Empress Aurora Trilogy Quest For the Kingdom Parts I, II, and III Revised With Index (Quest For the Kingdom Set) (56 page)

It could not
be, and yet it was so. The dead man struggled for breath; it began to come in
shallow breaths, then deep inhales. Color returned to his face, and the wound
in his neck closed and the blood congealed.

Slowly, he
opened his eyes. He blinked then as if uncertain of where he was. Becoming
gradually aware of murmuring voices that suddenly rose to a clamor, he sat up
and looked about him.

The celebrants
were now shouting and gesturing and crowding about Dag. Their leader who had
slashed the man’s throat stood in stunned silence. He struggled to speak, but
his voice refused to obey him, and the color drained from his face until he was
as pale as the dead man had been before being restored miraculously to life.

Marcus turned
to those around Dag and addressed them in their own tongue.

“This miracle
you have seen with your own eyes is the work of Dominio. It is He who raised
this man from the dead. Who will you serve: your Tuadan, who demands the blood
of your friends? Or Dominio, the Giver of Life?”

With the sole
exception of the leader the celebrants raised their hands in the air, their faces
shining with exhilaration at the marvel they had just witnessed, and shouted as
one.

“Dominio!
Dominio! Dominio!”

What had begun
as a dark festival with a sinister sacrifice made to evil idols turned into an
impromptu classroom as the men clustered around Marcus and Dag demanding to
know more about Dominio and His Son Alexandros. The night was late so Marcus
asked them to meet them the following morning on the village square. Only the
leader remained silent, but whether from shock or from sullenness Marcus could
not tell.

The next
morning, Marcus and his friends met the men in the village square as promised.
With them came the man who had been sacrificed and resurrected. They were told
his name was Oengus. He looked rather pale and weak but, as Marcus reasoned, it
wasn’t every day that a man died and was risen from the dead, and no doubt
Oengus needed time to come to terms with such an occurrence!

Marcus shared
with the men gathered around him his own testimony, of the injustice done to
his family and the months of captivity among the Eirini. With no mention of the
Pearl, he told of his quest that led him to the truth, of Alexandros who came
to reconcile man to Dominio, and to proclaim His Kingdom of Heaven had come.

The men
responded, each one giving their hearts to Dominio, and pledging their lives to
His service. For had they not all witnessed the miracle that happened to
Oengus? Oengus himself was the first to surrender, for he had been granted a
second chance at life, and who would be so foolish as to refuse the One who
gave it?

One by one
Felix, Dag, and Bimo also revealed their experiences with Dominio and their new
faith. Felix schooled them in some of the laws that Alexandros had taught His
followers, and said they were the guidelines by which they must live: mercy,
faith, forgiveness, and charity. Dag warned them that persecution might arise
but they must stand strong and trust in Dominio. Bimo assured them that no
matter in what circumstances they might find themselves, Dominion would always
be beside them to share it.

After they had
spent more than an hour speaking and praying, a slight disturbance on the edge
of the crowd drew the attention of them all. Someone stood waiting and silent,
and glancing over Marcus recognized the man who had led the rites the night
before.

Silence fell
on all present: none knew what to expect. The man stood a moment with head
erect, and then opened his garments slightly to reveal the gold circlet about
his neck. Slowly he withdrew it from his neck, looked at it for a long moment
as though taking leave of it; and then tossed it on the ground. He then dropped
to his knees and joined the other men around Marcus.

They met every
day in the square for seven days, and received instruction from Marcus and
Felix. A warm camaraderie sprung up quickly among the Alexandrians and the
Eirini. To make friends with them and talk on terms of equality was not the
same treatment Marcus had received from them before when he had previously
suffered captivity at their hands. There was much laughter and good will now as
the Eirini demonstrated a mischief in their nature that he had not suspected
before.

Then one day
Marcus began to feel a restless stirring within him. He could not stay here
indefinitely, he knew. For his task was still to be completed. The lives of his
parents as well as his own depended on the success of his mission. And yet
there was still one thing more to be finished in Eirinia.

It was an
early October day when Marcus woke one morning with the impulse to consult
Logos. He took the scabbard from his belongings and withdrew from the hut.

It was a
lovely morning to walk in the woods, so he ambled through a grove where maple
trees burned crimson among the last vestiges of green.

When he was
certain he was out of sight, he drew Logos from its scabbard. As always, the
shining beauty of its blade and hilt caught him unawares, and for a moment he
simply gazed at its silver sheen.

Then Marcus
asked his question.

“Dominio, You
have faithfully led me and guided me. Four objects I was commissioned to find.
Three have I found under Your careful leading: the Fountain of Youth, a star
from the heavens, and the Rays of the Sun. And now, I ask: where may I find the
fourth, the secret of life, to finish my task and return to my parents, and so
accomplish their release?”

