Relics

by K. T. Tomb

  Chapter Nineteen

  Diary of the Queen

  5 October 1789

  I hear them screaming, shouting, pounding at the gates. They have come for us and demand that we go with them to Paris and remain at the Tuileries until the revolutionaries decide what is to be done with us. I fear for my children, but at least Du Polignac and De Lamballe are with us. Louis seems dazed. He has hardly said a word since the crowd arrived. I think he is stupefied. The poor man has done everything he thought was good and within his power but there is never any prize for the good in politics, is there?

  Seven thousand women have led this march to the gates of Versailles. That in itself is an irony of monumental means. They have brought with them weapons with which to kill us or force our removal to Paris; cannons and a variety of smaller weapons are being brandished at the gates and against us.

  Twenty thousand National Guardsmen, under the command of La Fayette, have responded so as to keep the peace, and yet still, members of the mob have managed to storm through the palace gates, killing several guards in the process.

  I was by no means surprised when La Fayette himself arrived in the throne room of Versailles to begin persuading Louis to meet the demand of the crowd that the monarchy relocates to Tuileries.

  Marie.

  ***

  “I’ve got a larger audience than I expected for this evening’s performance,” Louis laughed. “All captive as well. Two men and two women whom I hadn’t expected and my very willing accomplice, who was kind enough to secure all of the powerful talismans that I will be using this Solstice Eve.”

  Louis moved in close to one of the women, widened his eyes and spoke in a very excited voice. “You’re going to get to watch me harness all of the feminine energy of the universe. Maybe even your own. Isn’t that exciting?”

  “Not really,” the woman replied.

  He moved away, making use of a long stride to rapidly scoop up a chair and move it to a place in front of his five guests. He looked at his watch and then back at his guests, crossing his legs and folding his hands upon his thighs. “We still have a few hours. Why don’t we get to know each other better?”

  He was partly interested in them, but mostly he was mocking them. The one man who had been brought in by Luka and Jovan had, no doubt, been the one with whom he had been in communication and who had the All Seeing Eye and the Jeweled Crown with him. He decided to address him first.

  “I have to thank you for acquiring all of the items that I needed at such a bargain price. Now, I did expect that you would have help, but, of course, you can already see that I made arrangements to deal with that. Pretty clever of me, don’t you think?”

  The man he was addressing only glared at him without speaking.

  “I guess I expected more from someone so highly placed within the Illuminati. Though they pale in comparison to what I’m about to pull off. You know, I’d considered just letting Luka put a couple of bullets in your brain and leaving it at that, but I’m glad that I have the opportunity to share this evening with you. It’s only an added benefit that you brought guests along with you.”

  He rose and walked in front of the large blonde man and squatted, careful to stay back away from him. “This gentleman is a particularly magnificent specimen. You must be descended from the great god, Thor, huh?”

  He received the response he was expecting and then backed away, chuckling. It wasn’t every day that one was allowed the opportunity to taunt a captive group and then become omnipotent. He decided to enjoy it to its fullest.

  “I descend from a great lineage; from the daughter of Marie Antoinette. She is the one who actually wore the crown that you brought to me. I’m going to place it on my head later, which will be a great thrill for me. However, I’m not going to do that until I have consolidated all of the feminine energy of the universe into that crown, thereby making myself an omnipotent being.

  “Comments? Questions?”

  He waited with a satisfied smirk on his face and then continued mocking them. It felt good to be able to mock them with impunity. He’d always wished to have that chance when he was a boy living among those orphans.

  “You know, I lived up in that house above where we sit right now when I was a boy. I was the smartest and most adroit of all of my peers. I never fully understood why until I discovered who my ancestors were.”

  “Marie Antoinette wasn’t all that great, you know.”

  The attractive woman with the long, black hair had actually spoken, surprising him. He moved over in front of her and squatted. “I wish I knew your name so that I could address you properly.” As he spoke, he reached out and surprised her with a backhand across her mouth. He held a bony finger up in front of her face and shook it. “Do not speak of the queen in that way again.”

  He noticed that the large blonde man was growling and struggling wildly to get free of his bonds. “It’s a good thing that they used four of those bands on you,” he laughed. “You would snap two of them without even straining.”

  “I’ll kill you for that,” the big blonde growled.

  “I’m afraid you’ll never get the chance.” He returned to his seat on the stool and resumed the position he’d been in before.

  “Where were we?” He frowned momentarily and then started up again. “Oh, yes, I was telling you about my superiority to my peers. Now, here is the most fascinating part of it all. The queen’s mother was a particularly fertile woman, given that great gift because of her own great power. That power came not only from her ancestry, but from a secret society to which she belonged. Would anyone like to guess the name of that society?”

  He waited for a response. He’d hoped that his captives would be a little more lively with their conversation. So far it had only been the two comments. He sighed heavily.

  “Very well, I’ll tell you, but I really don’t have a lot of time to waste sitting here and chatting. Marie Antoinette’s mother was a priestess in two orders, actually, the Egyptian Order of Re, which was a precursor to your Illuminati and the Holy Roman Order of the Unconquerable Sun. So, it’s really not difficult to understand how I came to be superior to my peers, something that has only grown stronger as I’ve aged, even more so since I realized my true identity.

