XXVII. Five women (3)
Desdemona Sforza
Naples, Italy
I. May 13, 1931
My father took a long time to die. Years, more precisely. I don't know which is worse. I saw him gradually fade away. It began with his recent memory. He couldn't remember little things, meetings, he'd lose his stuff... But soon he began to forget faces, and that was the most painful. Then came dementia. Our brief arrest got the better of his last lights. He was bitter, paranoid, violent in his last years. He died without recognizing my face.
I never knew my mother, I only had him. The hardest part is washing my memory so that I only remember what was before, the best memories. When I was little and he used to take me in his arms to climb the Vesuvius' slopes, to admire the squalls and whisper in my ear: "You are my darling princess and the world will be exactly what you want!"
This war was as ugly as his death. A body we dragged along, some weak senile old men's skirmishes, unable of fighting a real battle, unable to make peace. Our quarrels were just hackneyed ramblings, foolish stories that we'd rehash over and over again. As far back as I could remember, I had been raised to hate. There were many objects of hatred: the Bellinis first of all, those damned poisoners! The Phoenicians and their taste for children's flesh. Iskandar's spies, that would do anything to trim our claws. The Warrior families and their incommensurate pride.
The day Gian hugged me for the first time, I found in him my own reflection, the same inverted demons. Like all children from large families, we had studied together at Heliopolis, in the same classes. When we were ten years old, he would pull on my hair and I would bewitch his things. When we were fifteen our fights had become legendary. At the age of twenty, while we were arguing over a duel between his bastard cousin Livio Sabbia and my own uncle Azzio, I kissed him against the wall to prevent him from finishing one of his sentences. In 1919, when my father made the decision, against everyone's advice, to drag us into the American War, I ran to find him, him first.
Gian knew on a personal level Samuel Keane, Abias and Jabari's cousin. He had accompanied his own cousin Giacomo, to find them in Paris, and to discuss an alliance with the Kane family. I had laughed at first:
"The Kanes will never want you, you're just mud on their sandals. They are the sons of Narmer, you are the sons of some Hyksos king's bitch.
- Abdias thinks differently. He sees further than Jabari. And pharaoh's blood remains pharaoh's blood whether it comes from the right or left side of the bed.
- You're worried though ...
- Nonna wants this alliance. We are heading for a new war, on American soil this time. Giacomo is a pure Bellini, narcissistic and vain. He will seek to use his new network of alliance to pull the rug out from under you. Poor girl… She doesn't know what she's getting into. "
He said to me as well:
"We're fighting a fratricidal war. We can only end it if we get to a position of power. It involves sacrifices and lies. "
You were wrong on that Gian, you were wrong on a lot of things actually. Where is your body Why ? Everything comes so fast and I do not know anything anymore, what to do, where to go, what to believe.
Abdias Kane, I remembered. A strange man. He liked to surround himself with necromancers and seers of all kinds. He spoke to the Greeks, the Celts, the Romans... He knew all kinds of secrets: he had seen his uncle Nahum die; he had dealt the fatal blow to Champollion. He wasn't even really dead, he was just gone. Gone as he lived. He was a man of silence, taciturn and brilliant.
Where was Gian's body? Had they embalmed it as it should? In what cemetery, what land, what West did he rest? One day he had stopped writing to me. And then there had been only those few lines in a newspaper clipping, and the usual lying silence of the Bellini family. The secret is not dead. We can always make the dead speak. Bodies are not condemned to eternal silence.
Standing in the gallery, I stirred all these thoughts in my head. Aunt Leticia called me, interrupting my internal stream:
"Desdemona. Come on, this is the end. "
About time. I returned to the room. My father's body was lying on the bed, finally peaceful. Relief griped me. I could not stand it any more. He should have died years ago! My aunt, Leticia Voiello, and my great uncle Horatio were at his bedside. I walked over to the big bed. He opened his eyes again, one last time, let out a long groan, then nothing. I closed his eyelids.
There was no one left in Naples. They had all gone to Sicily, Veneto, and the Aeolian Islands… Here you are, dead in general indifference, my little daddy. A hard lump formed in my throat, but I held back my tears. My father wouldn't have wanted that. My father had always told me that we had to leave the dead, we already had a lot to do with the living.
"We must gather the family, breathed Horatio. For the funeral.
- And ask for a cease-fire? This is not what he would have wanted, you know it!
