Gene of Isis

name is Lord Edward Malory.’

My husband frowned in recognition. ‘I know you. You were an associate of my father’s.’

The gentleman nodded in confirmation.

‘And of my brother,’ Lord Devere added, rather more suspiciously.

‘Yes, I believe we had the pleasure of meeting at your wedding, Lord Oxford.’ The gentleman ventured closer, but my husband did not make a move. He remained in front of me and on his guard.

‘What on earth are you doing here in Ostia, Lord Malory?’ my lord asked, although I felt he already knew what the answer would be.

‘I have been pursuing your brother, Mr Earnest Devere, and his new wife. I have urgent and grave news to deliver. Do you know where I might find them?’ The lord stopped a few feet from us, closely examining my husband’s expression.

‘I cannot help you, I’m afraid. My brother and I have had a falling out and have parted ways,’ Lord Devere answered without hesitation. ‘He did not say where he was bound. And as I am due to catch a ship back to France, I’m afraid you must excuse us. Good day.’ My lord grabbed my hand and began to lead me up the dock, but we suddenly found ourselves confronted by a row of men.

‘I am sorry to have to delay your voyage home, my Lord Devere,’ Lord Malory approached us once more, as his men closed in around us, ‘but I believe my urgency is greater than yours.’

‘Here we go again,’ my husband muttered to me, clearly fed up with the affairs of secret societies.

I must admit that while I was a little apprehensive of this turn of events, inside I was smiling, as it seemed our adventure was not over yet. FROM THE TRAVEL JOURNALS OF MRS ASHLEE DEVERE

Once Cingar, Devere and I were safely aboard our vessel and bound for our next destination—Napoli, only a day or so away—I beseeched Albray and my husband to enlighten me about the ladies of the Elohim Council, from whom I had drawn the power to repel Molier.

As a daughter of the Blood, you will, upon your death, automatically become a member of this council, albeit a junior one. You’ll join the like of Isis, Lilith, Neith, Sarai, Hatshepsut, Nefertiti, Mary Magdalene and the princess-priestesses of her line, and many others whose bloodline descends from the Great Mother, Hathor. For, whatever the dilution… Albray looked from me to my husband and back again …the blood of the gods runs through your veins. In short, you have the Gene of Isis in your atomic structure.

‘Does your priestess abide among the esteemed members of this council?’ I wondered, as Albray had mentioned his beloved was of my line. I wish I had stopped to think, for the mention of his lost love was clearly distressing.

No, he said quietly. She has elected to remain in the sub-planes of the astral realm, closer to the physical world, for she has unfinished business in the land of the living.

‘Much like you, Albray,’ I noted.

Very much like me, he concurred solemnly.

‘So you have seen her since death?’ Damn my curiosity, but the occult subject matter was so fascinating!

I only make contact when some event arises that involves both of us. It is painful for us, you understand. He was letting me know he was reluctant to discuss it any further.

‘We understand, Albray.’ Devere excused him from saying any more. When I looked at my husband to reprimand him for his interference, he reprimanded me instead. ‘I used to think it was just me you tortured, but now I see that you know how to torture every man in your life.’

I gaped at my accuser, then conceded his point.

I turned back to Albray. ‘My apologies for any anguish I might have caused you…you were saying about the council?’

Ah yes… my knight was clearly pleased by the change in subject, but had to take a moment to recall where he was up to in his tutorial. Your foremothers will aid and protect you during any quest you undertake on their behalf, Albray explained. There is also a council of male Elohim who aid the sons of the blood. Their council is not accessed via the site in the Sinai, however, but through the other Ark, the one removed from the Holy Land during the first crusade and hidden on the Continent by St Bernard’s Children of Solomon—a Masonic brotherhood in France.

‘The other Ark?’ Both Devere and myself picked up on the knight’s choice of words.

‘Are you saying there was more than one Ark of the Covenant?’ I asked, fascinated by this turn in Albray’s tale.

Albray nodded.

‘And that the Ark of the ladies of the Elohim is still housed at the site in the Sinai?’

That is what I believe, yes, Albray confirmed. But I, personally, have never seen it, neither has any man living who has not had a death wish.

‘So why should it be a concern that Molier might gain access to this treasure if it will surely kill him?’ I wondered.

Molier is no longer just a man, nor is he a god. He is not counted among the living, but is one of the undead. He exists outside cosmic law in a chaotic state of his own making. He believes he knows of a way to gain access to the Ark without risking total obliteration, and I shall not hazard him the opportunity to be proven right.

Satisfied with this explanation for the time being, and not wanting to enter into another mystery entirely, I thanked Albray and dismissed him. I had decided to confide in my husband about a few things I had been keeping secret and I was not sure Albray would approve of my course of action.