by Mark Alder
He looked into his purse. A good amount. He was off to find an alehouse.
7
Isabella was led through the winding corridors of the palace, through backstairs and dusty archways she would have thought never to have seen in her adult life. A queen may play with the servants in such places when she is a child. Grown, come to power, she never sees the grimy bowels of her palaces, the cobwebs and dirt that serve as channels between the gilded rooms where the nobility dwell.
They passed through a series of locked doors and Isabella noted how each one was marked with odd writing. She recognised it as a jumble of scripts – Latin, Hebrew, Greek – and she knew enough of the first to know what the words said: the names of God.
‘Each one of these names,’ said the Pope, ‘is most secret, and each more secret than the last.’
‘To keep devils out?’ said Isabella.
‘No devil would want to come in here.’
They continued on, the passage ever tighter. Now it rubbed both her shoulders and she – a slender woman – was obliged to turn sideways to pass through.
Finally they came to a door of steel, engraved with many circles and names.
‘What is this? A prison for me?’
‘No such thing, Lady,’ said the Pope. ‘This is La Tour des Anges.’ And then, in clicking English, as if she could not understand the French, ‘The tower of angels.’
He opened the door and she now saw they were in a magnificent chapel, high above the city. There were seven stained glass windows – glorious works of red, green, gold and blue – showing the making of the world from the inception of light to God’s rest, depicted as a shining cloud looking out on the mountains and lakes of creation. Some of the high panes were missing, their arches open, and she could see far over Avignon, which seemed baked umber in the falling sun.
A magnificent altar was the centrepiece and upon it, housed in foils of gold and silver, some in cups, some in maces, some in dishes and some in crowns, were the most precious jewels she had ever seen. They all shone with a light deeper than any natural gem. She heard high voices all around her, calling out praises to God, songs of devotion and delight.
‘Angels,’ she said.
‘Yes,’ said the Pope.
‘How many ?’
‘I don’t know. This is a safe haven for them.’
‘They need a haven?’
‘We knew from the Bible that one day the dragon would come. Years ago we built this place to protect against it. When it became clear its arrival was imminent, we moved all the angels of Rome here to be protected until God showed himself.’
Isabella’s head was spinning, as if after the first sips of summer wine. A great elation filled her. And then a dread. She had drunk the blood of these creatures. Too late to worry about that now. She was where she was and could not turn back.
She bent to see a crown, stared into its jewels. Voices. ‘Servant,’ said one. ‘Savage servant.’ The jewel seemed to her like a house of many rooms, shining floors shifting within it.
‘Do they speak to you?’ said Isabella.
‘They do,’ said the Pope.
‘And what do they tell you?’
‘That you have served the light. You have served God.’
‘In dark ways.’
‘You have rid the world of angels who have taken flesh. You have put their bones and their blood to good service.’
‘I have.’
‘You are a daughter of God. Ask what you want.’
‘I want Mortimer from Heaven.’
The Pope smiled.
‘Only God can grant that.’
‘And how do I speak to God?’
‘God has abandoned the world. The angels cannot find Him. He has sickened Himself on our sins, sent a plague to torment us. God has gone. There are no rulers.’
Isabella bowed her head.
‘I have often wondered in these strange days of heresy. It seems the Bible is not as it is written. Lucifer and Satan are not as one.’
The Pope looked surprised. ‘And where in the Bible does it mention Lucifer ?’
‘Is he not the Devil?’
‘Not according to The Bible. Lucifer is mentioned four times. Three of those times “Lucifer” is a name given to Christ.’
‘I don’t understand. Are you saying the Luciferians are telling the truth ?’
‘No, they are liars who have twisted the word of God.’
Isabella kept quiet, not understanding at all.
‘The Bible says Lucifer fell, in one reading of it. It also says Satan fell – Jesus says, does He not, that He saw Satan falling from Heaven like lightning?’
‘He does.’
‘So the Bible clearly has Lucifer and Satan as separate beings. But the Bible does not talk much on the subject of Hell. Our God is a god of love, after all. He made the world. That we know because it is written and because the angels say so. But God was too good a maker when He made Lucifer, and only after a terrible fight did He lock him in Hell and there contain him. A man, a low man, can make a son who kills him. So why can’t God? Nothing is impossible for God, even to make a being greater than He.’
‘So what do I do?’
The Pope smiled.
‘Our angels have identified you as chosen of God. They would work with you.’
‘For what ?’
‘For the establishment of the kingdom of God. Lady. Queen. Look around you at these days. The Plague, whose victims I minister with my own hands. The devils and demons in the sky. Is it not obvious?’
‘What ?’
‘These are the last days.’
‘God is coming back to judge us? The dead will rise?’
‘Most certainly.’
‘My Mortimer! When will this occur?’
‘When,’ said the Pope, ‘we make it happen.’