- Leticia, please.
- His will, I asked. Where is it ? "
Silence answered me.
"What did you do with it? I accused Leticia.
- Aren't you ashamed, you little fool? Your father is lying there, dead, and you are only concerned with his inheritance?
- You destroyed it, just admit it !
- By what right…
- Do not lie. I know you wrote to Azzio, before the others. "
Leticia stared at me, nostrils quivering.
"Indeed Desdemona, I wrote to the head of our military operations as to warn him of your father's death. We are at war, the slightest looseness might be the end of us. Sicyly's conquest is almost finished. All we have to do is take Catania, and… "
Poor idiot. Catania was fortified by Phoenicians. It's a trap, and we're falling into it. Though, what if they attack Palermo instead of waiting for us ? It would be reckless, but they are capable of such audacity. I left the room, furious.
"Desdemona, wait. "
I turned around in the gallery. Horatio had followed me.
"Your father had his will changed. Two years ago. You weren't mentioned there anymore. It was I who made it disappear.
- Uncle, you ...
"This massacre must end, he pressed. We no longer have the means for this war. "
He added, almost begging:
"Girolamo is in Palermo. He is the only statuary magician in our family. You must not let Azzio sacrifice him, please. "
Girolamo, of course. He had always been his favorite grandson. He was a sweet, curious boy, absolutely terrified of the usurper that was our uncle. I liked him. He should have been born elsewhere, another family, another continent, far from our stories and tombs.
"Bérénice Koité is in town. Meet there, talk to her. You have to take command, get us out of this deadend. This is what your father would have wanted. "
I touched his arm and whispered:
"Don't worry, uncle. I have no intention of letting myself be walked on. "
II. May 17, 1931
My uncle's body had been found on a beach, west of the town, washed by the waves. He had been killed with a Greek blade. It was a clean job, a professional murderer's job. Well dear uncle? What do you think ? You weren't expecting that one, you bastard! I took a few steps on the terrace and breathed deeply, inhaling the sea air with delight.
I have to wait until evening now. I have placed my trust in my enemies. If the Bellini attack us, I am empty-handed, exposed like a Christ. Come take me. It's a risk I have to go through. However if they touch a single hair of Girolamo, I… I… Don't think about it, do not…
I was standing on the palazzo's deserted terrace, above the sea. The Kane girl had just left. Jelila, what a funny girl ... She's got a screw lost, that's for sure, she takes after her father. She has no fear though. I won't get by without her. She's the only one who has studied Necromancy at this level. She is brilliant, surprisingly learned. And then quite pretty as well.
I liked to make fun of her, but despite her apparent thoughtlessness, there was something that impressed me in her. Her lucidity, her righteousness too, her loyalty to her family. It's always complicated, fathers. But at the end of the day, it's up to us to honor their memory. The Kanes understand this, they are the sons of Horus. The Bellinis though… The Bellini family was paved with assassinations and intestinal murders. A Bellini's worst enemy will always be his brother, my father told me. They've bet on a terrible god. And Baal fed on children, well Baal-Moloch did.
It was curious this ambivalence. Baal and Set, the same god with two faces. Baal had arrived alongside Orientals at the time of the Hyksos Pharaohs, the Bellini's ancestors, and had then been assimilated to the red god. And if the Bellini have managed to calm the Phoenicians down, it is because they have some power over them, and if they have this power… No wonder Iskandar went to negotiate with Lucrezia in person.
I took a few steps nervously. The wait was unbearable. She shouldn't be long, where are they all? Azzio had died during the night. Aunt Eleanor and my cousins immediately decided that I should lead the troops. The new Roman Praetor, Marco Paolini, a descendant of Mars, immediately assured me of his support. They are counting on me, I must finish this now, get them out of there, safe and sound… Gods, I'm afraid! Well, just don't admit it, never admit it.
I jumped when I heard footsteps behind my back. A man joined me on the terrace. He was tall, blond, dressed in a brown suit. I relaxed a bit as I recognized him.
"Are you alright Arthur?"
"Pretty good, yes, Chase smiled at me with his usual warmth.
- You're early.
- I didn't want to miss that.
- The massacre?
- The conclusion of a historic peace.
- You really have hope!
- I only have that. If we don't stop the inevitable, my days are numbered.
- I promised you my protection Arthur. The Bellinis won't dare touch you.
- They are only pawns, like all of us here… Gods' toys.