  “You see, a nun named me Oliver Branko, but the gods named me through my lineage. Tonight, you will be privileged to witness the coronation of Louis the Twentieth.”

  “There’s already a Louis the Twentieth,” the second woman countered.

  Louis rushed at her in a fury. She attempted to shrink away from him, but he kicked her hard in the ribs anyway. That stirred up all four of his captives into soundly cursing him, threatening him and struggling against their bonds. He waved Luka and his men over and they trained their automatic weapons on the group.

  “It appears that there is to be no civil conversation with you imbeciles!” he shouted. He smiled on last time and lowered the tone of his voice to just above a whisper. “No matter, in a few hours, you’ll have a front row seat to witness the power of the universe coming down to me.”

  He turned and strode away from them, putting them out of his mind and thinking only of the preparations that lay ahead.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tuileries, 18 June 1791

  My dearest Comtesse de Polignac,

  Do not worry about us. It seems that the chiefs of the Assembly want to behave more softly. Talk to my parents about foreign approaches to the problem at hand. If they are afraid it is necessary to come to compromise with them. Burn all that is left which could be used as evidence and send the remainder of the letter to Monsieur von Fersen. He is with the King of Sweden.

  Marie.

  ***

  “This is one I couldn’t get you out of, boss,” Thorin grumbled after Louis had left them sitting against the wall of the cavern that he’d had hewn out of the stone beneath his house.

  “How’re you doing?” Chyna asked. “You took a pretty good bump on the head when we rolle
d the car. You were out cold for quite a while.”

  “I was still seeing stars until that son of a bitch slapped you. They all cleared up pretty quickly after that.”

  “Does anybody have any brilliant ideas for getting us out of this mess?” Lana asked.

  “I hope that Oscar does,” Chyna replied. “He called just before those cars came flying right at us. He said he thought he had an ID.”

  “I doubt they came up with anything,” Lana responded.

  “I can’t believe you are underestimating the same team that you told me could work miracles earlier today,” Chyna countered.

  “I just don’t think he’ll come through, that’s all.”

  Chyna had a response on her lips that she was ready to deliver, but she swallowed it. There was no point in arguing with her.

  “If he does come through, I’ll kiss him right on the mouth.”

  “I’ll kiss all of you on the mouth if I make it out of here alive,” Antoine commented.

  “Eehh,” Thorin and Tony growled in unison as they narrowed their eyes and glared at him.

  “I’m just sayin,’” he said.

  “How’d they capture you two?” Chyna asked after a long silence lingered amongst them.

  “Same as you two, sounds like,” Lana responded. She motioned with her head in Tony’s direction and mouthed some words to Chyna. “Ask him how he’s doing?”

  “Hell no,” Chyna mouthed back. She had an instant pang of guilt come over her the moment after her response. The guy had played square with them. He’d attempted to make things right. He had, evidently, been right on the money concerning the madman who now had them as captives. He’d sacrificed so much believing that he could keep what was about to happen from happening. At that moment, it sure looked like he’d failed, losing everything in the process.

  “You’re pretty quiet there, Tony,” she finally said. “You okay?”

  “I’m sorry, guys,” he said, just above a whisper. “I blew it. Worse yet, you’re all going down with me.”

  There was no way to respond to that, but Chyna’s coldness toward him was beginning to melt. If they got out of there alive, it was going to take a very long time for her to trust him again, but she had, at least, started to understand that he had been doing what he had to do. He had done it out of a sense of duty for the greater good of mankind. There was nobility in that, even if his execution of his duty had torn her heart into tiny little pieces.

  For what seemed like an eternity, they sat in silence. No one really seemed to have anything to say. All of that changed as close to two dozen soldiers, similarly clothed and armed like those who had captured them and brought them into the cavern, filed in and stood in three neat rows before the raised dais of stone. Chyna looked in that direction and began to study what she saw there.

  Above the dais, in the stone ceiling was a large elliptical opening. Through it, she could see twinkling stars and something even more frightening; the soft glow of the leading edge of the full moon that was creeping into place above. Time was running out and there was nothing that they could do about it. Stop thinking like that, Chyna. Oscar and the rest of the team are coming. Stay positive. Stay focused.

  She was speaking in that manner to herself when she saw Louis appear once more. He ignored them completely and focused all of his attention on the dais. He placed two items upon the narrow stone table that was directly below the opening in the ceiling. Those two items were the Jeweled Crown and the All Seeing Eye. He bowed before each of them in reverence and then stood, raised his hands and began a chant as a procession of items were brought in and placed on the dais in front of the stone table. The Ivory Bow, the Minoan Mask, the Babylonian Basilisk, the Phoenician Falcon, the Mummy Codex and the Aquitaine Armor were all placed in a circle surrounding the final piece, the Rosary of Isabella. The bearer of that particular piece, after having placed it in its position was quickly escorted out of the cavern, his insanity already well advanced after just a few moments of contact with the potent artifact.

