Chapter 21 #3
“Not at all, my child. Everything he stood for remains intact. While he is not quite what some of the early humans made him out to be, he was a being of love, and he was willing to lay down his life in a demonstration of that love. It just happens he was a dragon rather than a human. The Holy Grail is imbued with that love. In life, turning water into wine—or stronger liquors—was a common skill gold dragons used. Water back then tended to be a lethal brew of bacteria and contaminates, and gold dragons could turn that lethality into something safe for humans. As humans better learned how to brew their beers and make their wines, the gold dragons turned to art. Jesus gifted the Holy Grail to his beloved followers so that they might flourish.” Archbishop Kellan rolled the sacred cup in his hands.
“His magic has not lost its potency despite the many years.”
I eyed the cup in open suspicion. “Is the longevity of the cup a form of necromancy?”
The man smiled. “It is. If you have brought with you who I think you have, it is just like her.”
“And the legend of him rising from his grave after three days?”
“He did not die on the cross. He merely appeared to die. He rose from the grave, yes, but he passed shortly after, returning to the flames that had birthed his mother’s kin so many years ago.
The imprint on the Shroud of Turin was the beginning of his combustion.
As he did not wish to do any harm to those around him, he rose from his grave and went to somewhere safe for humanity before succumbing to the flames.
Once again, a tidbit of truth in a legend.
We maintain the stories of the past, as written by humans not understanding the truth, so that they can embrace their faith.
And we golds of the clergy, who are descended from Leah of Nazareth, uphold our family’s sacred traditions. ”
“You may as well tell her about the other side of your family if you’re going to tell her that much,” my mother muttered.
Archbishop Kellan chuckled. “Jesus had a single clutch of children with a dragoness, one of the early blacks, and their children are also quite active in the church, although each line of his children preserves a different element of it. Because Jesus’s mother had black tendencies, their children proved to be predominantly black.
But if the religion is considered to be of Judaic nature, there is a Child of the Christ deep within it.
Sometimes leading it, sometimes not—a Child of the Christ never leads a violent sect, for example, instead attempting to reform the religion to be more peaceful.
Unnecessary violence and cruelty go against everything that it means to be a son or daughter of Jesus.
But they are the truth while my line is the light.
Try not to let it bother you. It’s just a different way of seeing things.
Truth is not fact, nor should it be mistaken as such.
Truth is something to believe in. Fact is something that cannot be changed simply because someone wishes it to be so. ”
Well, I would need more than a few days to think that through.
I checked on Tourmaline, and when I discovered the little bird listened intently, I stroked his tiny breast and praised him.
“Much like an asteroid crashing into the Earth killed many of the dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period,” I murmured.
“Exactly so. The event happened. This is fact. The specifics of how the dinosaurs went extinct as a consequence of the asteroid’s collision with the Earth is up for debate.
The facts of that matter are lost to time because there are none who lived to tell the tale, although there is sufficient evidence to prove the event did, in actuality, occur.
” The archbishop offered the Holy Grail back to me.
“But yes, this is the real cup. I can feel the power of the bloodline within it. The offer of sixty million for it stands. There is the matter of the taxes for the sale.”
“Dad? You’re the broker, probably of souls. How bad are the tax implications going to be?”
My father sighed. “In the United States, as the item is part of your settlement for your kidnapping and injury, you will owe no taxes from its sale. You’re still in the grace liquidation period for a matter like this, which typically lasts for a period of three months.
After three months, you will owe taxes on the sale value of anything within the manor.
I’m unfamiliar with the tax regulations here.
You might get six months to a year. The government is still sorting that out. ”
“You will not be charged taxes here, as the funds are from the sale of a holy item to the church, and I will have one of my cousins verify your intentions to use it for the sake of others. I will also make certain the legal entities are aware that the sale is part of the damages owed to you. Did the government know how much wealth the Merorie dragons had accumulated before issuing their decree for the division of wealth?”
My mother shook her head. “They hadn’t, but that’s how Dragon Heights operates.
A dragon who traumatizes a baby hatchling into their first shift owes the baby hatchling.
Erik likewise suffered, although he did not endure physical injury like Kinsley had.
As such, she gets the lion’s share of the wealth.
As they will be wed, it works out well for them both.
She tried to liquidate everything to the other victims, but they, may their souls rest in peace forevermore, demanded she accept her proper share. ”
“They were probably terrified you would haunt them,” I muttered.
My parents glared at me while the archbishop laughed.
After huffing a few times, my mother added, “Things would be different if the clan had any survivors, but it doesn’t.
As none of them had wills giving the land or funds to anyone outside of members of their clan, it was simplest to divide the wealth among the victims with the rest going to Kinsley, Erik, and to various charities.
And yes, a sizable sum is going to charity. ”
Taking my time, I settled the Holy Grail back into its box, closed the lid, and pushed it in Archbishop Kellan’s direction. “I won’t lie. The faster this is out of my hands and into yours, the happier I’ll be.”
“Then let’s move this to one of the offices, where I’ll get the payment issued, we’ll sign the papers, and prepare for the days to come, when we reveal we have acquired the cup. And thank you for choosing our bid over the ones that would have left you with significantly more wealth.”
“I am uncomfortable with the amount of wealth I’ve already accumulated,” I replied, careful to keep my tone pleasant despite wanting to gag over the monetary value of the Holy Grail.
However, I could think of one thing that could serve as an excellent cover for our presence in Vatican City should anyone ask.
“How does the Vatican feel about marrying dragons to each other in lavish ceremonies?”