- This is Egypt! The gods are our toys. It has always been so.
- Not Set, he is made of another wood, another species I should say, than his brothers. "
There was something hard and hidden about the Bellini, a secret, something they were protecting. A secret that the Kanes share in part. Otherwise why this alliance? Set is there somewhere, hidden ... Any Setian is suspect now. And since the days of Nahum Kane, the whole world knows that they are involved in this ...
I thought of the Nome's rank magicians, whose existence was in no way disturbed by our rites and cults. It should easy to be just a pawn, with no secrets nor heirlooms. No duties towards the gods, no sacrifice to make.
" Are you scared ?
- To die ? I do not know.
- We always know that kind stuff. "
He didn't answer.
"D'Aubigné has disappeared, I added. "
Horatio had contacted me. Their camp on the mainland was deserted. His troops had vanished into the wild. All the pagan state's men, gone.
"It was quite predictable. " Chase mocked me.
Frustration came over me. Everything was almost perfect. Now here I am, waiting. I will forever remain the girl who couldn't avenge her uncle. I cannot allow myself to start my reign on a weakness.
"Iskandar sent a man to hunt him down, Chase said. Your House of Life will take care of it. "
I knew about it. The thought hardly excited me.
"And who is it? Koité? Desjardins ? I spat. Nobodies. How could they succeed where Orsini failed? "
What a spat in the face ! They could have send a magician used to hunting down rebels, a Menshikov, or Aaron Kane. Even a Bellini. What do we have there? Some meek elementalist who got his position only through cheating and sedition and a runaway kid whose own family is ashamed of !
" Are you waiting for someone ?
- Yes. " I snapped, holding myself back from pacing again.
Stay here and don't move. When you have to face the Nome, you will have to remain as stoic as a statue. Chase stayed by my side, savoring the silence. Once again I heard footsteps.
Esme Sabbia appeared. She looked exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in two days. Her clothes were dirty, torn, one of his arms bandaged. Chase made a movement when he saw her. Sabbia had a surprised gesture.
" You know each other ? I asked.
"We crossed paths," Sabbia answered.
"In the Balkans," Chase said. "
I didn't insist. I had a more urgent concern:
"Girolamo? I asked.
- Safe. "
I hid my relief. Good gods. She pulled him out of Cosimo Bellini's clutches. I knew Cesare's third son by reputation, he was the most cruel of them all. Duccio, the eldest, still knew proper decorum. Maurizio and Cosimo were two trained assassins. And Giacomo… He had always been a little different, an eccentric, a madman they said, though mental instability ran through their family's veins. There is one more, Orfeo, and the two sisters, Chiara and Laura. I only knew them by sight, but I was going to have to trust them, which didn't rejoice me. Gods, and how many more cousins and bastards? They breed like little rabbits, this is a war we cannot wage.
"You'll see him once in Rome, in the presence of the Chief Lector. "
At my election. I tried to hide my concern, controlled the tone of my voice and asked:
"How is he?
- Shaken but alright. My cousins didn't damage him too much.
- Too much? "
Sabbia met my icy gaze.
"He's intact, that's what I mean. "
We'll have to see what meaning you give to the word intact.
"It's true what they say, one should never trust a bastard. "
Sabbia proudly raised her head.
"Right now, your life is between my fingers," she called back.
"I know this only too well, I whispered bitterly. Is the assault canceled?
- Nonna ordered so. "
There will be no bloody mass tonight… It's over. I almost trembled.
"The High Priest ... Did he find what he was looking for?"
- Leno Cervos has vanished. So do the Etruscans. "
Amateurs.
"These Celts' problems. Good riddance.
"It's not just Celts' problems," Chase sighed. I had almost forgotten him. "It is the history of Europe that is being written now.
- If the priest ...
- Judicael, interrupted in Sabbia.
- If the Celt really wanted his druid, he could have grabed him when you roamed the countryside, murdering our men. "
Sabbia's eyes sparkled.
"He wanted to reason with him.
- The touching stories of our pagan colleagues hardly interest me. Jelila charged you with a mission.
- Which I will accomplish, Esme replied. Trust me. I just need a little time. In Rome, when I see my family again… "
An unlikely alliance, but it had to be so. When you want peace, you find yourself talking to your enemies, not your brothers. Esme Sabbia was staring at me with her dark gray eyes. Bellini's eyes I shivered, they reminded me of others.
