The Secrets of Life and Death (32 page)

We left the room under guard to keep people out. We didn’t trust anyone, least of all the witch, nor Lord Miklós, who seemed to be working against us. The chiming of the angel in my head had reduced to a soft hum, like distant singing. We looked out from the hall doorway, across the inner yard.

The count, in his less formal dolman, and head uncovered, walked to the doorway to speak with the newcomers.

‘Father Konrad.’ His voice was hard with suspicion. ‘You take many risks riding in these hills.’

‘God keeps us safe,’ Konrad answered. ‘I must ask, however, if you can give us a place to rest, and to water and bait our horses. We head for Rome.’

It was an unspoken rule, perhaps one that preceded Christianity, that no traveller be denied succour. Yet, for a long moment, I thought Nádasdy would refuse.

‘Perhaps one night,’ he conceded. ‘But I have troops arriving at any hour, and you must be away at daybreak.’ He beckoned to grooms who took the bridles of some of the horses.

‘You are very kind.’ Konrad dismounted, and bowed deep to Lord Miklós, who had followed Nádasdy. ‘I would also speak with the king’s brother, if he has time.’

Miklós strode forward.

‘In private, my lord?’ Konrad asked.

‘There is little privacy in a garrison.’ Nádasdy’s voice was harsh.

‘Then I shall deliver your brother’s message before witnesses, Lord Miklós Báthory of Somlyó. His Majesty King Istvan hopes you are filled with your customary good health. He hopes and prays you recall your last conversation with your king, and begs you to offer my Lord Nádasdy all assistance. He bids me give you this note.’ He turned to us, standing apart, and bowed his head. ‘I must greet you also, Doctor Dee and Master Kelley. I am surprised to see you here, and hope you are well?’

‘Well, indeed, Reichsritter von Schönborn.’ Dee was calm. ‘We are also guests at Csejte.’

‘Perhaps, if your visit is ending, we can offer you an escort from the castle.’

Dee shook his head. ‘Our families await us in Krakow, and we wish only to return there.’

Konrad looked at me, and I fancied he knew something of what we were trying to do.

The count beckoned to his captains. ‘Secure the priests’ men and lock the main gates.’ He turned to us. ‘You have much to do tomorrow. No doubt you will wish to rest.’

Dismissed, we returned to our quarters.

We heard no more until the morning, when a guard came to get us.

‘The priest wishes to speak with you,’ he barked at us, in execrable German.

Unlike previous audiences on the ground floor, he escorted us through the chapel and unlocked the door I had found in my explorations. Far from leading to a chamber, it came onto steep stairs, spiralling down under the fortress. Torches lit the steps, stinking the air with burning tallow, and it was with relief that we arrived in a cavern hacked out of the bedrock beneath the castle.

As my eyes took in rough stone, with iron bars and chains bolted to the walls, I realised we were in some sort of dungeon. My throat contracted, choking back any words to Dee. He looked at me, then around the cave.

It was part man-made, with some mortared walls. Along one side were a number of small cages, with several prisoners in each. Clean-shaven men, they bore the marks of battle upon them, and I recognised their uniforms as those of Konrad’s guards. Some were wounded, it appeared, bloodstained and lying in filthy straw. At the end, as assured as if he stood before the king, was the tall figure of Konrad, crammed into a space barely two yards wide. His robes were torn, a bruise darkened one side of his face and a scrap of linen was tied around one hand.

‘Doctor Dee,’ he said, ‘and Master Kelley. I am glad to see you are well. We – the king and I – were concerned for your safety. As you see, Lord Nádasdy has concerns about the security of his citadel and has confined us. Some of my men resisted.’

‘Father Konrad.’ Dee bowed, equally polite. ‘I am sorry to see you in this condition. May we petition his lordship for your release?’

‘The Lord that I petition watches over me, even here. But I would be grateful for anything that will ease the suffering of my men, who are guilty of nothing more than loyalty to me and to the office I represent.’

A clattering of boots on the stairs was followed by Lord Nádasdy and his personal guards.

‘Father Konrad,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid you must be detained until my wife’s treatment is complete.’ He turned to Dee and myself. ‘Father Konrad, who is driven by allegiance to the Pope, attempted to intervene in your work.’

‘And the Pope will be disappointed that his representative was attacked in such a fashion while asking for hospitality.’ Konrad’s voice was calm.