Isabella crossed herself.
‘Do not the last days proceed according to prophecy?’
‘Prophecy is only a foretelling of the decisions men make. We cannot sit back like hermits and wait. There is dispute as to where we are, dispute even among the angels. But I think it is safe to say that we are somewhere near the end as prophesied in the Revelation of John of Patmos. Where depends on how you read the text – literally, as a symbol, or as a mixture. One thing is certain – nothing but God’s grave displeasure could have caused the Plague, these wars. We must make Him return.’
‘Can you make God do anything?’
‘You do His will. He sets the course. It is up to us if we follow it.’
‘And how do we do that?’
‘We release Lucifer from Hell. God must return to the world then. It says so in the Bible.’
Isabella crossed herself. ‘And how do we do that?’
‘You need to meet someone. He will be here in a moment.’
‘Who ?’
‘An enemy.’
Isabella stood marvelling at the work of the chapel; every pillar was coiled with gold, the roof decorated in rich paints and gilt.
On the altar stood a crown and beside it a sceptre.
Presently there was a noise at the door. It opened. A man, worse dressed than her, stepped in. His clothes were in rags but he was well fed, well muscled – too well muscled to have been a labourer fed on barley and millet. Only warriors were so thickset.
‘You do not bow?’ she said.
‘This is our enemy, Queen. Do not expect him to bend the knee. This is Jacques Bonhomme. Good Jacques. One of the poor knights, the Templars, accursed of God. A friend of Lucifer. They do not call Lucifer Lord, did you know that?’
The man looked around him at the beauty of the chapel. He seemed to find it rather distasteful, by the tight-lipped expression on his face.
‘There are angels here?’
‘There are angels everywhere,’ said the Pope.
‘Not in France – they cower from the Evertere.’
‘No longer. The Evertere has not been seen in a long time. Though I susp
ect you will know where it is.’
The Templar grunted. ‘We’re here for business, aren’t we?’
‘Yes. Tell the queen what it is.’
‘We bring Satan to earth.’
Isabella almost ducked. The Pope smiled.
‘Do you think his devils can come here to Avignon? Do you think his spies can slink beneath the gaze of angels?’
‘Do the angels not hear us?’
The Pope shrugged. ‘They are in rapture in the gems. They will not make themselves present unless called.’
‘Why would you bring Satan?’ said Isabella to the Templar.
‘To kill him. Or to distract him long enough for us to break through the last wall of Hell and release the light.’
‘You can break through the wall?’
‘We can try. If we can summon Satan. If you can call his devils.’
‘I have forsworn the calling of devils. God placed devils in Hell. It is unholy to call them.’
‘Would they not just step from Hell once the gates are open?’ said the Templar. ‘I can’t think any of them can like it very much there.’
‘I think not,’ said the Pope. ‘He would need to be called, devils would need to be called. It might be possible minor devils would come to the call of a sorcerer or someone God has allowed to discover His secret names. But Satan – he would not come from Hell other than from the summons of someone elevated by God to the highest level. The Devil could not come forth on his own volition, no matter how he wanted to.’
‘You could call him!’ The Templar jabbed a meaty finger towards the Pope.
‘And risk damnation? God set Satan in Hell. To call him forth, even in the best interests . . .’
Isabella thought hard.
‘My son, though he has devil blood, is an appointed king. Could he call Satan forth?’
The Pope pursed his lips.
‘I don’t know. He has been crowned and anointed, angels have spoken to him. And yet God worked through you to oppose his line, to control them if not to end them. This is a question of deep theology. God may not respect the man but He respects his position. Somehow this contaminated line thwarted his will to come to power – but now . . . But now! As kings they must be granted the rights of kings or kingship means nothing. I have thought long and hard on it and I have concluded this is why we have wars.’
‘For what? The ambition of men?’
‘Yes. But it is God’s way of making adjustments to the world, or removing sinning or corrupt kings, corrupt of the mind or corrupt of the flesh. If a king removes a king then the order remains. I think it very likely your son could invite Satan over the threshold of Hell and into the world. Though God may despise what he represents, He loves the office of king and His will should respect that.’
Isabella felt her heart skip. To kill her son was one thing but to damn him for ever, before God? But then she thought of her own line : Dieu Donné, as House Capet’s motto said – God Given. Was she not descended from Saint Louis himself? And yet she had been married to the devil-blooded Edward, borne him children, corrupted her line. She felt soiled just thinking about it.
‘Satan cannot be allowed to roam free, or to ally with the English,’ said the Pope. ‘He must be bound.’
‘If we do not release Lucifer then Satan would put a grievous yoke on the people,’ said Jacques.
‘Can you not bind him?’ said the Pope.
‘How?’ said the Templar.
The Pope put his hand to his chest, affronted.
‘I am not a sorcerer. That is a gift of men like you and the Capetian queens. How might it be done?’
