Larkspur (14 page)

“
No one knows if this
story is true,” Otis said. “But like all of the old stories, it has
endured.”

“
The
gagul’ya
will correct you if you
stray,” Bruno said.

“
This is very good,” Otis
said.

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:07 p.m.

“
It was a long, long time
ago, when the world had fewer people and less good fortune.” Sam
picked up another beer and opened his pack of salmon. He sat down
next to Jacob and Jacob offered him a cracker. “Somewhere in
Europe, maybe England, there existed the small kingdom of Marle.
People had lived in the kingdom of Marle since the beginning of
time . . .”

“
But . . .,” Jacob started.

“
It’s a story, son,” Sam
said.

Jacob nodded.

“
The harvests were good,”
Sam said. “The people were prosperous and very happy. Their ruling
king was benevolent and kind. He was well known to be able to move
objects with his mind and he always knew the future. His wife was
known to have a powerful tongue. The king and queen would use their
skills to keep the kingdom free of intruding eyes. Alexander the
Great, among others, was turned back at the border. The kingdom
flourished in obscurity.”

“
Sounds lovely,” Jacob
said.

“
It does,” Sam said.
“There is a painting in the book that makes the kingdom of Marle
look like something out of Disney. In fact, that’s part of the
story. Walt Disney based many of his stories on the blissful and
beautiful kingdom of Marle. After all, there was never again a land
where people lived with such harmony, peace, and
prosperity.”

“
What happened?” Jacob
asked.

“
What usually happens,”
Sam said. “Love. The third son of the last king and queen of Marle
was restless. Not interested in his studies, he spent most of his
life exploring the outer edges of the kingdom. He was an
accomplished rock climber, hiker, skier, and . . .
well, he was able to get around easily. On one such journey, he
fell in love with a Celtic maiden.”

“
That can’t be good,”
Jacob said.

“
It was not,” Sam
said.

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:11 p.m.

“
The Celtic version of the
story says that the young prince of Marle raped the maiden,” Otis
said.

The gargoyle screamed and flapped his wings.
Otis raised a hand and nodded.

“
Yes, yes,” Otis said.
“The Marle story says they fell in love. In the way of love, they
set up a small hut on the border of the two kingdoms. They lived
and loved for at least a year until there was a baby on the
way.

“
The young prince assumed
the maiden would move home with him to be his bride. But the prince
had not land and, as a younger child, no claim to the throne. To
the maiden, he was a wealthy foreigner who would, of course, move
to her home. They argued. In a fit of rage, she threw him out of
their home. He started to make his way back to the kingdom of Marle
when he was set upon by her brothers. The young prince’s defenses
were weakened by his despair. They easily killed him.”

The gargoyle hissed and the gas logs
flared.

“
That creature is not
happy,” Yvonne said.

“
No, he is not,” Otis
said. “The brothers brought the young prince’s head to their
sister; only then did they discover that she was with child. Her
father swore an oath that his daughter’s violation would only be
soothed by the death of every male in the royal family. The Celts
went to war against the kingdom of Marle.”

“
But they couldn’t find
it, right?” Katy asked.

“
That’s right, my dear,”
Otis said. “They searched for months and could not find the
kingdom. As the months passed, the baby grew inside the daughter
until it was near time for him to be born.”

“
Him?” Jill
asked.

“
Yes, him,” Otis said.
“The father threw his daughter out of his home. In labor, she
stumbled to the border of the Kingdom of Marle and begged for
assistance.”

Otis stopped talking. His eyes glistened.
Just then a gargoyle appeared on the back of the couch where Jill
was sitting. Scooter gave a low growl in warning; the gargoyle
taunted him. Barking, Scooter rushed the couch, and the gargoyle
disappeared. They laughed at the dog’s confusion over the
disappearing gargoyle.

“
May I have a glass of
water?” Otis asked.

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:17 p.m.

“
What happened to her?”
Jacob asked.

“
No one is quite sure,”
Sam said. “The book said she died in labor. Celia’s grandfather,
her father’s father, said that the prince’s mother heard the girl
cry and went to get her. When the queen opened the border to get
the girl, the Celts attacked. They sought their revenge by raping
the women and killing the men of Marle. They started with the
queen.”

“
Horrible,” Jacob
said.

“
Yes,” Sam
said.

“
And the king?” Jacob
asked.

“
Killed him outright,” Sam
said. “The book and Celia’s grandfather agree on this.”

Trying to understand what the story could
possibly mean, Jacob nodded.

“
Horrible,” he said
again.

“
You’re forgetting the
queen,” Sam said.

“
I assumed she was dead,”
Jacob said.

“
Yes, most people
underestimate women,” Sam nodded. “Remember she had Valerie’s
skill. She could talk anyone into anything.”

“
What did she do?” Jacob
asked.

“
She survived her brutal
treatment,” Sam said. “She survived the horror of her husband’s
execution. The Celts killed every male in the kingdom, including
the children. They violated the women and girls. Their blood lust
unsatiated, they killed the women of childbearing age or older.
They herded the girls onto an ox cart. To attest to their victory,
they tied the queen to the ox cart and made her walk behind it. On
their way out of the kingdom, the queen convinced them to let her
go. They beat her and left her for dead. When the cart was out of
view, she went her son’s lover and her grandson.”

“
Wow,” Jacob
said.

“
Yes,” Sam said. “Your
mother had that kind of power.”

Jacob nodded.

“
Injured and disfigured,
the queen could only crawl. Still, she worked her way to where
she’d last seen the mother of her son’s child,” Sam nodded. “When
she got there . . .”

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:25 p.m.

“
The mother was dead,”
Otis’s eyes flicked to the girls in his audience. “She had been
killed by her own father.”