Marcus stared
expectantly at Logos. Faintly, then with growing clarity, the words appeared on
the blade.

“Whatever a
man sows, that shall he also reap.”

Marcus puzzled
over this, and closed his eyes to ponder on the meaning of this statement. He
struggled with the words, for they made little sense to him.

Something fell
from the tree above him, and brushed his nose. Startled, he opened his eyes and
looked at the ground. Nestled among the fallen leaves was the winged pod of a
maple seed, dislodged from the tree just overhead.

Uncomprehending,
he stared at it. Then he picked it up and looked at it intently.

A seed.
Sowing. Reaping. Seeds and sowing and reaping.

Revelation
suddenly dawned on him. Of course! Whatever was sown would also be reaped. If
one sowed a maple tree one would not reap an oak tree. Whatever a man sowed, or
planted through his deeds whether for good or evil, it was
that
which he
would harvest, whether of reward or punishment.

Marcus let out
a shout of joy and danced an impromptu little dance of celebration. His task
was accomplished and he was free to go home.

He carefully
wrapped the seed in his handkerchief and put it in the pocket of his robe. Then
he strode back to the hut of Cadeyrn where he would tell the others that it was
at last time to return to Valerium.

After much
discussion and consultation in prayer, it was decided that Marcus, Felix,
Kyrene, and Elena would depart at once for Valerium to report to the Empress
Aurora with the four objects which she had sent Marcus to obtain, and thus win
the freedom of Marcus’ parents, Valerius and Honoria, who had been held for so
long in the dungeon of the Empress.

Dag would
remain in Eirinia with Cort and Bimo to disciple the little village of Leith,
now brimming with new believers. For after the news of the rising of Oengus
from the dead had spread among them, they all turned their lives over to
Alexandros, and Leith was transformed into a thriving and happy community of
vibrant citizens, eager to live their lives for the glory of Dominio.

It remained
for them to be taught the teachings of Alexandros in their entirety and to grow
in maturity. Marcus knew this was of vital importance if they were to remain in
their new faith and accomplish whatever mission Dominio set them to do, yet he
must finish his own task and therefore could not remain.

It was Dag who
brought the solution.

“I will make
my home here,” he announced. “And Cort with me. For we have no home to go back
to in Trekur Lende. We will stay in Leith and teach them.”

Bimo decided
to remain also, as he too, had no place to call home.

“Perhaps I
will journey on in time,” he told Marcus. “Perhaps I will one day return to
Solone as I have dreamed of doing. But for now I feel I must stay here to help
Dag and to be taught also.”

Marcus
realized the sense of this and could not visualize Bimo in Valerium, although
he had once lived in it as a slave. Perhaps in Solone he might one day find
contentment. But for now in Eirinia he would be free, at one with the land. And
for Bimo, that was enough.

There was one
more thing to be done before they took leave of their friends.

The evening
was fine, a warm day with no breeze to chill the air such as can happen in
early October, with the rays of the setting sun turning the copper curls of the
bride to burnished bronze. The groom stood beside her, his usually stoic face
wreathed in a smile that crowned him with a noble dignity. Behind them their
sons exchanged grins, and as if suddenly aware of their new relationship,
impulsively hugged one another with beaming faces and eyes suddenly filled with
happy tears.

It was Marcus
who led the ceremony. Dag had requested it, and he could not refuse him this
one last service before they parted their ways.

Having no
written order of service with which to marry them, he followed the promptings
of the Spirit. He asked the bride and groom to hold hands and pledge themselves
to one another. He prayed a blessing over them as they became united.

“O Dominio,
look now on these two as they become one. Grant them a spirit of unity in all
things. May they always be in harmony, agreeing on all matters close to Your
heart. Make them as a fruitful vine, bringing forth children to raise in Your
Kingdom purposes and to spread its advancement. May their home be filled with
peace, and all they do be done for Your glory. Amen.”

“Amen!”
responded all present.

When they were
pronounced man and wife, Dag threw up his hands and clapped them over his head.
Then he turned to Judoc and lifted her in his arms, swinging her in a circle,
laughing from pure joy. Tears ran unchecked down his cheeks. Dag let them flow,
for once heedless of those about him.

It was the
only sign of open emotion Marcus had ever seen him display.

He found himself
deeply moved that at last Dag had found his
konnae unnae
, his lady love.
He felt tears prick in his own eyes, and turning, saw Kyrene’s eyes swimming
with tears. Felix kept clearing his throat.

The three of
them drew closely together, while the villagers crowded around the newly
married couple to offer their congratulations and good wishes.

“Well, Dag is
settled at last,” Felix spoke, his voice wavering.

He cleared his
throat again.

“Yes, but I
shall miss him and Cort so!” Kyrene cried.

“So shall I,”
Marcus agreed, his own voice faltering. “Yet we were only to be together for a
time. It was always thus in the Army, my father used to say. You meet, work
together, bond, and then part.

