Ignorant and stupidity. Two different things. Ignorance means you don't know. Stupid is after you find out truth, you choose to ignore it. That's stupidity. This chapter has fiction, but also truth. The cure for ignorance is education. I don't want to preach, but there are things I learned through the years. I present facts, writings, and concepts some won't know. Not one reader is stupid. I created characters that are ignorant to explain things so I can explain to the reader. Become educated while being entertained. Open your minds.
Mature Adult Readers, Sexual Situations, Sex
Story: Cinderfella 2: A New Life
Chapter: 38 Lia and the Secret Tablets
Author: Eric McQueen (mcqueen.richarderic@gmail.com)
Mature Readers only due to sexual situations and graphic sexual content
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Ignorant and stupidity. Two different things. Ignorance means you don't know. Stupid is after you find out truth, you choose to ignore it. That's stupidity. This chapter has fiction, but also truth. The cure for ignorance is education. I don't want to preach, but there are things I learned through the years. I present facts, writings, and concepts some won't know. Not one reader is stupid. I created characters that are ignorant to explain things so I can explain to the reader. Become educated while being entertained. Open your minds.
Lia and the Secret Tablets
The relaxing tea and the calmness, it didn't take long before saw Caleb's eyes take a little longer opening and closing. The ability to hold the subject of our discussion also was stretched to a limit.
"I think it's working," Seth said quietly in my ear.
I looked over at Toby, made the sign he knew to pay attention, then signed what I was going to do. After Toby nodded, signing he understood, I reached over, held Seth's hand and touched Caleb. This time a chord was struck. Just one, but it was a chord. You know? A series of three or four notes sound as one sound. A chord.
Seth stumbled but kept his footing. His head tilted at the sound, and he whispered at me, "What was that?"
I had tried to get Caleb in a position to simply lie down on the bed. I had to get him to stand slightly to move him in place. He only roused slightly, so I moved him back and down. "It's okay, you're in your room. Go to sleep. You're fine." I covered him up. He was in the skins and under the blanket. Yeah, he'd be warm. "I'll check on you, but if you need me, I'm two doors that way." I made sure the door to his bathroom was open and the gaslight on very low for it he woke. He could see what was there. I pushed Seth into the corridor. "That sound was my attempt of having some reaction when I use the magic."
"Oh," Seth chuckled. "Are you sure whatever you used was in tune?"
I frowned at him, fists on my hips as I said, "It's always very easy to criticize." He knew I wasn't really hurt or angry. I knew it was less than appealing chord. "Besides, it was my first attempt."
"It wasn't bad," Seth said encouraging. "So, the magic doesn't just do it for you?"
I shook my head, "Not with the creative side of things. Objects are just reach and grab," I shrugged. "When he said I could put him anything to wear...I didn't know if I could. I could wrap material around him..." I shrugged a nod, "For instance, when Ceto makes a delicious meal, she should be complimented! It isn't the magic's cooking. It's her! She knows how to make it. She has to. To have it come out right!"
Seth nodded, "She can't give anyone else's?" He shrugged. "It seems, if someone you knew made it better, you'd bring theirs."
I nodded a little, "You might," then I shook my head. "Then again, it won't taste right. You need to at least watch a person make it and follow exactly how and how much to add when. The clothes I can do, but I'm not a tailor..."
Seth grinned, "Does that mean Demetrius has done it?"
"Over four centuries of life?" I asked as I laughed, "I know he has." I got less than an inch from Seth's face. "My point is to make a nice chord or sound; I need to know how. The magic is a shortcut. It saves work time."
"How did you learn this?"
I shrugged again, "I just know." I began walking back to the dining area.
Seth thought a second, then followed me. "Okay, back to Lilith. She isn't a demon."
"I don't believe so."
"Then why..." Seth began asking.
"The man to answer those questions will be up again tomorrow," I assured Seth. "You can ask him then."
"I'm losing you," Seth said in a somewhat gloomy voice, "aren't I?"
I stopped when he said that. His face told me was kidding, but there was some concern there, too. "What!?"
"Caleb's as smart as you are about some things..." Seth pointed off to the side at nothing there, "Like all that Church stuff. You two had a pretty intense discussion going..."
I know my eyes widened, because of what he may have felt. "Was it my imagination that remembers you contributed to that conversation?"
"With ignorance," Seth shrugged. "I asked questions from that ignorance."
"Oh, no, Baby!" I pushed Seth back against the wall. "There is nothing wrong with ignorance." I shrugged, "That simply means you don't know." I waved back at Caleb's door. "He knows the scriptures..."
"A hellofalot!!"
I nodded, "And so do you! You know when the right time is to encourage the grapevines to expand. If I mention gridling the cane, thinning the clusters to make them bigger and sweeter..." I brought him to me kissing him. "You do it better than anyone..." I thought of the various vineyards around, "There's no one who does it as well as you do." I pressed my own chest, "At a resent time, I didn't know what those things were. I'd stick something in the ground and pour water on it. That's it." I kissed him. "You took what Arthur took for granted and made it the biggest vineyard on this continent! You are brilliant, Seth! The subject matter back there was a little specific, but that's what he does!"
"You kept up with him," Seth said.
"It's what I sort of did," I confessed. "Not enough, but I knew what to ask." Then I narrowed an eye and put us so my nose touched his. "You," I placed a finger on his chest above his heart, "are my husband! My partner in life and my best friend. Do you know what that means?"
Seth chuckled, "Generally, I do, but tell me what you mean."
"No one can ever," I did a hand sweep in the air, "and I mean EVER hold a candle to you." Our lips were now brushing as we spoke. "I'd kill for you, Seth, but most important is I will live for you, too."
We began moving, but in the direction we'd come. His kissing and our path said we weren't going back to the others. Our room was just two doors down. Remember? I did quickly check on Caleb and he was just gone. Physically here but sleeping so hard! I'd find out why in a few more hours about that.
It was just after sunup when I ventured out and knocked gently on Caleb's door.
"Come in," a voice said calmly.
Entering, I found Caleb awake, showered and sitting cross-legged on the bed. He almost looked like he had been praying.