“
And the baby?” Jill’s
voice was filled with horror at this dark story.

“
Yes, the
baby . . .” Otis took a long drink from his wine
glass.

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:27 p.m.

“
What happened to the
baby?” Jacob asked.

“
No one knows,” Sam
said.

“
What does that mean?”
Jacob asked.

“
The ending of the book is
torn off,” Sam said.

“
Seriously?” Jacob
asked.

“
Yes, the back binding and
those pages are torn away,” Sam said.

“
But . . .”
Jacob gave his father a long look. “What did Mom’s grandfather
say?”

“
He told the story a
little differently,” Sam said. “When the queen was a little girl,
she’d been left alone quite a bit. Her best friends were mice
and . . .”

“
How Disney,” Jacob
said.

“ 
. . .gargoyles,” Sam said.

“
The statues?” Jacob
asked.

“
They were living
creatures then.”

“
Flying monkeys?” Jacob
asked.

“
Gargoyles,” Sam said.
“You remember that she had the gift of persuasion.”

“
Like Valerie,” Jacob
said.

“
Exactly,” Sam said. “The
queen made a contract with the gargoyles.”

“
What does that mean?”
Jacob asked.

“
No idea,” Sam said.
“Celia said her grandfather would nod as if that meant something,
but she was never really sure what it was all about.”

“
You think we’ll ever
know?” Jacob asked.

“
Doubt it.” Sam shook his
head.

~~~~~~~~~

Friday night — 7:27 p.m.

“
No one knows,” Otis
shrugged. “The baby, the queen, no one. The story is lost
or . . . You remember that she was able to convince
people with her words. Maybe she . . .”

The gargoyle near the fireplace flapped his
wings and screamed, “SILEO!”

They gasped and stared at the creature.

“
He would like you to be
silent,” Bruno said to Otis. Jill’s grandfather nodded his head as
if he understood. The gargoyle spoke directly to Bruno. “He wants
that I give rest of the story. I translate. Okay?”

Bruno looked at Otis, who nodded. The
bodyguard glanced around the room before turning back to the
gargoyle.

“
Go,” Bruno
said.

The gargoyle began to speak.

“
The queen’s family and
the gargoyles had long friendship,” Bruno said. “The queen spent
every summer caring for baby gargoyles. They loved her; considered
her family. When she married the king of Marle, a small flock of
gargoyles swore allegiance to the king and his heirs. The queen and
her gargoyles were never separated. When the queen was set upon by
the Celts, the gargoyles defended her valiantly. Wild Celts
frightened of the defenders of good — the gargoyle. The Celts tied
the queen and brought her with them. Between the Queen’s gift and
their natural terror for the gargoyles, the Celts left the Queen
unsoiled. But they are not stupid. The Celts cover her mouth so she
no use her gift. The gargoyles were bound only to queen; they no
way save king or people.

“
When they reach border of
country, Celts throw queen from the cart.” Bruno nodded to Otis and
he smiled. “Queen sent gargoyle to find the child. They found the
child near death on border of the land. They brought baby to
queen.”

“
Unable to return to her
country, her home, the queen set out across Europe with grandson,”
Bruno said. “The grandson grew to a kingly young man. In time, he
married and had many babies, daughters. They had much happiness,
but grandson was half Celt. When his wife was going to have son,
the Celt came out. He slaughtered his own child to fulfill the vow
made by his Celtic grandfather. Unable to live with what he had
done, the grandson hung himself. The queen, and young widow, and
girls move across the continent of Europe, but not before the queen
made the gargoyle swear an oath to protect the male children in the
line of Marle.”

“
That’s why they are
here?” Jill asked. “To protect the boys?”

“
That’s what he says,”
Bruno nodded. “Celtic blood continues to run in the line of Marle,
so the father must be away when the child is born.”

“
Mom’s father’s mother
died giving birth to him,” Valerie said. “If these creatures were
there to protect her . . .”

“
Celtic blood runs in a
lot of veins,” Bruno nodded. “They were wild, violent people. They
raped their way across Europe. Many have Celtic blood. The Celtic
blood takes over, and person with no knowledge of story will be
drawn to fulfill the oath sworn all those years ago.”

“
My great-grandmother
was . . .?” Valerie asked.

“
Murdered,” Bruno said.
“According to the gargoyle. Murdered by the neighbor. The
gagul’ya
was able to
save the child, but not the mother.”

“
Why didn’t the gargoyle
save the mother?” Tanesha asked.

“
Seems agreement is for
baby boys only,” Bruno translated what the gargoyle said in answer
to Tanesha’s question. “They are sad when mother die, but there is
nothing they can do.”

“
Why did Mom survive?”
Valerie asked.

“
Because of you, Valerie,”
Bruno said. “You have gift of persuasive speech. You kept mailman
from entering the house. Do you remember?”

Valerie stared into the middle of the loft.
After a moment, she nodded.

“
He wanted to use the
restroom,” Valerie said. “Delphie told me to make him go away.
I . . . I didn’t know what I was doing.
I . . .”

“
Do any of us have Celtic
blood?” Jill asked.

Bruno posed the question to the gargoyle.
The creature flew to each person in turn.

“
We are Slavic,” Bruno
pointed to himself, Otis, and Anjelika. “Jillian, you are not Celt.
Your friends . . . No. One baby, in the room. The
tiny one . . . Yours.”

Bruno pointed to Sandy.

“
Rachel?” Sandy
asked.

“
The father,” Bruno said.
“He is full Celt. Very dangerous. Valerie and her baby have Celt
too from queen’s grandson, but they are female.”

They turned to look at Valerie.