Lords of Retribution (Lords of Avalon series) (39 page)

“I have tried to interpret them for my entire
adult life and I confess I have been unsuccessful. All of the symbols are different, so it says something,” August provided with a shrug.

“We have to go to Priory Place.
” Micah said matter-of-factly as he looked to his colleagues around him.

“Some of us do
need to go to Priory Place if it is safe to do so,” Harry agreed. “There is more.” Harry looked to August.

“The scroll mentions the
numerous tunic crosses that show up near the old Wheal Jesus and Corpus Christi mines and nowhere else in Britain. The monk says they are a testament that Jesus visited the tin mines with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea,” August informed them.

“Tunic crosses?” Micah asked
in fascination.

“Yes. T
hey look like standing or marker stones and they have a regular cross carved on one side and the figure of a man in a short tunic with his arms outstretched on the other side,” Gabriel offered.

“How does that represent Christ?” Jack asked.

“The Monk says that the shorter tunic implies the person was a youth, and the arms of the man are open as if in blessing. Selgraver says the stones were erected as markers showing that Christ came to the Wheal Jesus and Corpus Christi mines as a boy. The cross on the back of the stones implies that the mines were visited before the crucifixion and identifies the man, or the youth rather, as Jesus,” August provided. “And as you know,
Corpus Christi
translates into
body of Christ
.”

“Fascinating! I’d like to see those crosses
as well,” Micah admitted with an enthusiastic grin.

“We still have one quarter of our scroll to transla
te. That is all we have for now,” Harry offered.

He continued.
“It would appear the value of the scrolls, from what we have discovered thus far, would be the proof that Jesus was married and had children. There’s the possibility that the knowledge that Jesus studied at the Druidic colleges, in the Far East and with the Essenes could also be a reason. The esoteric knowledge and the Pagan ties would not be something the modern Christian churches would approve of. However, we won’t know for certain until we finish our translations.”

“We’ll convene again tomorrow in the library after breakfast and see if we can’t finish our
interpretations of the scrolls.” Trevan clapped his hands together. He added, “And we’ll decide who will go to Priory Place with August to try and decipher the pictographs on the arch at St. Anthony’s chapel.”

“I will go,” Micah volunteered
immediately.

“It might take
awhile to interpret the pictographs. You’d leave your wife for that long?” Lyon posed with a mischievous chuckle.

Micah
was torn. He did not want to leave Libby for a long length of time. He thought a moment and answered, “We simply need to make rubbings and a drawing of the symbols. We can return to Menadue and try to decipher them here. Each of us has our own specialties in foreign languages. Between all of us, surely someone will recognize these symbols.”

“That is a very good idea, Micah
. We’ll talk more about it tomorrow. It is dangerous for any of us to leave Menadue at the present time; therefore, whoever makes the trip to Priory Place will have to take along a sufficient number of men,” Harry said in a serious tone.

Micah nodded
and stated, “We will.”

“Sweetheart, you’re still awake?” Micah Wychcombe, the Viscount Wincanton, smiled at his wife as he entered the room. He began to remove his clothing.

Libby was propped up against the pillows reading
. He thought her the most beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on with her sable hair and sapphire blue eyes.

The bruises
on her face and the gash atop her head inflicted by Percy Davitt at Wychcombe House in London were healing and fading. Even the long, jagged scar where Davitt had laid her cheek open with a knife looked better, though it was still prominent.

Micah had never regretted ending Percy Davitt’s life after what the man did to Libby, Lachlan a
nd Charlie. Lachlan was healing where he convalesced at his family’s home in London.

Libby was always in good spirits
, always happy and always smiling, despite the large jagged scar upon her cheek, which she would always carry.

H
is dear friend Charlie was dead. Davitt had stabbed Charlie as he tried to stop Davitt’s assault on Lachlan. Charlie’s wound was mortal. He died surrounded by his fellows of the Avalon Society less than an hour after he received the wound.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Libby
confessed as she closed her book, placed it on the nightstand and turned back with a bright smile for her husband. She watched him as he undressed.

Micah
noted that her sapphire eyes darkened. Naked, Micah slid into the bed and gathered his wife close. He kissed her.

“Sweetheart, I may have to leave for
two days to go with August Trevelyan to his home, Priory Place. There is an ancient chapel on his property that supposedly tells the story of Jesus coming to Cornwall. It’s carved into stone on a pre-Norman arch.”

Libby smiled, “It sounds
fascinating. Perhaps I can join you?” she proposed.

Micah drew his head back so he could look at her
. He carefully smoothed back a piece of her sable hair from her wounded cheek as he smiled at her. “I’m sorry, Libby. We aren’t certain what the Knights of the Brown Order will try next. You should stay here at Menadue where I know you are safe. I’m only going to make rubbings and drawings of the symbols, then bring them back here to Menadue so we can all work on deciphering them. We will be gone but two days.”

Libby frowned slightly
. “Very well,” she sighed.

“I will miss you.”

“And I will miss you, Micah.”

“I’ll make it up to you, sweetheart,” he dipped his head
, capturing her lips with his.

“You’ll have to do better than that
,” Libby said breathlessly when the kiss ended. An amused smile played upon her lips.

Micah grinned at her
. “I will try.” His large hands moved to her bottom. He pulled her against him. He began inching up her night rail and gently pulled it over her head. He flung it away and let it float to the floor. He slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her again while his hands roamed over the silken skin of her slender body, caressing and teasing as he explored. “Is this better?” he whispered in her ear.