"I was unfair to you. Please, excuse me. "
Her eyes widened.
"Strange kindness coming for a Sforza.
- Don't take me for my uncles. We here who serve the Per Ankh are all on the same side."
Sabbia looked at me, looked at Chase, then nodded before turning back.
"Together, she said. I won't play dirty with you. "
I let her go. My heart was beating a little faster. Rome was waiting for me. My turn now.
3. June 3, 1931
When he had sabotaged the territory's portals, Girolamo had not dared to enter the territory of the Two Hundredth Nome. Of the Thirteen ancient obelisks only that of the Vatican, directly linked to Heliopolis, had remained functional. It had once proudly stood on the Circus Maximus. Saint Peter had been crucified under its shadow. It had then been baptised to mark the papacy's triumph, and served now as a sundial in Saint Peter's Square.
Standing in front of him I watched the members of our Nome, from all over Italy, pass by one by one. My chest involuntarily swelled with pride seeing their number, several hundred. Three hundred magicians and thirteen obelisks for one city. Eternal Rome. And they would like me to go look for my fortune elsewhere?
Another was under construction, a much larger one, in Carrara marble. Whoever they are, men always seek to imitate us. The Egyptians were dead but their magicians remained. We still knew the Obelisks' secret. We had promised to help the architects finishing it, we would be given our independence in exchange. To the glory of Mussolini. Perhaps we can come to an understanding, after all, some secular power is always better than the Pope's omnipotence. He has proved only too well that the Church still intends to fight to maintain its former authority. Even if we start to cut it down on all sides. In France, since 1905 ...
I suddenly snapped out of my thoughts. A young woman in a long black dress and obsidian jewelry approached me. There was a great silence. She was the first Bellini to come. With a light step, like a dancer, she walked through the space that separated us in the square.
"Laura Bellini, I greeted her.
- Desdemona Sforza " she said back.
Then, barely moving her lips, so that none could read them :
"Esme told me about you. My grandmother accepted the Chief Lector's extended hand. I choose to take yours.
- We have to stop this war. It will only bring us ruin. But a bright future can only have one price: the truth.
- So it seems. Are you sure you want it?
- I want to pay my respects to the dead, to our dead. "
Laura smiled sadly at me.
"After your coronation then, princess. I will have nothing to deny you. If that's the price to pay for our absolution, then I'm ready to get my hands dirty.
- Our hatred will have no place in the new Eighth Nome. There is room for everyone under history's glaze. Though right now, you are juggling fire. You will all end up in Antarctica or on the scaffold without my help.
- Most of my people do not think the way we do. Nonna will silence them, but she won't live forever.
- I know it well. I have the same people living under my roof. "
We stared at each other in silence, like two mirrors facing each other.
"Perhaps it is really back then, the time of the alliance" dreamed Laura Bellini, and I flinched, staring at her.
If only she could take her grandmother's place… I caught myself thinking. Lucrezia was old, her son Cesare would succeed her, then Duccio… Laura surpassed them in wisdom and in statemanship. But she suddenly changed her mind and laughed at me:
"What power do you think I have? Lucrezia's ear? Some Bellini's secrets ? It's just wind. We have nothing to hide, we just pretend to have secrets, it makes us scarier.
- Maybe...
- Mine will be there tomorrow, when the voting start. " She concluded before turning her back to me. I watched her climbing down the stairs with her dancing step.
I already had my family and our allies' votes. Jelila and the first Nome, thanks to the agreement made with Lucrezia, had assured me a part of the Bellini side's votes. I could get two-thirds together. Then I would just have to be confirmed by the Two Hundredth Nome's council and the Chief Lector. I'm so close.
I had invited my most important allies in the Sforza residence next to the Roman Nome. Iskandar had already returned to Heliopolis after his trip to Venice. Many started whispering after his departure, worrying about his health. Jelila Kane and Isaac Jacobi represented him. They were seated to my right. On my left, Laura Bellini, who represented her family, faced Jelila, as to reassure her family's goodwill and commitment to respect the results of the votes. My uncle Horatio was in the next seat, to her left. Laura Bellini, in a cardinal red silk dress, sat straight, with that natural elegance and quiet arrogance that characterized the women of her family, darting a mocking gaze at the rest of the assembly. Always dressed in red. Just provocation, Gian also wore scarlet ties.
