightened her back and lifted her chin. Teo stood there, waiting for her answer, looking down at her with his gray eyes.
The Gift Page 42