“Hmm, perhaps a little better,” Libby grinned mischievously.

“I shall just. Have. To. Try. Harder,” Micah whispered as he rained kisses along the curve of her neck and moved lower. He stopped when he reached her breasts. He drew one pink bud into his mouth while his fingers moved between her legs where he set out to prove to her that he could make things much better. He was successful. After she recovered, he slid into her and proved it all over again.

“I told you not to contact me at my home,” the gentleman said sternly as he seated himself across the tavern table from Isaac Madingly.

Isaac
simply said, “You’d rather I contacted you at your London office?” his tone was sarcastic.

“The usual manner of communication is preferred.”

Even dressed in a disguise of shabby and oversized clothing, with his hair powdered to appear gray, the gentleman could not disguise his haughty tone or his stately bearing. Every man in the tavern would recognize him as a gentleman.

“I did not have three days to wait
. St. Erth recognized me. Why didn’t you tell me he was in Cornwall? I thought you kept up with his whereabouts?” Isaac ground out in irritation.

“There was not
enough time to get word to you. He left London much sooner than I anticipated after his return from India. He generally stays in London for a week or more upon returning from a lengthy mission.”

“Menwennick followed me to London.”

“I heard he lost your trail.”

“For how long?” Isaac
growled. He was annoyed and irritated with the man across the table from him.

The gentleman removed a
sealed letter from his tattered greatcoat pocket. He set it on the table and pushed it toward Isaac with his long fingers. He spoke in a controlled, low tone so none of the other tavern patrons would hear him. “You’ll be safe at this address. Get some rest. Go there. Stay inside. Come up with a new disguise, and a good one. My instructions are in here.” The gentleman tapped the folded and sealed foolscap.

He continued,
“The Butler will get anything you require, and has the funds you will need locked in the safe. You must change your appearance drastically. I’m sending you ten of my finest men. At the end of the week, you’ll leave for Cornwall. You’ll go to the second address in the letter with your men. You’ll sit tight and wait for my instructions. I only wish your face wasn’t cut. What the devil happened?”

“I had a problem with
the Penrose chit. She clobbered me with a limb and ran a jagged stone down my face.”

The gentleman sighed in
obvious irritation. “I told you not to touch her.”

“I wanted her
. She’s got a body made for pleasure even if she’s an imbecile.”

“Did she get away?”

Isaac sniffed. He glowered at the gentleman.

Amused, the man
chuckled. “Hardly an imbecile if she eluded you. Your downfall has always been the fairer sex.” His face grew serious and he gave Isaac an ominous look. “What did she hear? What can she know?”

“Nothing,” Isaac said defensively
. “I spoke of nothing. I had two slow-witted brutes and a girl whom the townsfolk in St. Mabyn say is away with the fairies in my company. I didn’t speak to any of them except to give directions. The brutes will talk to no one ever again. I shot the girl. With any luck, she will die, if she’s not dead on the moor somewhere already.”

“For your sake,
if she lives, I hope she did not hear anything of import and that she does not talk. The Avalon Society members are gathered at Menadue, which means the scrolls are with them. They will be translating them. We have to get the scrolls and find the relic before they realize what we are truly looking for. We must do this before the scrolls are turned over to the Crown. Time is of the essence. We may have less than two weeks. I still want the sapphire and the cruets. However, the relic is the most important thing. There is a journal I want as well.”

“Why are you sending me back into Cornwall
? I barely made it out. St. Erth was on my tail immediately,” Isaac asked in shocked disbelief. “He’s like a hound on the hunt,” he grumbled.

“Three re
asons. You worked with St. Erth. You know how he thinks and you know how to anticipate his actions. The same goes for his men. The next reason, you’ve always eluded St. Erth. He hasn’t caught you yet. The last reason is simply that I can’t trust just anyone to do
this
. I know you can get in and more importantly get out with the scrolls. I know you are not ruffled by pressure and that you will do whatever is necessary to get the scrolls to me. You’ve never let me down on a mission, Isaac.”

The gentleman continued, “
There have been too many failures. It’s why I brought you back from Italy. I wanted you in Cornwall, because the key is there, possibly the relic itself. I wanted you to watch the Chynoweths. It was fortunate for us St. Mabyn was looking for someone to fill the post of vicar at that time.”

The gentleman frowned and continued, “
I knew it wouldn’t be long before the Avalon society became involved when I heard Glaston took over the Abbey property as his residence, what with the present Lady Glaston looking for her ancestor’s hidden letters. I made an error in thinking Crowhurst could handle something of this magnitude. He is dead, and so is his bastard, Mr. Crow, along with Percy Davitt. I know you can do this because you’re like me. I taught you everything I know.”

Isaac gave the gentleman
a sardonic smile. “You trust
me
?” He gave a low chuckle of disbelief.

“
More than I could trust most men. Haven’t I always done right by you, Isaac? Haven’t I always made certain you have everything you need? You make a generous living. Your purse is always full. I protect you. You live like a gentleman, even though you are a bastard born of a whore.”

Isaac gritted his teeth
. His mother hadn’t been a whore until she made the mistake of allowing a gentleman such as this man to seduce her. “Yes, you have been generous.” He swallowed his pride. He needed the money now, as well as the protection. St. Erth would not stop looking for him as long as he knew he was in England, this he could count on.

Isaac had to admit the
gentleman had always been generous with him. That part was true. He had lived like a king in Italy after being forced to flee England by St. Erth. Italy was not England. He had been a foreigner there.