"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," I apologized.
"You didn't," Caleb waved me in. "Is there somewhere we need to go?"
"Breakfast in a few minutes," I smiled, "How'd you sleep?"
Caleb chuckled, "I haven't slept like that..." he thought and then shrugged, "I can't remember when."
"The working days at the Vatican?" I asked.
"We get up as the sun rises," he chuckled, "Then we have prayer." He grinned, "Then we have breakfast and more prayer." He shrugged a nod, "Depending on the day and which topic of the day, season and other things that would guide our prayers."
"When did you work?" I asked.
"When did they work? Or when did I work?" He chuckled again. "It sounds like a lot, but I would work twelve or more hours a day." He nodded and smiled, "I got used to it and became dependent of the prayer times to clear my mind and keep my focus. I was thinking about the scriptures." He looked at me. "About this Father Markham, you have a history with him."
"You can say that" I nodded. "Because of the charges he brought against me and Seth...and about twenty other couples in Royal Valley in same gender relationships and brought before King Samuel."
"Seth's brother!?"
"Yep," I shook my head. "He didn't know that I found out Seth was really Prince Phillip and King Alexander's son. I married Seth to make the marriage solid. By the laws Blethos and A'Dore, Seth was presented as a candidate for selection to ascend to the throne in case someone accused anyone of faking the evidence of his birth. Either way, Seth was king!" I shook my head. "Arthur Thorne didn't tell the people of Thorne Valley this fact. Father Markham didn't know and was banished from Blethos and A'Dore for his charge against a king, by way of another king."
"Damn," Caleb said quietly.
"And another thing," I grinned and said in all sincerity. "I LOVE Seth! I would face life and death for him."
Caleb nodded as he smiled at that, "I get that." He pressed both hands on his chest. "I have no problem with it." He chuckled. "People misinterpret things from the Bible and just run with it." He smiled slyly. "You know about King James?"
I smiled, "Sure. About a hundred years ago he had the Bible written in English. I think it should be. You get rid of the need for a priest to tell you what's said where,""
"Sure, but what's the source?" Caleb grinned.
"Isn't it the scriptures?" I asked.
Caleb shook his head and then stopped, "Well, yes. In a way. It is an English paraphrase of the Latin Bible the Church uses."
"It's not even a translation of the scriptures?" I asked.
"Not from the original language to English," he shook his head. "No."
I groaned, "All of those thees and thous..." I pointed upward, "I've never heard Him personally. God can, but He doesn't speak the King's English!!"
Caleb chuckled and said in a deep voice, "Thou shalt not...whatever."
"Why is our English so different?" I asked, but not really to him. I just asked.
"Are you kidding?" Caleb asked, "Mom said we were like a giant cauldron. We've had Vikings from Norway, Sweden...and all those Norse countries, people from Britannia," he waved at me, "Francs," he pointed to himself, "Italia, Greco, Española, and Germania..."
"Don't forget the Natives!" I bounced.
"No! We can't forget those!!" Caleb nodded. "A very generous and happy people!"
"Well..." I began.
"Yes, yes," Caleb waved me off, "some of aren't so generous and happy. These men coming are not from the Church."
"Not from the Church in Roma." I confirmed.
"They split from the Church to form their own Church in England," Caleb said. "But the Church in England was still too Catholic for many."
"It isn't," I frowned sitting on the side of the bed. "Not those who settled in the Northeast of our continent." I shook my head, "They took what pleasures there were being a part of the Church and threw them out, too."
"I never had the pleasure," Caleb said and thought. "Almost two years ago, a ship from New Amsterdam travel to Roma. On board were two men who begged us to help rid themselves of a horrible evil." Caleb thought again. "A great demon was said to be at work in the Northwest of our continent. It was evil that went way beyond simple witchcraft."
"There was," I admitted. "Wahkooha the threat. He was defeated and the tribes executed him. He was no demon."
"A witch or sorcerer?" Caleb asked.
"I don't believe in witches," I said. "He was a Human that could access the magic."
"Just like you," Caleb's smile was small, and he wasn't accusing me of anything. "What's the difference?"
I sighed, "The biggest difference is, he got his access and wanted it." I shrugged, "I was fine without access to the magic. I was happy. I was given access and had it but didn't know it."
Caleb nodded as he did before, but now he wasn't trying to escape me. "No secret pacts with Satan or hidden meetings with the Devil?"
"Of course, not!"
Caleb touched my arm. "I can see that."
"There are no real witches," I said, but his smile said he knew better. "Real witches aren't real, are they?"
Caleb shrugged, "I can't say. There are many stories in Human culture that say they do." He held his hand up. "I'm not talking about any beings that gave so much of themselves to serve Satan and the forces of Hell that it permanently alters their appearance. I've not encountered any of them. I'm talking about Humans who are sooo," he stressed that last word so long and adamantly, "so evil to their very core; I'm glad they can't access magic." He grinned at me. "I think you knew a few of them. They only thought about what they wanted." He cocked his head slightly. "Anyone coming to mind?"
"And how," I nodded. "The first is Seth's pseudo-father Arthur and his children..." I shrugged, "and Candor...that was because of Arthur, too. He was just..." I did the circular motion around my head and whistled out of tune, "crazy. He thought of nothing but getting one of his children on the throne."
Caleb waved both hands at me, "There you go."
"Part of the problem with Lukus..." I frowned, "Well, it was Seth's problem with Lukus. Lukus was sort of Arthur's Fairy God Father, to help Arthur get that. An evil fairy godfather..." I looked at Caleb and frowned, "but Lukus wasn't evil. A lot of what he did was to use the magic to help Alexander uncover an enemy and restore the throne of Blethos." I waved it off. "It's complicated."
"I bet it is," Caleb nodded and grinned. "You guys didn't have too much trouble after you were married, did you?"
I shrugged, "We had some, but nothing we couldn't handle. Why?"
"News takes a little time to travel," he leaned to give me information privately, even if we were the only ones in the room. "Normally." He sat up again. "Word of the wedding in Blethos to you arrived in Europa. In particular, the Vatican."
