The Cup

CHAPTER 29

Selena looked at the page and Nick saw her face take on a look he'd seen before. However she'd changed since joining the Project, her first passion would always be for ancient languages. Almost nothing could get her attention as much as some faded document covered with a language that had been dead for thousands of years.

"This is a form of Latin that was popular in the first part of the Christian era," she said.

"You can read it?" Mercurio looked surprised.

"Easily. Where did you get this?"

"It came into the possession of the companions about a hundred years ago. One of my predecessors discovered it in Turkey."

Selena bent over the page and began reading. After a few moments she looked up.

"What does it say?" Nick asked.

"It was written by someone from Sumela monastery, the one that had the icon before the Turks shut it down. According to this, after Theodosius died a priest named Anastasius came to the monastery with a holy object given to him by the emperor. It has to be the man on the tile."

"He brought the Grail with him?"

"It doesn't say that, but it's a good guess. Whoever wrote this didn't want anyone to know what the object was, but he wanted to make sure there was a record of it."

"What happened to it?"

"It doesn't say."

"Of course not. That would be too easy," Nick said.

"Do you see why I wanted to obtain the tile?" Mercurio said. "When Bergstrom sent me a picture, I knew it had to be the same Anastasius mentioned in this document. I thought I might learn something from the tile that might not be evident in a photograph."

"Something to lead you to the Grail," Nick said.

"That's right."

"I examined the tile," Selena said. "There wasn't anything that can't be seen in the photographs. No hidden marks, for example."

"But now we have this second tile," Mercurio said. "This is most interesting."

"Tell him about the Book of Simon," Nick said.

Mercurio looked at him and then at Selena. "The Book of Simon?"

"ISIS sent a shipment of looted antiquities to Sweden, along with a stockpile of arms and ammunition. One of the artifacts was a silver box with two scrolls inside it. The scrolls dated from the time of the crucifixion. "'The Book of Simon' was inscribed on the lid of the box. It was written by Simon of Cyrene. You know who he is, I assume?"

"Of course."

"Simon wrote about the crucifixion. At first it's like the other descriptions in the Bible. Like the others, it mentions Joseph of Arimathea. At that point it becomes different."

"Joseph of Arimathea?" Mercurio said. "In medieval myths he was supposed to have carried the Grail to England, to Glastonbury. I have never given those stories much credence."

"Whether or not he went to England, Joseph did catch the blood of Christ in a cup, if we believe what Simon wrote. I'm certain the scrolls are authentic, at least in terms of age. They're written in a style of biblical Aramaic that was used at the time of the crucifixion."

Mercurio looked as if he was about to have a heart attack. His face, already pale and drawn, turned ghostly white. He took a small box from his pocket and extracted a pill. He reached for his wine and washed it down.

"Are you all right?" Selena asked.

"Yes, yes, it's just the shock. All these years, ever since I began searching, I have doubted many times that the Grail ever existed. But you have just confirmed that it did. I will never be able to thank you enough."

"We still don't know where it is," she said, "or if it still exists."

"You might want to have a little more wine," Nick said. "Selena, tell him about the prophecy."

"I'm not sure I can take another revelation," Mercurio said. He smiled to show that he wasn't serious, but poured another glass of Sancerre. "What prophecy?"

"Simon had a vision," Selena said. "He writes that an angel appeared to him and told him Joseph was to be the first guardian of the Grail. The prophecy was about a time in the future when corruption would be everywhere and hypocrites and liars would rule the world while plotting war."

"Oh, dear, that sounds distressingly familiar," Mercurio said.

"The Angel told Simon that as long as the cup was in the hands of just men, God's judgment would be stayed, but if the cup were to fall into the hands of evil men, then the End of Days would begin."

Mercurio drank some wine. "May I call you Selena?"

"Of course."

"Are you a believer?"

"Not in the sense you mean it. I do believe in God, but for me the Grail is an historical object, not a mystical artifact."

"And you, Nick?"

"I believe in the mission, Count. Beyond that, I'm not sure what I believe."

"It may not matter," Mercurio said, "but I think you've been sent here for a reason."

"Whatever the reason, we need to figure out what we do next."

"I'll do whatever I can to help you," Mercurio said.