The Brotherhood Of The Holy Shroud

11

Izaz's quill filled parchment after parchment with the stories that Thaddeus told. Abgar and the queen had praised the scrolls he had so carefully produced, and he dreamed that someday he, too, might become a royal scribe. Thaddeus called for him often, to dictate to him the memories of the Nazarene that were so dear to him, and the young man knew by heart the adventures that Thaddeus and Jesus had shared.

Thaddeus would close his eyes and seem to submerge himself in a dream as he told the stories-what Jesus was like, the things he said, the things he did.

Josar had also written his own remembrances and had had them copied down, and one copy of each account was kept in the royal archives. They would do the same with the stories told by Thaddeus. Thus had Abgar ordered, for the king dreamed that Edessa might leave to its children the true story of Jesus.

Time had passed, and Thaddeus had remained. The queen and Abgar had asked him to stay, to help them be good Christians, to help Josar spread the teachings of Jesus, and to make Edessa a place of refuge for all those who believed in him.

Izaz was glad that Thaddeus had not left the city. His uncle was comforted that there was another person in Edessa who had known the Nazarene, and Josar sought the counsel of Thaddeus with respect to what he should say to the citizens of the city who came to his house to learn of the Savior and to pray.

Every day Thaddeus went with Josar to the first temple that the queen had had raised to Jesus. There he spoke to and prayed with groups of men and women who came to seek consolation for their tribulations, came in hopes that their prayers might reach that Jesus who had saved Abgar from his cruel disease. He also sat with the faithful who congregated in a new temple built by the great Marcius, the royal architect.

Thaddeus had asked Marcius to make the new temple as simple as the old one, which was little more than a house with a great atrium in which the word of Jesus might be preached. He told Marcius how Jesus had cast the moneylenders out of the temple in Jerusalem and how the spirit of Jesus could live only in a place of simplicity and peace.

"I, Maanu, prince of Edessa, son of Abgar, implore thee, Syn, god of gods, to aid me in destroying the impious men who confound our people and incite them to abandon thee and betray the gods of our fathers."

On a rocky promontory a few leagues from Edessa, the altar to Syn was illuminated only by the flickering torches inserted into the walls of the cave that served as the god's temple. The relief portrait of Syn was carved into the stone wall with such art that it looked almost real, as though the gods were with them.

Maanu breathed deeply of the incense and aromatic herbs that intoxicated the senses and helped him communicate with the powerful moon god. At his side was his faithful Marvuz, the leader of the king's guard, who would become Maanu's principal counselor when Abgar died and who also worshipped Syn and the other ancient deities, as did other Edessians faithful to the traditions of the ages.

Syn seemed to hear Maanu's prayer, for he burst forth from the clouds of incense and illuminated the sanctuary.

Sultanept, the high priest of the cult, told Maanu that this was a sign, the manner by which the god showed men that he was among them.

Along with five other priests, Sultanept lived in hiding in Sumurtar, sheltered by the tunnels and subterranean chambers in which they served the gods-the sun, the moon, and the planets, alpha and omega of all things.

Maanu had promised Sultanept to restore him to the power and wealth that Abgar had taken from him when he set aside the religion of their fathers.

"My prince, we should go," Marvuz murmured. "The king may call for you, and we left the palace many hours ago."

"He will not call me, Marvuz; he will think I am drinking with my friends in some tavern or off fornicating with a dancing girl. My father hardly cares for me, so downcast is he that I will not accept the worship of his Jesus. The queen is to blame for it. She has convinced him to betray our gods and has made that Nazarene their only god.

"But I assure you, Marvuz, that the city shall turn its eyes once more to Syn and destroy the temples that the queen has built to honor the Nazarene. The moment Abgar goes to his eternal rest, we will kill the queen and put an end to the life of Josar and his friend Thaddeus."

Marvuz trembled. He bore no affection for the queen; he considered her a hard woman, the true ruler of Edessa since Abgar had first fallen ill, despite the king's recovery of his health. And the queen distrusted Marvuz. He could feel her icy gaze upon him, following his every move, for she knew that he was a friend of Maanu. But even so, could he kill her? For he was certain that Maanu would ask him to do it.

He would have no problem killing Josar and Thaddeus. He would run them through with his sword. He was weary of their sermons, their words filled with rebuke because he fornicated with any woman who would go with him and because, in honor of Syn, he drank without moderation on nights of the full moon until he lost his senses, for he, Marvuz, still worshipped the gods of his fathers, the gods of his city. He did not accept the imposition of this effeminate and virtuous god that Josar and Thaddeus never ceased speaking of.