Page 81 of Queen Takes Triune
“This was known as the Porta Alchemica,” Guillaume said. “Also, the Magic Portal. It was built in the sixteen hundreds, I believe. Supposedly it was carved with a secret formula for how to concoct gold from basic ingredients. The statues were taken from a temple not far from here.”
“Dedicated to Isis?” I asked.
“I believe so, but the details are foggy.”
“Rik, set me down a moment. I want to see the statues up close.”
He stepped closer and carefully lowered me to my feet, while Daire and Nevarre grabbed the train of my gown and kept it untangled. I bent down, studying the short statues. They were rather grotesque, like gargoyles, only with short beards and dwarf-like features.
I straightened and studied what remained of the carvings. There was a white symbol above the doorway with letters around it. “Is that Latin? Mehen, can you read it?”
My dragon joined me and blew out a disgusted sigh. “‘The center is in the triangle of the center.’That makes a whole hell of a lot of sense. Oh, now that’s interesting.” He pointed to a lower sentence. “‘There are three marvels: God and man, mother and virgin, triune and one.’”
My eyes widened. “It actually says Triune?”
He nodded. “It certainly does.”
“The time,” Gina reminded me softly.
I curled my arm around Rik’s biceps. “Let’s get to the cars. I don’t know how long of a ride we have yet.”
As Xin had indicated, there were three vehicles waiting on us, long, dark Mercedes with tinted glass. The drivers waited at the rear doors, dressed in black pants and shirts with dark shades and hats to hide their faces. All they needed was a white collar around their throats and they could pass for priests. For all I knew, maybe they did secretly work for the Pope too. Was he descended from an Aima goddess?
:Not to my knowledge,:Mehen replied.:The Church generally frowns on such thing as drinking blood, which I’ve always thought ironic given the rituals they hold so dear, not to mention women in power.:
Wordlessly, my Blood split up evenly among the other two cars, while Rik, Gina, and I got into the middle car. As we pulled away from the park, I noticed a scruffy-looking orange cat sitting on the outer wall, watching us intently.
Traffic was light. I thought we were making good time to wherever we were headed, but Gina kept checking her watch. Rome was a sprawling city that seemed to go on and on, ruins mixed in with modern and medieval-looking architecture at the same time. When we finally pulled over beside a large marble statue, Gina breathed out a tiny sigh of relief. “Five minutes,” she whispered as Rik got out of the car and then reached back for me.
I took his hand, but he didn’t draw me out of the car immediately. Daire stepped closer and gathered the train up in his arms. Once the billowing yards of fabric were under control, Rik squeezed my fingers in warning and then helped me out of the car. I stood beside him, head high, as Daire adjusted the train and Guillaume assisted Gina out on the other side.
The marble statue was a woman draped in fabric with one breast exposed. She carried a sheaf of wheat in one arm. I hadn’t ever associated Marne Ceresa with an agricultural goddess. Another cat sat at the foot of the statue, this one black and white. Cats were evidently her spies in this city.
:Ceres is also a fertility goddess,:Guillaume said.:Which I’m sure has been difficult for House Ceresa given their queen’s inability to sire heirs.:
:Marne doesn’t have any daughters?:
:Not a one. She did have several less powerful sisters, but none of them conceived queens either and I don’t think any of them still live. House Ceresa will die out with her.:
Despite my difficulties with the queen, the idea of her ancient house dying out saddened me. Something about what he said resonated in my head. Sisters. That was important.:How many sisters, do you know?:
:There were three Ceresa sisters from what I remember.:
The chime resonated again like a high, clear bell.:Carys. Carys!:
:What?:she finally answered.
:Does three sisters mean anything to you?:
:Three sisters…:Her bond picked up the resonance I’d heard and magnified it.:Maybe. Yes! Let me find it.:
In the bond, I saw her racing from stack to stack to stack of books.
There were a lot of stacks. I had no idea how she’d organized them, but I had to hope she could find it in time.
With Gina on my left, Rik on my right, and the rest of my Blood lined up behind me, I stepped closer to the statue. The hairs on my arms tingled as we neared it, warning of Marne’s blood circle.
A familiar woman stood waiting for us, but it took me a moment to place her. She looked like a porcelain doll with a pretty rose-bud mouth and large blue eyes. Even her hair was coiled into fat ringlets around her face, though she wore a modern dress. She’d been in the tower—one of Keisha Skye’s former siblings. The envoy to House Ceresa, though I couldn’t remember her name.
