Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
“I will not be doing that again.”
Viale della Zitella
Vatican City
The date liquor lit a fire within me, and I hiccuped.
The memory of Marmariatta telling me stories of her life until the flames consumed her rattled about in my head before settling in my bones, and I hoped I would forever remember her words and the sense of wonder they birthed within me.
I gave the Holy Grail a swirl, marveling at the past I had beheld.
Then, with a sigh, I handed the cup to my father.
Like the first time I had sipped from the cup, the liquor warmed me, and my fatigue lifted away, leaving my head clear and my body refreshed.
My father held the Holy Grail with care, sighed, and followed my lead, giving the fluid a swirl, sniffing, and taking a careful mouthful. He swallowed, and a moment later, he coughed as though he’d had the breath knocked out of him.
I wondered if I had given a similar reaction in the moments I’d gone into the past to witness Marmariatta’s death.
Neither of my parents threw up on the archbishop’s shoes, and while my mother feigned disapproval, she offered the Holy Grail to Erik. My husband wasted no time taking a sip, wincing at the liquor’s heat on the way down.
Archbishop Kellan sipped, and like the rest of us, he expressed some discomfort but otherwise retained control over his stomach. He then turned the cup upside down, allowing the liquor to spill on the floor.
It transformed back to water before it hit, and using the hem of his robe, he cleaned the inside of the chalice before putting it away. “It seems the cup likes to test even the faithful.”
No kidding. “I hope this does not offend, but I will not be doing that again.”
“There is no offense,” he assured me. “I will likewise be respectfully declining should the opportunity be offered to me again. I much prefer water over wine, personally.”
Interesting. “Please tell Pope Richard I decline, respectfully, to have another drink. Honestly, once was enough. Twice was likely reckless and foolhardy.”
Erik sighed and bowed his head. “Please respectfully decline any future sips on my behalf as well. Maybe I didn’t throw up, but that is not pleasant.”
Archbishop Kellan eyed my parents. “Your thoughts?”
“Pass,” my parents announced in unison.
I giggled over their sole word of solidarity. “Then we’re all agreed. We will leave holy relics capable of transmuting water to wine to others. I do have a question, however. If gold dragons were making wines and similar to stop people from consuming bad water, why is the Holy Grail so potent?”
“I’m of the personal opinion he understood he was about to endure through living hell and attempted to drink himself straight into a stupor to limit his suffering.
This opinion is not shared by the rest of the church, for obvious reasons.
” Archbishop Kellan shrugged. “I believe the official stance is that those in his day were better at handling their liquor than us weak, modern people.”
I eyed the box containing the Holy Grail. “That’s all it does, right?”
“I believe so, but I can’t say for certain. Alas, you know as much as we do about it at this point. Do let us know if you experience anything you believe might be related to the cup.”
I disliked the addition of yet another concern, regretting my willingness to test my luck. “I don’t suppose you have any advice on how to handle the matter of the girl’s final resting place, do you?”
The archbishop narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze to my father.
“Negotiate on her behalf, for she is your little princess and you are the ruling man of your household, and when you buy up their sacred lands from beneath their feet, do so at a pittance, for they sold the girl’s body to fuel their wars and will war once again if given access to great wealth.
Steal their antiquities and treasures, placing them in the care of dragons they have no hope of waging war against. Turn their transaction into a curse for what they have wrought upon her body. ”
Well, I had no doubt of where the gold dragon stood on the matter, and I appreciated the anger in his tone. “Am I your little princess, Daddy?”
My father shot me a glare. “You were my little princess from your first breath, obviously. Don’t be silly.
But I understand what the good archbishop is telling me, so I must present you as the little princess you are, a resplendent beauty.
Can you provide the documents for the approved start of their Pre-Cana? ”
“I would be pleased to do this for you, and you can make the land part of her dowry; they understand this tradition well, and they will not be suspicious of your true motivations. All you need to do is make a truthful claim that your princess and her suitor have a love of the past and wish to cultivate their future on those dead sands. Once the land is yours, it is a matter of having the prepared cadaver transfer documents, which you already possess. As you will be performing burial rituals, who you transport should go without notice. They will not check closely. But the acquisition of land so that your princess might have the start of her empire is suitable for a dragon of your age and prestige.”