  Chyna felt a thick lump in her throat. She had found all of those pieces. In so doing, she had, inadvertently, provided them to the madman who was about to draw omnipotence from them. She watched the scene unfolding in front of her, helplessly, shouldering the shame and guilt for the contribution that she had made to the coming doom. She saw the moon steadily creeping forward, filling the elliptical opening more and more.

  Louis took the All Seeing Eye between his palms and raised it above his head in the thickening moonbeam. They had failed. At any moment, the power of the full moon through the crystal center of the All Seeing Eye would consolidate all of the supernatural power of the universe into the Jeweled Crown, which Louis would use to crown himself as the supreme emperor of the entire world.

  The intensity of Louis’ chanting increased in both tempo and volume. The congregation of soldiers standing before the dais kept a perfect, disciplined, cadence as the power of heaven moved closer and closer to the ultimate end of the freedom of mankind. And then, a single shot rang out in the cavern.

  There was an instant in which time stood still as, at the very same instant that the moonbeam activated a laser-like stream of light, the bullet from a rifle shattered the crystal and caused it to explode. After that moment, chaos ruled.

  Louis screamed and pointed in the direction from which the shot had come and ordered the soldiers in front of him into pursuit.

  Chyna turned her head in the direction of Louis’ extended finger and, for only an instant, saw Oscar, bearing a rifle retreating from their onrush. “Oscar?” she cried aloud; an involuntary reaction of her complete shock. She’d never have expected that.

  Her shock was replaced by another feeling of helplessness as she realized that Oscar was severely outnumbered by his pursuers and she could do nothing to help him. He had stopped Louis from obtaining omnipotence, but his own life might not last long.

  But then, the bodies of the rushing soldiers began to drop, as well armed troops began to open fire from their position above. The Interpol team had arrived.

  ***

  Conciergerie, 16 October, 1793

  It is to you, my sister, that I write for the last time. I have just been condemned, not to a shameful death, for such is only for criminals, but to go and rejoin your brother. Innocent like him, I hope to show the same firmness in my last moments. I am calm, as one is when one's conscience reproaches one with nothing. I feel profound sorrow in leaving my poor children: you know that I only lived for them and for you, my good and tender sister. You, who out of love have sacrificed everything to be with us… in what a position I leave you! I have learned from the proceedings at my trial that my daughter was separated from you. Alas! Poor child; I do not venture to write to her; she would not receive my letter. I do not even know whether this will reach you. Did you receive my blessing for both of them? I hope that one day when they are older they may be able to rejoin you, and to enjoy to the full your tender care. Let them both think of the lesson which I have never ceased to impress upon them, that the principles and the exact performance of their duties are the chief foundation of life; and then mutual affection and confidence in one another will constitute its happiness. Let my daughter feel that at her age, she ought always to aid her brother by the advice which her greater experience and her affection may inspire her to give him. And let my son in his turn render to his sister all the care and all the services which affection can inspire. Let them, in short, both feel that, in whatever positions they may be placed, they will never be truly happy but through their union. Let them follow our example. In our own misfortunes, how much comfort has our affection for one another afforded us! And, in times of happiness, we have enjoyed that doubly from being able to share it with a friend; and where can one find friends more tender and more united than in one's own family? Let my son never forget the last words of his father, which I repeat emphatically; let him never seek to avenge our deaths.

  I have to speak to you of
one thing which is very painful to my heart, I know how much pain the child must have caused you. Forgive him, my dear sister; think of his age, and how easy it is to make a child say whatever one wishes, especially when he does not understand it. It will come to pass one day, I hope, that he will better feel the value of your kindness and of your tender affection for both of them. It remains to confide to you my last thoughts. I should have wished to write them at the beginning of my trial; but, besides that they did not leave me any means of writing, events have passed so rapidly that I really have not had time.

  I die in the Catholic Apostolic and Roman religion, that of my fathers, that in which I was brought up, and which I have always professed. Having no spiritual consolation to look for, not even knowing whether there are still in this place any priests of that religion (and indeed the place where I am would expose them to too much danger if they were to enter it but once), I sincerely implore pardon of God for all the faults which I may have committed during my life. I trust that, in His goodness, He will mercifully accept my last prayers, as well as those which I have for a long time addressed to Him, to receive my soul into His mercy. I beg pardon of all whom I know, and especially of you, my sister, for all the vexations which, without intending it, I may have caused you. I pardon all my enemies the evils that they have done me. I bid farewell to my aunts and to all my brothers and sisters. I had friends. The idea of being forever separated from them and from all their troubles is one of the greatest sorrows that I suffer in dying. Let them at least know that to my latest moment I thought of them.

  Farewell, my good and tender sister. May this letter reach you. Think always of me; I embrace you with all my heart, as I do my poor dear children. My God, how heart-rending it is to leave them forever! Farewell! Farewell! I must now occupy myself with my spiritual duties, as I am not free in my actions. Perhaps they will bring me a priest. I here protest that I will not say a word to him, but that I will treat him as a total stranger.