The Kane girl was quiet as always. I wonder what she thinks of this kind of dress. My father always said that the Kanes wouldn't want red even in their furniture or their flower bouquets. The blood of Narmer and his whims! They remain the best magicians in the world though...
I chatted with Jacobi, complimenting him on his recent wedding. Jacobi was one of the brightest elements of our House. He was one of the greatest experts of the Duat and one of the few among us on familiar termes with the god Thoth. Jelila had once been his apprentice. Sitting beteween the two of us, she remained lost in her thoughts.
"You're so quiet, Kane girl. "
Jacobi had turned around and was addressing his neighbor on the right. We were sitting side by side, Jelila occupied the place of honor, out of respect for her name.
"What's to be said?
- Tell me something. I am sure you have seen hundreds of political gathering, like this one.
- I might have. " She just said dreamily, gazing down at the guests sitting in the shadows of the colonnades. Her gaze fell on Arthur Chase's golden hair, who was a little behind. A smile came to me. I stared at Laura and Jelila in turn. Why are we all here, pretending? I spoke to my two neighbors, the Bellini and the Kane:
"So, the two of you could have been sisters-in-law. How does that make you feel?
- It's old history now, Jelila replied.
- Yes, and I am sure that Jelila's heart is already full of desire for another, added Laura.
- I beg your pardon ? " She blushed.
Laura and I exchanged knowing looks. I changed the subject so as not to embarrass her further.
"Esme is a smart girl. "
The compliment had escaped me. Like all bastards, she had always stayed in the shadows, and I hadn't expected to find so much talent in her.
"She sure is. "
Laura took a sip of red wine and continued:
"You owe her.
- Don't we all?
- You and I are not the same.
- Keep telling yourself that.
- You fucked my cousin, dear, that does not make us familiar.
– I am giving you a way out, for his sake.
– At least something good he did in life then, she sighed. "
Jelila looked at us successively, looking bored.
" Does it never get boring ?
– You couldn't possibly understand, said Laura. "
But she was smiling again.
"Sicilian blood is thick, I added. "
My poor mother was from there.
"When we were kids, we'd spend our summers in Sicilia, with Uncle Ignacio, Sabbia's father, se remémora Laura. He was a gentle man. He'd play music for us and read poetry in the evenings. The three youngest, Giacomo, Chiara and Esme would always stick together. Three spoiled little brats they were. Chiara is the worst, she has always been. She won't come, she can't bear to vote for you. Usually I'd be the one to babysit them, though I had a lot to do, already.
– Believe me, I know the feeling, smiled Jelila.
– Your dear Gian was an ass with them. He was probably jealous of Esme, who, though only a bastard, was her father's favourite and was aduled by her Spanish aunts. Once, he lost Giaco in the Madunii woods. Poor boy was only five. We found him two days later. I still believe he did that on purpose. "
I tried to remain impassive. She's testing me. Laura had that harsh gleam in her eyes that didn't deceive me. I was about to reply, when Jelila apologized and left the room, following a man. Bellini stared at her with a severe look, but I felt a certain compassion, mixed with another less laudable feeling. How jealous I am of you, beauty. Enjoy it. Things never last, neither happiness nor triumphs.
The wine was turning faster and faster on my palate, tinged with bitterness. It followed me all the way, long after the party. It entered the assembly hall with me, as the three hundred and forty-eight magicians chanted my name in heart. It echoed with their hand clapping and their songs. It was encrusted in the Sem priest's insigns that were held out to me. This little bitterness spoiled even the sweet flavor of victory and reign; and I knew then that I had tasted the last poison of my mortal allies.
4. June 29, 1931
Johann Orsini-Rosenberg was waiting for me in one of the Nome's reception rooms. I hastened to join him. The Eighth's business had taken over my attention, I was a little late now. And it was never good to keep Poseidon's favorite son waiting, especially in these troubled times.
I entered slowly. The man, dressed in a dark blue suit, was casually sitting on one of the sofas. Orsini was the most beautiful man I had ever met. His unruly dark hair framed an angular, aristocratic face. His changing color eyes had an unusual depth. He exuded confidence and power, with that hint of savagery that was proper to Greek heroes. Orsini got up when he saw me and, bending down, kissed the back of my hand.
"Murder your uncle. What an outrage! I can only imagine your grief.