“We each have
our own road before us, which each must follow. It may be that we shall return
to Eirinia someday, and be reunited. And we will all meet again in Dominio’s
Heaven. This is only farewell to our good friends. It is not good-bye.”

“Farewell,
then,” Kyrene said.

“Farewell, it
is,” Felix agreed.

Before they
took their final leave of the Eirini, Marcus had one last word of admonishment
for them.

“Be ruthless,”
he told them, “to root out the Astra. Go to every sacred grove, every holy hill
and cleanse them from the land. For if you do not drive them out from among
you, they will ensnare the souls of your sons and your daughters, and turn
their hearts away from Dominio.

“Do I have
your oath to do this?” he challenged them.

“Aye, you have
our oath!”

And they drove
them out that very hour. To every sacred grove and holy hill they went, tearing
down the altars where they poured the blood of their victims as a libation to
the Tuadan, declaring the land to now be sacred to Dominio, and under the
lordship of Alexandros as part of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

Now they were
back at sea, and the shortened days were chilly and laden with clouds. Although
it was still October, the winter would quickly be upon them and it was none too
soon to be finished with their task and returning to Valerium.

Marcus fretted
to be home once more, and give to the Empress the objects she had requested.
And to see the faces of his parents once more! The prospect of such joy made
the journey even more irksome in his eagerness to return.

How quiet
their little troop seemed now. Marcus missed the chatter of Cort, and Dag’s
unspoken support. The boat seemed much larger without his broad shoulders and
long legs filling it, but it was an empty space without his presence.

Talk was
desultory and sporadic. There was a sense of a mission fulfilled, with only the
formal conclusion to end it. Kyrene seemed wistful, no doubt missing Cort, for
she had been as a mother to him. Marcus expected her to return to Solone once
they had reached Valerium. While they were still in Eirinia, there was an
occasion when he walked through the woods early one morning, only to encounter
Kyrene, who had taken the same notion in her head.

They walked together
beneath the brilliant foliage in amiable silence, occasionally smiling
companionably upon one another, until Marcus turned to her on impulse.

“Kyrene,” he
inquired, “what will you do when we leave Eirinia? Will you continue on with
Felix and me?”

“I will go to
Valerium with you to see you through to the end of your task, Marcus,” she
replied.

Then she
turned to look him full in the face.

“Then I shall
return to Solone,” she said firmly.

For a moment
their eyes locked in a questioning gaze. Marcus hesitated, but decided to
satisfy his curiosity.

“What about
you and Felix?” he ventured. “Is there any chance…”

“No, Marcus,”
she interrupted him in a voice firm in its resolution. “I know what some have
been thinking, but it will not be.”

“But why not?”
Marcus asked, the words rushing to his lips. “I sense there is something
between you…”

Kyrene interrupted
him again.

“Friendship,
Marcus: that is what is between us. Only that.”

“I’m sorry,
Kyrene, but I thought the two of you rather liked each other, and I know his
mother would be delighted if you made a match. She likes you very much; it is
so obvious that she regards you almost as a daughter already.”

“Marcus, it
takes more than two people liking each other to make a successful match. Felix
has become a dear friend, and I could have cared for him;
that
much I
will admit to you. But his heart is given to one and one alone. For him there
is
no other.”

Marcus felt a
rush of jealous anger surge inside him.

“Tullia!” he
exclaimed.

“Yes,” Kyrene
answered. “Maybe we
could
have been more than friends. But once he saw
her in Lycenium, I knew that it was she that he still loves. And always will.”

“Well, he is
wasting his time in hoping for a future with Tullia!” Marcus exploded.

“Maybe he is,”
Kyrene agreed. “But true love need not be returned for it to be real. It exists
without reason, endures every trial, and is eternal in its undying devotion.”

What would
become of Elena he did not know, as he did not expect Kyrene to retain her
services as a maid, having no need of one.

He fell to
wondering about the former slave girl. She said little, yet he had the
uncomfortable feeling that her eyes missed nothing. And did he detect at times
a sense of malice? She had witnessed all of the miracles that Dominio had
wrought, yet was still an unbeliever as far as Marcus knew. How could that be?

The days flew
by, for it was not a long journey from Eirinia to Valerium, and on an afternoon
when every tree along the shore appeared clad in glowing robes to welcome them
home they arrived safely and pulled into port.

They secured
their trusty little craft at the pier, and walked to the Lucius villa, where
they were greeted with delight by Justus and Silvia. They were overjoyed to see
the young travelers again, and made much of them. Felix and Marcus were
swallowed in embraces by Silvia, who then tenderly greeted Kyrene and inquired
after her welfare. She was a little more reserved in her greeting to Elena, a
fact which Marcus noted with curiosity. Was it because the girl was somewhat
aloof, or was Silvia perhaps not as fond of her as she was of Kyrene?