“Won’t my color be an issue?” Erik asked.
“Not if they value their lives,” my father growled.
My mother cleared her throat. “They know us for our strengths, and they will wrongly believe a yellow will dilute our lines. They are wrong, of course. We will be playing their game, but we will be playing it with a better understanding of the board and zero scruples about taking advantage of every opportunity. By the time we have finished, we will have yanked their priceless treasures out of their hands and safeguarded them in such a way they are incapable of mustering the forces required to retake them. If they are wise, they will back away, acknowledge their defeat, and be grateful we will not officially sever the land from their nation. Their ruins will, on the surface, still appear to be theirs, but in truth and in law, it will be ours in all ways. Protecting it will be a challenge, but all things worth doing are. But for the moment, we will begin with her oasis, assuming we can identify its precise location.”
“It was sold in a time where markers were accurate enough. We will be able to use GPS to get close,” my father promised.
“I’ve already taken the liberty of reviewing satellite footage of the area, and despite the years, the hardened ground still retains the depression where the water had once pooled. ”
“Are you seriously going to have to dress me up as a princess?”
“Yes.”
I frowned and eyed my father, who sounded rather pleased about the situation. “This is not just you living out some old dragon’s fantasy regarding me, your daughter, right?”
“In part, but in reality, the Iraqi people are a patriarchal society, and we will be expected to behave in such a fashion. They understand dragons, the wealth of dragons, and the behavior of dragons. They know we are both old and that you are our first hatchling. As you are a proper hatchling now, this sort of behavior is expected of us. We will use those beliefs against them.” My father retrieved his phone from his pocket and tapped at the screen.
“As I am a cruel parent, I will even use my personal funds for this, as it’s part of your dowry.
You will just have to find charitable purposes for your earnings from the sale of the Holy Grail.
” Snickering, he tapped on the screen again.
“Before you complain, hiring dragons to remove all the mines will use a hefty chunk of that money. Establishing the archaeological projects and surveys you’ll surely want in order to unbury your treasures will take at least ten million.
You will be able to hire experts at an excellent rate to rebuild her legacy.
All I’ll be doing is paying for the land and transferring it to Erik.
Sorry, Erik. I’m using and abusing you for my daughter’s benefit. ”
“I can live with that. I don’t have a good suit with me, though.”
“We will handle your apparel. You will be expected to shine far more than is expected of a yellow hatchling just starting out in the world. They will view your father’s position and family’s employment as honorable, and they will assume your family has pooled together to make you suitably appropriate for my little princess. ”
I regarded Archbishop Kellan with a pleading expression. “Please make him stop.”
“I apologize, Kinsley, but I know better than to get in the way of that old dragon’s posturing.
He has waited many a century for this moment.
Be patient and let him have his fun. However, I will help write up your betrothal documentation so that even the Iraqi people will respect the deal.
That is an art we gold dragons are quite versed in. Let the games begin.”
* * *
Monday, June 1, 2167
St. Peter’s Basilica
Vatican City
Under normal circumstances, Pope Richard appeared at certain ceremonies, generally on sacred holidays, requiring advance planning and a special ticket to attend.
His unexpected arrival at the six o’clock mass invoked awe and wonder among those fortunate enough to be present.
As we were blessed—or cursed—to be special guests, we were given seats at the front, and all our cats and my hummingbird were given a pillow so they might participate in the service.
Archbishop Kellan accompanied us, and he translated Pope Richard’s Latin throughout, whispering the prayers in English so we might follow while also offering instruction on how to receive the pope’s blessing and take part in the holy ceremonies.
Even Tourmaline received the pope’s affections and a prayer of good fortune and prosperity, and the hummingbird flung himself against the older man’s finger, clicking his pleasure over the attention.