- Indeed. Such presumptuousness coming from you had not been seen for centuries. "
He glanced at me, and I immediately knew that the comedy shouldn't be pushed too far.
"Well, this is now behind us.
- Jean D'Aubigné will be brought to justice as it should, he promised me. "
Then added, a shadow on his face:
"Bitter are the wars between cousins!
- Strange… You, sons of the ocean's god, are known to be rebels, more than the sons of Zeus."
Orsini looked at me with a little flame in his eyes, halfway between fun and something more dangerous. He has Bellini eyes too, like Gian. He's unpredictable.
"How many of them remain alive? I added, thinking of the other sons of Zeus.
- Twenty, he said casually.
- And yet it is in you that Olympus has placed its trust. "
A warrior, I remember, and a veteran. Like D'Aubigné. He's an Austrian though, he was in the opposing trench.
"Jean has always been difficult, Orsini whispered. I would soon be done with him. He seems to have taken refuge at home in France. Gaul's Celts are after him; they control the country and will soon capture and delivere him to you, if the Per Ankh proves itself unable to do so of course ... "
I shuddered at the insult.
"Your suggestions dishonor you. Rest assured that we'll be done with him soon.
- D'Aubigné survived a war. You ran away from it.
"And you lost it, I pointed out. Where is now the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Who will remember it, when it has disappeared from memories, just like Mitanni or Koush?
- While you're still there, he admitted. Amorphous and silent, yet there. Have you never thought of shaking the dust off your strips?
- We are not like these young Greeks, who babble round and round.
- The big mute, he laughed.
- I'll take it as a compliment.
- Well, until Champollion came of course.
- You seem to admire him.
- To tell the truth, I admire the son more than the father. It happens sometimes. There are the scientists, and there are the revolutionaries. Barthélémy could have changed the world.
- Dead with his Communards.
- It was a beautiful dream.
- A bunch of beggars, I shrugged. They deserved their deaths all too well.
- It must certainly have been insulting for an… institution as old as yours to be overriden by a few militants, some Gypsies and a bastard.
- Mind your own waters, son of Poseidon. You love other people's secrets too much.
- Son of the god of the seas. It makes me a vagabond I'm afraid. Or a king? "
Another megalomaniac, I analyzed immediately. Orsini continued:
"D'Aubigné spent some time in the Balkans, since 1923 I believe. A territory placed under the authority of this same family.
- Who cares about the descendants: gypsies and prostitutes.
- Champollion's dream remains intact in his words, not in his blood.
- If it ever was something more than a nightmare. You can wield the Oghams as it seems, but just touch one of our hieroglyphics and you will get the punishment you deserve in return.
- I wouldn't dare to appropriate them. There are taboos that must not be broken. Magics that should not be mixed.
- On this point we agree.
- Well, dear Lady Sforza. It would be a pleasure to continue this little joust with you, but I have a lot to do, and I believe that all is said. I will use my influence to calm the Natives and Celts of Italy. All the armed bands will be disarmed and pacified. We will apologize to the Church as well. A small detail still worries me however...
- I will not eat my bread in Mussolini's palm, I can promise you that.
- You offer him an obelisk, still.
- Just a lot of consolation for taking our independence. As for the legions, don't worry. They are already migrating north. Hannibal will welcome them. With their help, he intends to counterbalance the Germans and Nordics' rise in power.
- Friedwald. I have heard a lot of good things about him. A moderate man. He will be able to protect us from the Communists as well as the Nazis, I hope. Well, once D'Aubigné is caught, I'll go to go back to the States for a while. My mission is here over.
- Your mission? Do you think I don't know how you first led the revolts. You can consider yourself happy that I am lenient!
- Oh the Sforzas' mercy! I'm starting to know this song. I owe you nothing, you are nothing to me. If d'Aubigné escapes the House of Life, Olympus will blame you. Do your job, for once, and do it right! "
Once Orsini left, I sat down for a minute, resting my head on a cushion. I inhaled slowly and let my back relax. What is the link between this cursed demigod and the Carnutes' assembly? What link between his father and their gods? What does it matter to me. They are leaving our land, that's all that matters now. I took Judicaël Restugenos' crumpled letter from from my purse, and reread it once more.
"Dear Desdemona Sforza,
On behalf of the Carnutes' Confederation, I salute your accession to the head of the 8th Nome of Italy. Our collaboration, although brief, was certainly fruitful. Be assured of the appeasement of the Venetian and Senon peoples and of my good friendship.