"I gather the news that arrived wasn't well received," I smiled.
"It was the beginning of the Apocalypse!" Caleb said grandly, but not the least upset. "By the time we heard, you two were married and Seth was king!" He smiled at the memory. "We went into super-prayer mode! Priests, nuns...I mean everybody was to pray nonstop! We did that for three months! It was changed to do it in smaller groups for a year and then..."
"And then?" I asked.
"Nothing!" Caleb said happily. "Nothing happened good or bad!" He held his hands out helplessly. "The story of you two was like lightning, it traveled so fast! Two well connected men marry and nothing bad happened! In fact, the idea of two people of the same gender marrying was not so bizarre anymore."
I chuckled, "Seth and I still get stares in more remote villages, but..."
"Stares!" Caleb said. "No more accusations or insults! No one would dare assault you!" He pointed at me. "In fact, I can think of no one better to give the ability to use magic to. You wouldn't abuse it! I can not think of a single couple that would be better to get people to rethink their stance on things! You and all of Royal Valley and Blethos are the examples to follow! You are the leaders of this new age for mankind!"
"Our boys, really, but you don't disapprove?" I smiled.
"Before?" Caleb shook his head. "No. Now? Hell, no! You married for love!"
"But in the scriptures..."
"It is often misinterpreted!" Caleb said. "In the book of laws, Leviticus had many laws for the Children of Abraham. Not just about sex and marriage, but what to eat and when things should be done. Like kosher and food that was not kosher. I, for one, love a rump roast! It's not kosher, or shrimp! The newer scriptures need the whole story around what was said we should not do. Corinth had some pretty evil people there. People were using others for sex often and they thought nothing about it! Jewelry! Women were not to wear jewelry or makeup to set themselves apart from the many that wore jewelry and makeup who were not nice at all! English and even old Latin just...doesn't translate it right. There are many people that use sex, but don't want the commitment. Sex is a gift, and we were made to do it!"
"What did Lilith do to make her a demon?"
"Nothing!" Caleb said. "According to the first version of Genesis, it says that God made man and woman, just as he did with other animal life." Caleb grinned even more. "Long before Eve. God had not put Adam to sleep and taken a rib from him for Eve. Who did he create? Lilith was the same as Adam! As far as Lilith was concerned, he didn't always have to be on top!" He shrugged. "And I mean authoritatively. She was his partner and equal to Adam."
I smiled, "I see. We can't have women thinking they are our equals."
"No!" Caleb said in clear mocking lament, "Many times I think they're superior!!"
In the same manner, I said, "No!"
"Yes!" Caleb insisted. "Papa Bear is tough and will rip you apart, but Mama Bear...protecting her babies!! There would be nothing left!"
"That is so true!!"
"I'm hungry!!" Seth suddenly announced from the open door.
Grinning at Seth, I stood up. "That was one of the reasons we get up. To have breakfast." I did the invisible things in the air as I pointed to them, "You know? We break, the fast we did during the night."
Seth nodded and asked Caleb, "I recently broke a foot and had to take opium for the pain." Seth gave a smirk and disgruntled nod. "I slept hard but woke in a fog that took a while to get rid of." He motioned toward Caleb. "Any for you?"
"Not a bit!" Caleb stood and we began to walk to the main room. "I slept very well and comfortably and woke refreshed!"
"Great!" He smiled a little. "We didn't make it back to the main room last night. We're understandably hungry."
"We were..." I grinned, "delayed."
We arrived just as some of the Children of Lilith were arriving.
"...and I don't mind," Eabha said to Ceto as they both arrived. "You're often cooking!"
"I like to cook!" Ceto shrugged.
"So, do I," Eabha insisted and turned to Seth, Caleb, and me. "What do you want? A Native breakfast or a delicious Irish breakfast?"
Seth shook a finger at them and grinned, "Oh, no. We're not answering that. What I want is more of that danger coffee."
Caleb's eyes widened as he leaned toward me. "Danger coffee?"
"It's very strong," I simply said to him and said, "You can ask Beau for his opinion."
"He'll pick Ceto!" Eabha objected.
"If you want to," Ceto smiled, "Do it, but I get dinner."
Seth settled down with his precious coffee with a satisfied sigh. "If Lilith is written so little about in the scriptures, how do we know so much?"
"She's written about in other scriptures," Caleb nodded. "Writings like the Babylonian Talmud, Sumerian writings...they knew who she was."
"It's not just old scriptures," Seth said.
"No," Caleb sipped his coffee, "Whoa!" He held the coffee out a little more. "That will wake you up!"
Seth nodded with an appreciative smile. "I know!"
"I read original works for the Church, but I have to read a lot of Rabbinic Literature. And the Quran!"
"Quran!?" Seth asked. "At the Vatican?"
Caleb nodded, "Judaism, Islam, and Christianity have the same God. All the trouble in the Middle East is Sarah's fault."
Almost everybody knew about Abraham and Sarah.
"What!?" Seth said surprised. He looked at me, but I was smiling and nodding.
"She didn't trust God," I shrugged. "She thought she was too old to have a child, sent her handmaid Hagar to have Abraham's son. Then resented Hagar and sent her and Ishmael, Abraham's son, out in the desert!! If God hadn't sent the angel, they would have died!"
"That's right!" Caleb agreed. "We are all Children of the same creation!"
"And Children of Adam and Eve!" I added.
"Now, you're doing it," Seth growled. "Was Lilith mentioned in the Quran?"
"No," Caleb smiled. "She is mentioned in many other texts." He held a familiar finger up to make a point. It must be something taught in A'Dore. "We know about Jesus. He was born, then smuggled out before the attack and lost on the way home where He began is ministry at around thirty?"
Seth shook his head, "There's nothing in the scriptures."
"There is in the Quran," Caleb chuckled, "Jesus was a brat."
"He was not!" Seth argued.