Nádasdy’s lips thinned in a smile. ‘In these lands, a party of men demanding ingress to my stronghold, with weapons drawn, is not considered worthy of hospitality.’ He shrugged. ‘We are a small castle with a modest garrison, not forty leagues from the Sultan’s occupancy. We have to be cautious.’

Konrad bowed. ‘Then I beg your forgiveness for rousing your people into such misguided loyalty. We are here on a mission of peace, so perhaps my men may be more comfortable? I ask as one commander to another.’

Nádasdy looked at Dee. ‘Well, Doctor? He is your enemy, not mine.’

Dee shook his head. ‘He is no enemy of mine, he is doing his duty as he sees it.’

‘Very well. Your men will remain confined, but I will send down food and healers. We can make them more comfortable.’

‘May we stay and consult with Father Konrad? He may have insights that can assist us.’ Dee smiled at Nádasdy, who glared back.

‘If you wish. But he stays caged.’

Jack called the vet, but the dog still hadn’t regained consciousness. She held her coffee in both hands, trying to capture some of the warmth, but could feel the cold starting to slow her down. She felt helpless, not a comfortable feeling. She jumped when Charley touched her shoulder.

‘I’m going to have to go. Mum’s ready to go home. She’s got to rest, got to take it easy.’

‘Don’t tell her what’s going on. Say we’re both at Felix’s—’

‘She’s not stupid, Jack. She’ll work out I’m lying.’ She lifted a package wrapped in a large carrier bag onto the table. ‘I brought this, you might need it.’

‘What is it?’

‘The sword. You know …’

Jack did know. It was one of the items Maggie had inherited from her grandmother, along with the medals and papers. She unrolled the plastic, revealing the heavy scabbard, wound around with a cloth that started to crumble as she touched it.

‘I can hardly lift it.’

Charley boosted herself on her hands to sit on the end of the table. ‘Do you remember looking at this when we were kids? Mum went mad, said it was worth a fortune. She said it was inscribed with defensive charms.’

Jack slid the first few inches of the blade out of its sheath. It was protected by a layer of grease, the spine heavy and grey, each side of the blade engraved with ornate letters. ‘Do you think this is Dee or Kelley’s too?’

Charley shrugged, and finished unwinding the cloth. ‘Even if it isn’t, it’s heavy enough to hurt someone. It probably needs polishing up.’

‘Sharpening, more like.’ The edge was dull, and there were patches of rust creeping along despite the grease. ‘So now we have to fight.’ A small part of her was angry enough to relish the thought. She pulled the sword right out and held it in both hands. It thrummed with some strange energy. ‘Maggie could have told us about the Inquisition.’

‘Yes, she could. But when did you ever want to know about our world?’

‘I think I would have wanted to know that a branch of the Vatican had been formed to exterminate all borrowed timers.’

‘Maybe she didn’t know that.’ Charley crossed her feet. ‘You know she loves you like a daughter. She’s just a bit overprotective.’

‘But that’s just it. She’s not my mother. She took me because she could use me to save you. The rest …’ The words crowded up in her throat, and caught. ‘I lost my family, everything.’ She swung the sword gently from side to side.

Charley shrugged. ‘You know you’re being unreasonable, don’t you? You would have been dead. Is that how you feel about Sadie? Just good for spare parts?’

‘No, I …’ She thought about it for a long moment. ‘She was going to choke to death because of a stupid, pointless mistake. I couldn’t just leave her there to die.’

Charley bit her lips, as if trying to stop herself saying something. ‘They are trying to work out where Sadie is. Mac and Felix. They’ve come up with some ideas.’

Jack put the sword down on the table, drank her coffee and turned her back on Charley. The last leaves of a Virginia creeper clung in the lee of the window, in shades of scarlet and flame.

‘Mac? We’re on nickname terms with McNamara now?’

‘He’s OK, if you like that buttoned up, starched sort.’ Charley slid off the table. ‘Anyway, he’s got a lot more contacts than we have; he has records of these rituals going back
centuries
. He thinks they would be looking for a church or graveyard on consecrated ground.’

‘So you believe that the original Countess Elizabeth Báthory is on the loose?’

‘I’ve seen some pretty convincing evidence. You need to find this church.’

‘People believe all that hallowed ground stuff, even now?’ Jack swivelled to face her.