In this troubled time I cannot stress enough that you should keep your distance both from them and from any form of mortal government. Our peoples are made to live side by side, but never together. These are obvious facts so often rehashed, yet never understood.
In response to your questions, I can say so much : a Bellini did try to negotiate with us a free access to the ancient and secret site of Uxellodunum. He was accompanying a magician named Abdias Kane, the one you are also looking for. What exactly they were after I do not know, and even if I knew it, it would not be for me to reveal it to you. It is also true that they then went to Figeac. As for the exact content of their conversations with the old Zoraïde, no one knows it. I heard that her old maid still dwells in the house, maybe she will know more about it?
Lastly, I advise you against using any kind of magic or necromancy to locate a body in French territory. It is impossible for you to do so discretely and my order cannot accompany you in this hazardous attempt. Know, however, that our land is old and partly broken, that hiding a body in a shadowy area cast by an ancient battlefield is easy. And no other country has fought as many wars as ours. What the fire takes, the fire always keeps. Our bitter earth hides well its tombs. "
The letter was signed with a sober "Judicaël". High priest of Sucellos, venerable druid, dean of the Carnutes' assembly I added mentally. It was better to have him as a friend.
I put the letter away and walked back to my apartments, where my old friend was waiting for me in my boudoir. She had just put on a dark velvet evening dress matched with a magnificent river of diamonds.
"Maria, I greeted her with a big smile. Sorry, I have been very busy.
- Do not worry. I understand.
- We took good care of you, I hope?
- I didn't want for anything.
- I have a few days left to enjoy your presence, I hope.
- My family will not come back to Venice immediately, not while the palace is under reconstruction. My father is going back to the United States, I will accompany him for a while. That leaves us a week.
- And these jewelry, is it for your beautiful lover?
- I'll see him tonight.
- Then we'll be in the same place moehow. Pray for me my darling, this evening I'm meeting with dead people.
- I'm not really the best person to carry your prayers anymore, but I will do my best.
- Oh, I think you know everything to death.
- And what does that mean...
- Oh nothing. Ask him who Orsini really is by the way. And who is he fighting for. "
5. July 5, 1931
It is useless. There is nothing to do, nothing to learn from it. A pale ray of moonlight pierced the skylight. We were in one of the Nome's secret rooms, only accessible to the Sem Priest. My body was worn out from sleepless nights. I was on the verge of tears, frustrated at our repeated failures. Jelila looked just as exhausted as I did.
"I'm sorry, I thought I could do something.
- I suppose I just need a better necromancer, I replied annoyed.
- Who? You can't just publish an add in some newspaper. Hannibal is a great Statuary magician, but he knows nothing about necromancy. "
It was true. It was true and it drove me crazy. Jelila raised her dark eyes to me and promised me once again:
"I'll try again Desdemona. I just need time. And books. And to experiment things.
- I've waited long enough.
- 'tis the best we can do. I need to study more. I'll find a way, I swear it.
- How can I even trust you? "
Some stern melancholy expression flowered on her face, and for a moment she looked just like her father. It was the resigned and heartbroken look of someone awaiting a tragic and ineluctable fate:
"Have you ever met my cousins? "
Her question surprised me. I raised my eyebrows:
"I know that there's a lot of them. We all thought your house would go extinct, and suddenly, all of your women decided to give birth. "
"Julius is a good boy," she said almost point blank, "a little piece of trash sometimes, but he tries. Izel and Inaya are kind and gentle, Marwa likes to sing. The four Huysmans girls are wild little creatures. Salvador is an angel, Ella is such a pretty girl. There's little Amos also, he likes to draw. I gave him his first chalk box. He gave Thot's sculpture a makeover with it.
- What's your point?
- This. "
She pointed at the body.
"This is what fucking awaits all of them, all of us. I have to study more, but you can't tell people what we're doing here. We can't take the risk. "
She was right, it was unauthorized necromancy. I was silent for a long time. Finally I blinked, and whispered, my voice weary:
"We should get some rest. We'll try again when you are ready. "
Lucrezia knows. She knows everything, yet stays silent. Why won't she avenge the murder of one of her own? Why is this body wrapped in protective spells so hopelessly silent? Well, so be it, Orsini made the Oghams talk, Champollion read the Hieroglyphs, I will make the dead speak. Even if I have to spend centuries there!