"You weren't there," Caleb pointed out. "How do you know? A record was left that Jesus was a mischievous little boy. There is a book about Jesus' childhood. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas covers those years. The Church didn't approve of that one." He shook his head. "There are so many discrepancies between the Hebrew Bible, Gnostic Bible, Ethiopian Bible, and others...I have to read all the versions to find the common points and the things that go too far off!" He smiled at Seth, "and He performed miracles long before that wedding where He turned the water into wine." He gave Seth a clicking sound he made and winked at Seth. "I'd show you where it's written, if we go back." He looked at me. "You might want to. I have a running translation stashed. It's in English that you might find helpful."
"I thought you could read all those languages!" I grinned.
"I can!" Caleb shot back. "But sometimes even I need to go back and read it again to be sure I really understand what I translated! You know? Get back in the feel of it?"
"Is that all?" Seth asked.
I knew there was something else but held Seth hand to assure him.
Caleb nodded, "There is another thing." He could read our expressions. "Oh, no! I don't want to stay once I'm back. The Church was a big help, in the past. I couldn't have learned a fraction of what I have without it. I have to consider a future, and this can be a sign for me to change jobs!"
I nodded a man who could read many of the older languages was greatly needed, and not just by the Church!
"I can guarantee you'll have job," I said. "The sources the Church has...can't be duplicated."
"No," Caleb smiled. "They've been building that resource over a thousand years. Cleopatra wanted to throw Caesar out when he burned the library in Alexander." He shrugged. "Keeping everything in one place is dangerous. A fire, an earthquake...all those thoughts, ideas and history was lost." He looked at me earnestly, "if you can get me in and out...I can make a copy..." Then a hurt look came on his face. "I'll be missed for all the services I'm missing. God knows what they're telling Lia, but it won't be the truth..."
"In a few hours," I said. "What's afternoon here is the middle of the night in Roma. I'll take you. You'll talk to Lia, get what you stashed that you've translated..."
"And a couple of manuscripts, please." Caleb smiled. "There is a very old text. I meant to look at it in more depth," he smiled, "It's a very old text..." he paused.
He stopped, so I asked, "And?"
"See?" Seth hissed at me, "He's doing it again! Dropping that he may know something and make you beg to know what it is!"
I grinned at Seth, "No." I looked at Caleb, "No, you wouldn't do that. Why this text?"
Caleb laughed, "I don't do it on purpose, but..." He sighed. "The text that is more complicated and complex for its age." He saw Seth frown, so he grinned and added. "About four thousand years before Christ, the Sumerians had the first written language," the finger went up, "we think." He bobbed a nod, "But this one..." he struggled to explain it and shook his head, "Look, Sumer language is isolated. It's older than Egyptian! Yet it the language on this older text is more advanced in the past?"
I frowned, "It grew into a more a simple language? How?"
Caleb shook his head, "If I knew that..."
"It's guarded?" Seth asked.
"It's secured," Caleb looked a little uncomfortable, "Parchment and paper were really just started. Most of this is etched on stone tablets. They're heavy. They don't know what they've got yet."
"Oh," I nodded. "We'll deal with it."
Eabha presented a wonderful breakfast. She was from Ireland, so naturally that was her preference when cooking. She served us typical breakfast foods of hot toasted bread recently made, bacon, pancakes, and kedgeree. I had no idea what kedgeree was either! It was uncooked basmati rice, a smoked white fish, with butter and milk and it cooked together. I tasted the small amount of curry, too. I needed to be careful, I could easily grain weight in these days. I needed to work out, spar or something. Learn to cook? I had to!! If I learn to do it well, it would be good all the time! I wondered if simple lunch foods, like sandwiches. Yes, there was a man accredited for it, but he was not the first in a rush and called it lunch!
I saw my cousin speaking with Dakotah. I felt a little guilt about Chitto. I hoped he didn't think I used him just for his Native connections. I did, but he was my family. too. I needed to talk to him, for my sake. He wasn't being neglected. I didn't think all of this was about me. The thought that it could have made me sick. I was no more important than anyone, but I was expected to do something about this whole mess.
"I found you, because I know you," I explained to Caleb. "I need to meet this Lia."
Caleb looked at little puzzled, "We haven't spoken, except by mail in a long time!"
I shrugged with a smile, "You haven't really changed, Caleb." I touched his arm. "You're still the same little boy in a slightly bigger package." I held my hand up to his forehead. "Just slightly bigger."
Caleb frowned, "My feet hit the same ground as yours does." He turned to Seth and was a whole head shorter than he was. "Is there a difference in pressure up where you are? Do your ears pop up there?"
Seth threw an arm over Caleb's shoulder and practically lifted Caleb off the ground, "You and I are going to be good friends, Caleb." He kissed Caleb on the head. "I like you already!"
"Sorry, I'm late!" Demetrius said, who hadn't been there and now simply was. "I got us some help."
Lukus was suddenly there, but I was surprised! He was dressed like a priest! He wore all black! Everything was black, except the collar that told everyone what he was. He wore a single gold cross around his neck. He looked down at himself and shrugged, "If we're stopped and questioned..."
"Which I hope we don't," I said.
"I do, too." Lukus nodded, "but if we are! I will be a priest and you..." We were also in black robes, with the crosses and white collars, "are, too." Only Caleb wore that crimson robe. This crimson robe was pressed and fit better than the one Caleb wore before. "We're visiting the Vatican." He pointed at Seth and me. "You two won't speak. You've taken a vow of silence. Caleb, as the one from the Vatican..." He stopped and looked at me. "Demetrius gave you a ring that you made you unrecognizable to people when you were at that ball ten years ago. Do you still have it?"
"Of course!" I took the Royal Family Ring from my right index finger. "I never take it off." I looked at Seth. "Do I look the same?"
Seth grinned, "You always did, remember? With the ring, without the ring, you looked the same to me."
"That magic has worn off," Lukus shrugged as he held the ring. "I'm giving it a quick recharge to work now."
The trick was, getting the ring to stay on. He finally settled for his right thumb and put it on. He didn't change. Lukus nodded and a large mirror appeared. We looked like us, with a stranger in Caleb's place.
"Everybody's magic is different," Lukus shrugged. He pointed at the stranger's reflection. "This is what others will see, except us."
"You're going to help us bring things back," Seth began.