Charley smiled. ‘Well, they think she does. The previous exsanguinations all took place in derelict or unused churches.’

‘So Sadie could already be dead.’ Jack let the thought that had been chilling her hang in the air.

‘It takes time to set up the ritual. Felix thinks she will wait until tonight. We need you on board.’

Charley walked over and hugged her. She smelled like some sort of exotic flower, and looked like a fifteen-year-old, but she could be as forceful as her mother.

Jack held her, shutting her eyes for a moment. ‘I’m there. I’m just worried sick.’

‘Well, let Felix and Mac help you.’ Charley grabbed her coat and waved as she walked out into the hall. ‘See you later.’

Jack took a deep breath before finding the men.

‘What have you found out?’ She addressed herself to Felix, still suspicious of McNamara and his crazy claims.

‘I’ve got the police files of the last two women who died in this blood ritual,’ he answered, ‘and details of the ceremonial sites. Both old churches, one almost derelict, one used for occasional funerals.’ He waved at the other man, who hadn’t looked up. ‘Mac is looking at similar unused churches and chapels in our area.’

The man tapped a piece of paper and looked at her. ‘These are the sigils drawn at my sister’s death-site. I thought, as a witch, you could offer us your thoughts.’

She took the paper, but looked at Felix. ‘I’m not really a witch.’

McNamara frowned at her. ‘But you created a revenant, one of the hardest magics to perform.’

‘Yes, but I had Maggie’s help.’

Jack and Felix bent their heads over the paper.

‘What are these?’ Jack felt uneasy at the sight of the circles of figures, but couldn’t work out why. They weren’t familiar.

Felix clicked a button on his laptop. ‘I’ve studied ritual symbols and arrangements,’ he said, then added, ‘especially by Dee.’ He opened one file after another, stacking them up on the screen. ‘These are summoning circles. You can see the similarity.’

‘Summoning what?’

‘Angels, demons, spirits.’

She sat back, looking at the bent head of the inquisitor, but he appeared absorbed in his laptop. ‘Do you believe all this religious stuff?’ she murmured to Felix.

‘How about thinking of it in a slightly different way? All matter is made of atoms, in turn made of sub-atomic particles, right?’

She shrugged. ‘I suppose so. Electrons and so on.’

‘Well, electrons and protons are all made of energy. The whole universe boils down to energy fields all reacting to each other.’

‘O … K.’ Jack felt a bit out of her depth, but was prepared to go a little further.

‘And your actions are all composed of energy transferred and moved around. So are your thoughts.’

She stretched back in the seat, looking at his profile as he lectured. ‘Go on.’

‘Well, suppose a million people all think the same thing at the same time. Don’t you feel on some level that’s going to leave an impression on an energy field?’

She hadn’t thought of it before, but it seemed reasonable. ‘So … the belief of millions of people can what … create God?’

‘That’s one way of looking at it. And if millions of people have created that kind of construct, maybe it’s possible for someone to summon that up, or at least, a tiny part of it.’

She thought about it. ‘So, what you are saying is, since millions of people have believed in angels and demons for thousands of years, they must exist somewhere?’

‘
Might
exist somewhere. Dee thought they did, but not because people believed. Because God believed. I suspect that’s how magic works, if it does.’

‘I’ve always thought of it as maths.’

He lifted an eyebrow and smiled. ‘Maths?’

‘Well, how likely is it that a draught will sneak in and shut that door?’

He considered the still door, partly open. ‘I don’t know, unlikely but possible?’

Jack concentrated, running through the intention in her mind, building, building, then … there, the right mindset. A shiver ran down her spine and something snapped in her head.

The door slammed with enough force to lift the edges of papers on the desk.

‘How … ?’ Felix looked around at the room. ‘When we have Sadie back, you are going to have to explain that to me.’

Jack smiled at his confusion, and widened the smile at the inquisitor’s frown. ‘Easier than angels and demons, anyway.’

Jack turned back to the laptop and tapped the screen with one finger. ‘And these circles were used to try and summon them.’

‘So, what do our circles summon?’ She rubbed her aching chest.

He tightened his lips, flicking a glance at McNamara. ‘They seem to be similar to the ones Dee used in necromancy, to bind the soul back to its body.’

‘That’s what Maggie said. She used that booklet of Dee’s.’