For it was
obvious that both Silvia and Justus had taken Kyrene into their hearts, and
Marcus caught many speculative glances between them. He wondered if they had
designated her for their son. If so they were wasting their time.

Marcus lost no
time in explaining his need to see the Empress Aurora at the first opportunity.
Justus sent a messenger to the Palace, who soon returned and said the Empress
would grant Marcus an audience the next morning. It was decided, therefore,
that they would all spend the night at the Lucius villa, and finalize their
plans after the audience the next day.

After a
sumptuous dinner that warmed and sated all of them, Silvia drew Marcus aside
from the rest of the group, who were holding an animated discussion in the
family sitting room, and requested a moment alone with him. She took him to her
private sitting room, a small and cozy room where the frescoes were of lush
pink roses and green stems on a pale cream background, and the mosaic floor
mirrored the theme in tiles of rose, green, and cream.

The room
reminded Marcus of the roses in the garden of his father’s villa, and the
morning he was seized there and forced into slavery. He remembered also, with
bitter pain, the rose he had given Tullia when he proposed marriage, and how
heedlessly she had dropped it into the swirling stream. Would roses always be a
source of pain, a symbol of loss, to him?

But now Silvia
was speaking and holding out a scroll to him. He had not heard her words and
asked her to repeat them.

“I was given
this when I visited Lycenium over the summer, and entrusted to give it to you
when next I saw you.”

She paused a
moment as if uncertain how to proceed. Marcus waited, one eyebrow slightly
lifted, curious about her hesitancy.

Silvia exhaled
slowly.

“It is from
the daughter of Drusilla Octavius.”

Marcus felt
the breath go out of his lungs, and for a moment swayed on his feet.

“Tullia! It is
from Tullia?”

“Yes,” Silvia
answered. “I do not pretend to know what it contains. But she came to me one
day while I visited her mother and requested that I give it to you. I was
somewhat surprised, for her mother and I were discussing her pending betrothal
with the son of Gerontius Hadrianus. I was puzzled, therefore, why she should
send an address to another young man.”

She looked an
inquiry at Marcus. But he had no answer to enlighten her with. Seeing his blank
face, she rose from her chair and drew herself erectly.

“Indeed, I
wish I knew what it contained, for the very next day she disappeared and has
not been seen since.”

Marcus did not
respond, but Silvia knew from his reaction that he already had news about
Tullia’s unexplained disappearance.

“I shall leave
you to read it then,” she murmured softly as she left the room, closing the
door quietly behind her.

Marcus’ hands
were shaking so badly that it was with some difficulty that he slit the wax
from the scroll and unrolled it. He wondered what more Tullia could have to say
to him, having so firmly rejected him the summer before.

“Dearest
Marcus,” he read. “I know not how to tell you this, yet I must. When last we
met you honored me with an offer of marriage, which I in my folly refused. For
I was mistaken, Marcus: I know that now.

“Because of
the change in your circumstances I felt a future between us was neither
possible nor wise. I therefore encouraged the suit of Decimus Hadrianus, son of
the great Gerontius Hadrianus. For truly Governor Hadrianus is a great man:
honorable, gallant, and wise. I therefore assumed his son would be likewise.

“Alas, he is
cruel, weak, and given to folly. Decimus is also, as I have discovered, a
spoiled and selfish bully, whose only desire in life is securing his own
pleasure.

“My father and
mother expect me to accept his forthcoming proposal. My mother is already
preparing my wedding clothes, and my father is allotting my dowry. It will
grievously disappoint them when I refuse Decimus. Yet refuse him I must, for
life with him would be intolerable.

“For it is you
I want, Marcus. My brave, valiant, and noble Marcus! How could I have been so
cruel to reject you when you needed me the most? I have reflected on all that
you told me last summer, and I want to tell you that I will wait for you, my
darling.

“Decimus has
asked me to walk with him in the woods around his father’s villa early tomorrow
morning. I am to be unaccompanied by my maidservant, but to come to him unattended,
for he wishes to speak to me alone.

“He shall
propose; I know this. And I shall refuse him. For you are all that my heart
desires, my brave Marcus.

“I have heard
from Silvia Lucius that you have departed on another quest for the Empress.
When you have finished that task, come to me, whether in Lycenium if my family
lingers here, or back home in Valerium.

“Come to me. I
will wait for you.”

Marcus could
not decide which shock was the greater: the news that Tullia had changed her
mind and accepted him, or the fact that she had vanished from sight the very
next day.

The next day.
She was to meet Decimus alone…

Quick as
lightning to strike the tallest tree, Marcus made the connection: Decimus!
Tullia was going to refuse him. And now she was missing. Had he harmed her in
some manner?

Where was
Tullia? What fate had befallen her?