Lukus nodded. "I was told there were a lot."
"You can move things, but not people," Seth said to qualify.
"That right," Lukus replied. "Nothing living."
Seth's eye narrowed, "So what about Dara changing a pumpkin into a carriage? The animals she used to create the horses, the driver, and footman?"
Lukus nodded again, "Yes, Dara changed them, she didn't transport them. You know we can't do that." He sighed. "We can do it to ourselves, but the soul of others need converting to energy, like lightning. Even the soul of Dennis' Kitty can't be touched by us."
"Our souls are like lightning?" Seth asked.
"I've never seen one," Lukus stated. "I know when we travel, we can see where we're going." He waved his hand at Seth. "Remember when we went to Demetrius' home? What did you see?"
"It was so fast! I barely remember vast amounts of water."
Lukus smiled as he nodded, "That was the Pacific Ocean. You'll see some land on this one and the Atlantic Ocean."
I took a deep breath, "Okay." I held my hands out. Caleb told me where Lia lives. I'll try to get us there in one piece."
"You do fine," Demetrius assured. "We'll be with you."
I chuckled, "I'm working on something to make a sound when I use the magic." I warned. "It's in the making, be gentle with any comments."
Things started to blur and there was a tone like air through a big flute or pipe. It grew louder as the air seemed to increase. We were suddenly in a dark alley between houses as the chord sounded again.
"Was that in tune?" I asked Seth.
"That was much better," Seth assured with a kiss.
"Maybe we should wait on things like that, Father Seth," I grinned.
Seth looked down at himself, "Oh, yes. Right."
It was two or three in the morning in Roma. I knew many people started their day very early, so we didn't tarry long.
Caleb pointed at a house nearby. "Lia lives there. Alone."
It was four-story house/building, but...Caleb pointed to a single bottom corner. This building housed several families. I say that because of the white cloths hung on a line from a third-story window, telling everyone there was a baby in that house. Some streetlamps were still lit, but some were nearly out of oil because of low maintenance so there were a lot of shadows. Even dressed like priests, it was still a little freaky. Scary even. I looked at Lukus.
"Why are your robes like that?" I asked. "All flowy and just...more?" He had a more elaborate black top that fit over his black shirt. You couldn't see his sleeves. He even had a small black hat that looked more like a Jewish Yarmulke. Also called Yamakas in A'Dore. Our Jewish members kept to themselves but loved that no one bothered them for being Jewish.
"I'm a Bishop," Lukus said off-handedly.
"Really?" Seth asked skeptically and amused.
"Sure," Lukus said. "Why not?"
"You out rank all of us," I grinned.
"Yes!" Lukus answered. "Of course."
"You've been here before," I said. Yes, I was fishing to know the depth of the relationship. He was in his late twenties! It was none of my business, but he couldn't possibly be a virgin! Only because of awkward things like keeping the royal line pure and pressures...we didn't hold out that long. Yannick didn't, but he was older. Many clergy didn't hold to their vow of celibacy. Caleb wasn't really a novice!
"Sure," Caleb said and did a shrug I barely saw in the dark. "I helped her home a few times with groceries and packages. Sometimes, she'd invite me to stay for dinner when I did that."
"That's very..." I began hesitantly.
"Gallant of you." Demetrius inserted quickly. He did the finger of shame at me, shaking it in my face. "To know anymore, he must tell you."
"Oh, come on, Demetrius!" I said to my godfather. "He's my friend. I'm curious! I was eighteen when I had my wedding night!"
Demetrius pointed at Caleb. "Who you tell and why is up to you, but not because of who he is."
Caleb was now enjoying this too much. "It's really one big room." He wasn't answering the question I really hadn't asked.
Of course, I'd live not knowing. It would be uncomfortable, but I could do it.
Caleb walked toward the door, and I have to say, that was a secure lock for this residential apartment. It didn't match the décor! Yes, I'll explain. The building was several hundred years old, but that lock was new! Only a few years old if that! Caleb reached down, moved a large rock aside and reached into a hole on the ground, having to twist his body and then came back with a key! It beat the Hell out a spare key under a rock or under a flowerpot. No. He knew where that key was! I wouldn't be surprised if he was responsible for the new lock. He was guarding something precious to him. Lia!
He unlocked the door and let us in. It was dark out and in this home! The delicious smell of a meal cooked lingered in the air.
"Chi sei?" a gruff voice asked behind us. "Cosa vuoi. L'ho detto agli altri sacerdoti, non so dove sia Caleb."
We turned to a figure standing in a corner, easy access to a window, but the more important thing to notice was the enormous knife held in case it was needed.
With enough Latin, most languages in Europa could be figured out. She didn't recognize Caleb!
I hit Caleb lightly in the arm, "Take the ring off!"
"Oh!" Caleb nodded, having forgotten, "Yes. Right." He pulled the ring off his thumb. "It's me, Lia!"
Okay. It wasn't really fair, but this shadow pulled a lamp out, turned the flame up and held the lamp up. She was also a tiny person! She wasn't a dwarf or anything like that. She was just an inch or two shorter than Caleb! How many couple do you know where a wife is taller than the husband? I know there are some, but not many! Left over attitudes from Adam? The man was to be older, bigger, and stronger. Everybody knows that was how it was to be. I almost blew it with the one couple I met, and I found out she was eight years older than her husband! That was unheard of! For me. But it worked! She looked younger than she was, and he was more mature acting and looking. They were happy! They had two children! Two girls!
In my mind, I had Caleb married to Lia and knew any child they had would be small, too.
You know about me and the exceptions. Oh, just one more. Dion. A friend in the guard. Less that Delbert or anyone else. He was a nice guy, we got along, and I was introduced to his parents. I was flabbergasted!! Dion was over six feet tall!! His mother wasn't even five feet tall! She was four feet and eleven inches! His father was just over five feet!! Dion should be short! He favored his father, but not in height! Some delicate questions...I find out his mother hand a tall cousin and a biological uncle. Dion had two uncles that were tall. All of those ancestors created Dion!
Yes, I enjoyed playing with that rabbit that time. He's fun!