Isabella thought.
‘The blood royal dominates these creatures. I gained an audience with Satan by presenting him with the heart of my husband.’
Even the Pope, a sophisticated and worldly man, blanched slightly at that.
‘There may be a way that suits all our needs. We need a grand summoning. A field red with the blood of kings. Angels at the cardinal points of the circle. Relics beyond compare to compose the dust of its drawing. We call Satan and then, as the Bible says, we kill him.’
‘And then? How do we kill Satan?’
‘The Archangel Michael,’ said Isabella. ‘He is the bane of devils and demons alike. If he knows Satan’s plan to inhabit the earth, he will not allow it. He will not see God’s great creation turned into another Hell. If Satan comes to earth, he will kill him.’
‘I can show you Michael,’ said the Pope. ‘Or at least somewhere he inhabits. You will not have much luck, I think.’
He went to the altar. A great sceptre lay upon it, topped with a pink diamond, the size of a pigeon’s egg. Isabella, who had seen many jewels in her life, had never seen anything like this one. It shone and glittered in the chapel light, revealing shining flaws, split angles of colours. She gazed within. The light moved in an enchanting play, offering sharp angles of colour that touched, vanished and reformed to reach out to each other again.
‘Michael,’ she said.
‘Queen.’ A delicious chill went through her. The voice came from all around her, as sweet as a child’s song but as terrible as the sea.
The Pope crossed himself. ‘He hasn’t spoken in ten years.’
‘Will you appear for me, Michael?’
No reply.
‘Michael, come from the gem, step out of the light!’
‘I am enraptured.’
‘The world is in peril. Satan is coming to earth.’
Now the gem radiated light, sending patterns of green and gold shimmering out against the floor and roof of the chapel.
‘A queen says so?’
‘A queen says so.’
The light intensified, the gem shining so brightly that Isabella had to look away. Patterns danced on the roof of the chapel in colours more lovely than she had ever seen.
‘Satan is a servant.’ The voice was like many voices all talking at once. ‘Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain.’
The Pope now spoke.
‘Michael. Does it not say, in the Holy Book, “Now war arose in Heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in Heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent. He who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world – he was thrown down to the earth and his servants with him. And I heard a loud voice in Heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.’”?’
‘Are these the last days?’ said the angel.
‘Yes,’ said the Pope. ‘Yes!’
‘When Satan rises up, call me from the light of this gem. Until then, I will dwell in rapture.’
The light went out and the chapel seemed dull without it.
‘Take the gem,’ said the Pope. ‘And take the Crown of Five Angels.’
‘How will Hell’s gate be opened?’
‘I will see to that,’ said the Templar, ‘it’s why I came here. These days make strange alliances.’
‘Where ?’
‘At Poitiers,’ said the Templar. ‘When you receive the message, see to it that Edward’s army meets that of John there – they cannot go to the north. We will bind Satan in a circle made from the blood
of kings. Be certain they are there to spill it.’
‘The angels will do for Satan?’
‘Possibly. Remember, he threw down the most powerful. He must be bound if he is to be killed. Like any devil he can be compelled and constrained, but the magic must be a great one.’
‘I can persuade John to the field, if I have angels at my back. My son, he is already pledged to Satan,’ said Isabella.
‘I will get him there,’ said the Templar. ‘We have prepared for this day for a long time. He is a great spiller of blood. He will mark the circle well.’
‘Holy Father, I give you my pledge. We shall restore God to the world and stand in his wonderful light.’ She knelt and kissed the Pope’s ring.
‘The light you stand in will be the light of the dawn. Lucifer’s kingdom is coming. Beyond death, beyond suffering, beyond kings and queens,’ said the Templar.
‘We will see,’ said Isabella. ‘Two travellers walk by the same road but only one will arrive at the destination.’
‘There will be room for all,’ said the Templar.
‘None for the rebellious poor,’ said Isabella.
The Templar shook his head, walked to one of the open arches and stepped out into thin air. A huge cloud of ympes descended and bore him up.
She turned back into the room and took up the crown.
‘How shall I transport this?’ she said.
‘It is full of angels,’ said the Pope. ‘It will transport you.’
8
The girl Alice had been busy. Her art was faltering and she proceeded with some error at first, but soon very promising devils were being pulled through the cracks in the walls of Hell. Above the English fleet floated twenty huge jellyfish, their tentacles swaying in the light breeze. On the quay, three legions of the Boar Men of Gehenna stood with gleaming spears, and beside Lord Sloth and his leopard warriors, eight flaming men stood on the deck where sheets of iron had been laid down to prevent them burning a hole in their own ships. On each ship stood one strange creature – an impossibly thin man-like thing, but with folds of flesh falling down from its face and neck to cover its feet and spread out on the deck like a huge and grotesque cloak.