Archbishop Kellan chuckled. “On rare occasion, we will host vows and renewals, although we prefer these to be quieter affairs.”
Perfect. “Is there any chance that you might consider handling our vows for a small gathering of family and friends? It need not be here, but that would be something else I could remove from my plate before my mother is forced to beat the snot out of Erik’s mother.”
However much I wanted to see which one of our mothers would win, I worried they would both end up hospitalized should we actually allow them to engage in a cage match over who handles the proposal.
“That is something that I can handle with ease, yes. While I understand you are not religious, we do make exceptions fairly often. We do have requirements for the ceremony itself, but it will only serve as a minor inconvenience. We do require you both go through the Pre-Cana, which is essentially a guide to a successful marriage from the view of our religion. You’ll find most of the Pre-Cana to be quite practical, from handling household finances, defusing arguments between husband and wife, and so on.
It often takes six months or so for a couple to complete their Pre-Cana.
While Dragon Heights has a small parish, it is led by a Child of the Christ, so you will have no difficulties with that. ”
One possibility disturbed me, and it involved the black dragons living in Dragon Heights. “One of the black dragon clans in Dragon Heights is descended from Jesus of Nazareth, then?”
“That is correct.”
“Let me guess. The Acri clan,” I stated in a rather wry tone.
“Quite correct. They are descended from the last of the eggs to hatch of his clutch, his sole daughter. The rest were sons. They did go on to adopt different family names, but you will find that black dragons descended from Jesus of Nazareth are… annoying.” Archbishop Kellan smiled.
“Their nature makes them often difficult to get along with. Their sense of justice is refined, as is their drive to find the truth and restore fairness to the world.”
Enzo Acri’s lineage made a great deal of sense. “Please tell me Enzo isn’t the one working with the church.”
“He is not. As the head of that branch of the family, he has many other duties and responsibilities, including hatching many a dragon with ethics as strong as his. One of his uncles is serving as the Child of the Christ within Dragon Heights, and you’ll find him to be an agreeable enough fellow.
But if you would like our church to bless your union, that is a simple enough matter, one we would be quite pleased to assist you with.
” The gold dragon grinned at my parents.
“You will flummox every dragon around the world with such a display. Us, offering blessings to your daughter?”
I bowed my head, still at a loss over how my parents had terrorized so many dragons. “I am so sorry for them, Archbishop Kellan.”
He laughed. “Don’t be. I’ve enjoyed many a long year of taunting your parents, and I hope to enjoy many more. I understand why they hid having you, but it won’t be long until everyone knows who you are. It’s inevitable. I still am not certain how you have hidden her for so long.”
“Carefully,” my mother answered, and she heaved a sigh. “In reality, her personality did most of the work for us. Us? Produce someone as kind, considerate, and sweet as her? Impossible. But Enzo sponsored her into Dragon Heights, and he handled acquiring Citrine for Erik.”
“Interesting. He must have seen something we have not. He is not usually that… charitable.” Archbishop Kellan frowned, picked up his cell phone, and tapped at the screen.
“I will text him to see how we can work together to make certain your hatchling has a smoother entry into life as a proud dragon. Is she more a Ramons or a Scaretti?”
My mother heaved a sigh. “I wish I could claim she is a pure Scaretti through and through, but in reality, she’s neither.”
I grabbed my phone, checked through the texts Pascal had sent me, and found an image he’d sent of me testing out my legs and getting a better feel for being a dragon.
I handed my phone over to the gold dragon.
“As we are independent hatchlings, I’m going to force Erik to take my last name, and we will continue the tradition of having Ramons hatchlings terrorizing Dragon Heights. ”
My husband snickered. “Are you even capable of terrorizing anyone, Kinsley?”
I shrugged. “Under the right circumstances, probably. If anyone touches you, our kittens, or my hummingbird, I will redefine what it is to be a terrorizing tyrant, making my parents wish they could match my tyranny.”
“She gets this from you,” my mother informed my father.
My father accepted my mother’s decree with a shrug. “Clearly, she’s a Ramons dragon with a healthy splash of Scaretti spite mixed in. I’m still confused over how she turned out to be so infernally sweet the rest of the time.”
I raised a brow at my father. “Well, if you had wanted me to grow up to become a tyrant, you have failed at your parenting job rather miserably.”
“That was definitely Scaretti mean,” my father complained.
“I’m sure Mom can help you recover from my cruel abuse of your person later. How about you, Mom? Do you need to be put back in your place?”
“I think I will pass, but thank you for your offer.”
I giggled. “At least try to behave until we are out of here. If you want to be tyrants at our next stop, feel free. I know what they did, and I am expecting you to get me the best deal possible for the land. I’m going to need an entire clan of iron dragons to undo what they have done, especially if it is true the Iraqi government acquired her from private lands. ”
“That part is unfortunately true,” my father confirmed. “We have all the paperwork. The owner of the land offered the girl to have their debt forgiven, and the Iraqi government used the money from her sale to help fund their war efforts.”
I growled over that. “Does your broker work make you good at these sorts of negotiations, Dad?”
“I’m sure I can handle all your negotiation needs, and I won’t even charge you my usual cut. My going rate is a grandchild at some point in the future, preferably sooner than later.”
I rolled my eyes. “Erik, you can try to convince me to have a clutch after our fancy ceremony where our family and friends are forced to shower us with gifts.”
My husband laughed. “Okay. But before we worry about Iraq, I want to meet the Yule cats.”
The archbishop smiled. “We will be meeting them as soon as we finalize the paperwork, so if you follow me, we’ll take care of that business now so we can get to the pleasant part of our day.”