Whatever she thought, she wasn't seeing Caleb...and then the ring was off, and she did see Caleb. She was so happy to see Caleb and rushed to him, hugging him tightly.
"Caleb!!" She raced into Caleb's arms, "Che ti e successo? Dove sei andato?"
Caleb nodded and said to her, "I'll tell you where I've been." He grinned. "You can speak English." It wasn't a question.
I will admit wearing all black and wandering the night did add a sinister part of our appearance.
"I've spoken to you about him before," He touched me. "Lia Liguria, this is Prince Erik of A'Dore and Blethos." He motioned behind me to Seth. "And his husband, Prince Seth of Blethos and former king of Blethos."
Her mind was now working on what she had seen and what Caleb told her. She bent into a curtsy. Finding out Seth and I were married...when it was said first, it was interesting to see people react. She was more curious, not disapproving or appalled. She was pretty. I know, I say everyone is pretty or handsome. Most everyone at peace with themselves are! Life's hardships were having little or no effect on their appearance. She had long black hair and was clearly of Italian descent. Northern Italian.
"It's a pleasure to me you," Lia began with a slight accent, "but what just happened and why are you here?" She looked at Caleb. "Two priests and some Vatican Pontifical Guards were asking questions from everybody. They thought you might have been kidnapped."
"He was," I admitted.
"He is needed to save a lot of people," Demetrius added grandly.
"Okay," Lia nodded and looked back at Caleb, "but you're coming back here when you're done, right?"
"No," Caleb admitted. "I came back for you. I'll get my notes and we'll go!"
"Go? When? Where?" Lia asked. "Why did I not see you when you first got here? You're all dressed as priests, but you're not. What's going on?"
"Some incredible things," Caleb smiled. "I begin a new future tonight. I love you, Lia. I want to include you."
Oh, come on. Love is a good thing. Everybody was smiling as Lia's face broke into a sweet smile as she kissed Caleb. They loved each other.
I gently pulled Caleb away from Lia. "I hate to break this up, but your notes? The stone tablets? We need to hurry." I turned to Demetrius and Lukus. "You can transport his notes and the tablets. I may need Seth to carry some other things as we travel later." I leaned in a kissed Seth. "Stay with Lia, please."
"Why?" Seth was a little offended.
"I need Caleb to show me where to go," I answered. "How I take us can be scary. As late as it is, there will be the occasional person around and I don't need a scene. We're not evil."
She looked at Caleb, "Caleb, what's he saying?"
"I've done it," Caleb said. "Trust me."
I smiled and jutted my head at Lia, "Hold her."
Caleb nodded and did what I asked. "Okay." He didn't mind.
I took Seth's hand and touched Caleb on the shoulder. The little apartment's dark interior blurred and we were in Caleb's little room at the Vatican.
Lia gasped. Now I could see she was in a nightgown and sweater. His room had been straightened up. No scrolls were laying around and the table had been cleared.
"How did..." Lia asked in a whisper and clutched Caleb harder. The unknown is frightening.
"Trust me," Caleb urged her again in a whisper. "Please. No one will hurt you or me."
Lukus pointed at his only door, "Two of those Pontifical Guards are out there." He hissed. "They're standing watch."
"Everything here has been removed," Seth stated the obvious.
Caleb smiled and shook his head, "Not everything."
It was still dark, but there were dark shadows I could barely see. It wasn't a big room. I said it before, but now with all of us in here, it seemed even smaller.
"In here," Caleb pointed at the tall wardrobe bureau. Opening it, I saw the few clothes he had that he could wear anywhere. Nothing about these clothes said Church about them. Traveling clothes? Normally a monk, abbot, or priest traveled in robes of the Church. Caleb worked with the Church but wasn't part of the Church.
There was a loud metal "clank" sound behind us, and Demetrius bent over to pick up the lamp he'd knocked to the floor.
He shrugged, "Unlike Kitty, I can't see well in the dark."
Someone was attempting to open the door. The guards posted were trying to see what was happening in here, knowing no one could have gotten past them. No priest or monk had doors that locked. They had no possessions to steal. That was one of the few things I agreed with. The Natives on our home continent believed that. The door was opening a crack and Lukus, who wasn't near the door held his hand up and the door slammed shut again.
"Faster, gentlemen," Lukus urged quickly.
Caleb pulled the bureau floor clear and reached back in and pulled on something. The floor lifted and Caleb put the fake bottom away. I couldn't see what was there, but he was re-emerging with notebooks. They were each thick. He handed some to me, which I passed to Demetrius. Caleb couldn't see well either but was going to be sure he didn't leave anything behind.
"I'll take these to Gitchi," Demetrius smiled.
I held my hand out to stop him, "You don't know where we'll be next." Hell, I didn't know.
"I won't be looking with my eyes," he chuckled. He told me that same thing when looking for my future mate, "I love you, son. My heart can find you anywhere." He smiled at Seth, "You, too." And he vanished.
Lia again gasped but remained collected.
"Where to next?" I asked Caleb.
"There are several vaults, but the one with those tablets is underground near the Sistine Chapel," Caleb said. "Get us close and I can get us closer."
Now, there was pounding on held door with no lock.
"First," Lukus smiled, holding the door closed. "She needs..." he waved his other hand at Lia. "Lia can't run around Vatican City in a nightgown."
We were all surprised, in particular Lia, who was now in the long black robe of a nun. I didn't notice that many nuns. The ones in Royal Valley all dressed the same. They all wore those white...collars? A wimple. A form fitting Coif around the head, a white under veil and a black veil. You saw only her face. A cross hung from her belt and just god-awful black shoes you could travel through mud or feces (shit) without worry. I know, they weren't to be pretty. Goal achieved!! They weren't. They were married to God!! Their husband couldn't afford better? A'Dore had a few Mother Superiors that looked different, but...I didn't think they were superior.
"Go!" Lukus whispered in a shout, if you can imagine that.
I touched Caleb's shoulder and took Seth's hand. Scenery blurred again. This time, like the last time, there was no sound.
"No sound?" Seth asked me.
"No," I smiled, "We don't want attention drawn."
Seth nodded with a grin, "That makes sense! Good point."
We were in a covered passage. It was open to the air and weather but sheltered if it rained.
"Are you angels?" Lia asked.
"No," Seth answered, "Why do you think that?"
"This is Vatican City," she reasoned. "This is holy ground, and you are...what?"
"The good guys," Lukus answered with a smile. "Not witches or demons or angels."
"The vault is guarded," Caleb began. "There could be someone inside working late, but more than likely not." He looked at me. "The tablets are heavy. Seth looks strong."
I nodded taking Seth's hand again and kissed it quickly, "The vineyard made him strong."
"The three of us could get them," Caleb said. "If we can pass the guards."
I nodded, "I can get us in and out of the vault without them seeing us."
Caleb nodded and turned to Lia, "They will keep you safe. Wait for me."
She would. It was on her face, and she reluctantly let him go.
It was like the palace in A'Dore! Doors to hidden passages were there, if you knew where to look. Caleb knew of a few. Not into the vault, but the passage leading to the vault.
In recessed alcoves stood statues of the many saints. We were behind one of them. I didn't know which one. Before a large door stood two guards. These people weren't slaves for fashion! The loose pants were tucked into boots that were also yellow and black vertical stripes. There was a silver helmet with a large red...something. It almost looked like a rooster's crown. I knew they had armor, but no one thought it was necessary now. A'Dore had uniforms I was pretty sure made people stand back in respect. Blethos, too. Creid's armor was just downright scary! That with their battle face, it was the makings of nightmares, but you know that. When I faced the Creid, they scared me! Yannick did it without his helmet on!
"What's just beyond the door?" I asked and watched Caleb's eyes widen in shock. "Just like Lukus knew two guards were at your door. I'm sure there's a way of seeing without being there. This is new and I haven't learned it all yet. Answer the question."
Caleb chuckled, "Okay, okay," he held a hand up to stop me. "There's about the same space as my room without any furniture."
"Fine," I said grabbing his hand. We were in a sealed room. No windows at all. At first, I was going to say it was dark. It was, but not totally dark. Two scones, wall light fixtures were on very low flames.
Caleb went to one and turned one up. "I don't need to read them now but get them where I can translate them."
"How many are there?"
"Fifteen," Caleb stated simply.
"Fifteen!? They're heavy!!"
"Don't let that worry you," Demetrius' voice said behind me.
I spun around and could just make out his outline, "Damn it, Demetrius!" I hit him lightly on the arm. "You love to scare me. You snuck up on me!"
"I did not sneak!" Demetrius defended indignantly with a grin. "I came and you just didn't hear me."
"That's the very definition of sneak!" I groused, "Now, why shouldn't I worry about the weight of those tablets?"
"Who moved those mirror/doorways?" Demetrius asked. "Lukus and me! Alone. Have you tried to move them?"
"No," I admitted. "It feels very solid, I don't doubt they are heavy." I grinned.
"Wrong," Demetrius shook his head. He crossed his arms across his chest, "They are very, very heavy! It took several men to inch the one in A'Dore into that room below the palace." He then poked me on the chest. "How many did you transport? Not counting the Children of Lilith, how many people did you transport? Seth by himself isn't light! But Chitto, Thomas, Hana...you were complaining then."
I grinned and hugged Demetrius, "How does..."
We heard a throat being cleared, but for our attention. Not to clear any phlegm. "I hate to interrupt what will be a fun discussion, but we have people waiting outside and stone tablets to get."
I nodded at Caleb, "You're right. Sorry. You know where they are." I turned to Demetrius, "Just coach me or whatever. Okay?"
Caleb led us through rows of rolled scrolls and letters. He knew where he was going, but I couldn't make out what I was looking at. My thought was about adding some light and I slowly began to see clearer. It was like coming in from a sunny day outside and waiting for your eyes to adjust to a darker inside.
Caleb looked concerned at me and stopped, "What's happening with your eyes?"
I looked at Demetrius, who stopped, too. "Why? What's wrong with them?"
Caleb gave a slight sound to his contemplation and also pointed, "I don't know. It's more like the eyes of a night animal...like a cat, who's eyes reflect light at night back at you a luminescent green."
Demetrius frowned and thought, "I don't know if any of us can do that." He sounded a little envious.
"And I've never sat in a chair that wasn't really there," I said back.
"Have you tried?" Demetrius asked.
"Guys," Caleb said, "those tablets?"
"Well then, quit distracting me!" I shoved Caleb lightly.
He led us to a large wooden cabinet. It was beautiful! The cabinet, I mean. Thick wood with polished decorative scrollwork on the doors. It was locked. A locked cabinet inside a vault? Caleb reached for his pocket and looked suddenly alarmed.
"This isn't my robe!" He looked panicked now. "I don't have my keys!"
I touched him, "Hang on. We got in here with no keys..." I touched the cabinet door and heard a soft thud, and the cabinet door was now unlocked. I didn't like what I felt now. Nothing and nobody could stop me. That sort of thinking was very dangerous. I never wanted to ever believe that.
Caleb opened the cabinet and didn't have to search long.
"Here they are," Caleb picked something us and I heard the sound of stone against stone. What he handed me I had never seen before. Not like this. I'd seen some tablets made of stone before. The other tablets I'd seen were deteriorating from time. The ones before were smoothed out and figures and letters were dug out. Chipped out. Etched. The corners and sides had crumbled, and in some cases, parts were missing. This tablet, a foot and a half tall and a foot wide looked as if it had been created yesterday. It was perfectly smooth, and the stone was marble. All of it was an even thickness of maybe half an inch. The other odd thing was the tablet was edged in gold. A band of gold seemed to hold the tablet together and the lettering...whatever...there were these rectangular boxes with figures in them. Not anything I would call letters. Geometric shapes, some filled with dots and wavy lines, others without. A pattern could be seen. I got the impression you read from rectangle to rectangle to complete a word or sentence. But did you start from the right or left? Straight across? Down? The other odd thing was the marble was dark. No marks on it from being shaped. It was smooth to the touch. It was deep grey to almost black, but the figures were clearly seen. They were gold. Gold! Whoever created these tablets etched out the symbols and letters and then filled the etches with the gold. Not painted on. I felt the surface of the tablet and it was smooth. The lettering did not stand above the marble! It was a work of art. It was beautiful!!
"Wow," I said.
"Yep." Caleb nodded with a sympathetic chuckle. "I thought the very same thing."
"Where were these?" I asked.
"I heard they came from a cave about twenty miles west of the Persian Gulf in an area known as Ur." Caleb pulled out another couple and was feeling the weight of them. "The Ziggurat." He said the name and looked at my face when I heard the name of where it was.
"Nooo!" I said in near reverence as I was amazed. "It is? That is old!"
Caleb shrugged. "I don't know." He placed another couple of tablets in my arms. "Those tablets are older than five thousand years old!"
"Demetrius!" I whispered loudly. "Help."
Demetrius smiled bleakly, "You have things to learn." He touched the tablets in my arm and suddenly I wasn't holding them up! They were in my arms but weighed nothing.
"How'd you do that?" I balked at him.
Demetrius grinned, "It's magic."
"That didn't answer my question, Smartass!" I told him.
We all turned as the sound of someone opening the vault doors. Two male voices could be heard.
"Sanno meglio di cosi!" One of them started fussing having warned about this. "Una notte perderemo tutto!" An error where they could lose everything.
"Chi c'era qui ieri sera?" The other asked from the door to the guards wanting to know who was in here. Other voices were added now.
"The lamps!" Caleb hissed. "They're always telling us to keep the low when we leave. All this parchment and..."
"Is that the last tablet?" Demetrius asked.
Caleb handed another one, "this is the last one."
Demetrius nodded, "I'll see you in Gitchi."
They would have been heavy, if we carried them by hand. Demetrius vanished along with the tablets. I grabbed Caleb's hand and watched the world blur again. We appeared back with Lia, Seth, and Lukus. It was still dark, but people were beginning to start their day. A group of half a dozen nuns were coming from one direction and two priests from the other. When Caleb and I appeared, several of the nuns screamed and all of them were crossing themselves. The priests let out startled cries. And yes, I was enjoying this part a great deal. I waved at them, Caleb took Lia in his arms again and I kissed Seth passionately. The world blurred.
We arrived at the dining hall in Gitchi. There was a more melodic chiming chord this time.
Seth looked up and around. It was Human nature to want to solve a mystery and he looked for the source of the sound. There was nothing to find, so he just looked at me and shook his head but didn't let me go.
"I told you I was trying it out," I answered his unvoiced question.
Seth nodded, "I got that. It's a work in progress. You really enjoyed that as we left," Seth almost scolded me.
"Sure!" I smiled. "I really did. A monk hugs a nun very personally and lovingly, two priests kiss with love and we all vanish. I'd do it again!!" I patted his chest and touched the clerical collar he wore. "You are a very handsome and sexy priest."
"Caleb," Lia began. "I meant what I said. We were surrounded by many serving the Church at the Vatican. Good and bad, but it was Holy Ground." She waved at Seth, me, and Lukus, "I do believe these people aren't evil. Where are we now?" She pulled on her black robes. "How did I get into this?" Her voice was a little shaky and she was trying to not be frightened, but she was. Of course, she was. "What's going on!?"
You had to give her credit. She did really love and trust Caleb because she didn't run after he assured her. Caleb trusted me and by association, Seth, and the others.
The explanation came and for the next two hours, Caleb explained the Children of Lilith, me, where we were and why we were here. She was an exceptionally bright young woman and kept her questions to a minimum until the end.
She was like almost everyone. She wanted visual confirmation. We would be happy to show her, but it was early morning back in Roma. It was evening in Gitchi.
Ceto came in the normal way and carried something made of deerskin. She stopped in front of Caleb and Lia.
"I'm Ceto," she introduced herself. "We will be happy show you about where you are, but maybe..." she waved at Lia, "you'd like to get out of those robes. It's cold here."
Lia pulled on the nun's habit and then nodded quietly.
"I'll show you where you can change," Ceto waved at the doors she came in through. "We will see a lot of each other in the coming days. I know we'll be friends."
Lia looked at Caleb.
"I'll be right here," Caleb swore. No traveling anywhere."
"I have some warm clothes for you," Ceto lifted some deerskin.
I said it before, to be a deer around here was to live dangerously. Maybe. I thought a few seconds. I had never seen a deer killed here! I've seen them eat meat. Demetrius ate chicken and even a rabbit Seth killed. They served a lot of venison, but I never saw a kill. The Natives did, I was sure, but the Children of Lilith didn't.
"Lukus," I began. "Do the Children of Lilith hunt?" I saw his eyebrows rise at the question.
"No!" Lukus said quickly. "Why would we?" He watched as Ceto took Lia to a room to change and watched Ceto show a dress like she wore. He then nodded as he understood. "There are animals that are hunted. That's the way the world was designed. Humans eat meat. I love to eat many things like chicken, wild boar, and other exotic meats. I can't bring myself to kill one. I don't have to. If I want a pound of venison, I can get one. No life was killed. Just as we can't transport any living thing. I won't kill one. I've shared yours, but I didn't kill anything. The skins used, never was on a deer. It is deerskin, but no deer was killed for it."
"But the plants from Ceto's Garden..." I asked.
"Are plants," Lukus said. "That's what they're here for. To be used."
Caleb rose next to me, "I guess I need to change, too."
Lukus grinned, "I'll do it. Lia needs to do this on her own for now."
We were in our deerskin clothes that were skillfully made.
"Since I know now that you have to know how to make clothes," I said smiling, "you do good work. Where did you learn it?"
"I was a tailor many times. To two kings, and a few Dukes." He boasted. "I made their fancy clothes as well as their hunting clothes. Two liked the clothes of skin when it was very cold." He shrugged. "I wanted to work."
I smiled at that. "We'll need it tomorrow. Getting what we needed took longer today than I thought it would." I waved toward the east. "There is time, but we need to scout the area where Father Markham and those men are coming. It won't be long now."