Tarik. Perhaps a game of chess.” He bowed. “If you’ll do me the honor.”
“I don’t wish to play chess.”
“Too bad. In your present distraught state I’d easily sweep you away. Then do you wish me to leave you?”
“Would you?” she asked, skeptical.
“No, I’m selfish. After this endeavor gets under way, I don’t know how often I’ll be able to enjoy your company. I intend to take full advantage of this lull.”
“Then, since I have no choice, I suppose I’ll have to put up with you.”
“And you’re relieved to have even my humble company to while away the time.” His eyes glimmered with mischief. “Admit it.”
She was relieved. She didn’t want to spend any more time alone and, for some reason, Kadar’s hard edge seemed to have vanished. “Perhaps.” She smiled. “Very well, I admit it.”
“Ah, graciousness in a barren world.” He took her arm and led her toward the door. “Come. I’ll show you the garden.”
“It’s beautiful.” Her finger gently touched the petals of a magnificent crimson rose growing on a bush beside the path. “I’ve never seen roses this late in the year. Scotland is not kind to roses.”
“This is a gentler land. Could you become used to it?”
She shrugged. “I suppose one could become accustomed to anything, but I prefer Montdhu. This land is too easy. I don’t see how the people here keep from becoming soft.”
He chuckled. “Not all people require a challenge every day.”
“Then they should.” She gazed at the serene stillness of the crystal pool. “It’s lovely, but I cannot imagine sitting here every day.”
“I’m certain the woman for whom this villa was purchased was not of your nature. Tarik tells me the Pope bought the villa for his favorite mistress. She created this world to her own taste.”
“Then she must have been a very docile and restrained woman.”
“Not too restrained, or the Pope would not have thought her worth keeping.” He paused. “Tarik says she gave him a son. It was the son who sold the villa to Tarik.”
His tone was odd, and she asked, “So?”
“His name was Vaden.”
Her eyes widened. “Vaden?” It was too bizarre. It could not be the same warrior who had been a Knight Templar with Ware. The enigmatic knight who had pursued and persecuted and, finally, saved them all. Yet she had heard that Vaden came from Rome and no one knew his background. “The son of the Pope?”
“It would explain why he was accepted into the Knights Templar.”
“It can’t be our Vaden. The coincidence is too great.”
“The description Tarik gave me is very close.” He gazed thoughtfully down into the mirrored waters of the pool. “And haven’t you noticed some people seem tied together throughout their lives? Their paths weave in and out, come together and part, to form a pattern.”
“Astonishing,” she murmured, still dwelling on the coincidence. “Is he still in Rome?”
“I have no idea. Maybe. Tarik said he had formed a small army and was selling his sword to the warring factions in this land.”
“Find out if he’s here.”
“Why?” His gaze shifted to her face. “Now what do you have in mind?”
“Vaden was a great warrior. He helped Ware once. Isn’t it possible we could get him to help us?”
Kadar threw back his head and laughed. “I should have known.”
“Why are you laughing? It’s a possibility.”
“I’m not laughing at your idea, just your single-mindedness. I bring you to look at roses and you think only of recruiting knights to ride under your banner.”
“Find out.”
He was still smiling. “I’ll find out.”
“Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow. Now will you put such thoughts out of your mind?”
“I cannot.”
His smile faded. “I know. Try.” His gaze shifted back to the pool again. “I’ll give you something else to think about. What if their Eshe is the miracle they think it is?”
She shook her head.
“I know it’s unlikely, but-”
“Not unlikely-impossible.”
“In the Scriptures there are tales of long life.”
“Men chosen by God. I doubt if God would choose heathens from Egypt to receive such a blessing.”
“Who knows,” Kadar murmured.
“Are you beginning to believe Tarik’s tale?” she asked, surprised.
“I believe he believes it. And Tarik is no fool. I cannot speak for Layla. You know her better than I do.”
“Even a clever woman can be blinded by what she wants to see.”
“Very well. Then assume it’s merely an interesting dream. It does no harm to imagine what it would be like.” His brow furrowed. “I know few men who live much beyond forty years. Sixty is a great age. What if you could live beyond that? Would you want to do so?”
She thought about it. “The only one I know who is so old is Niall McKenzie. He’s two and sixty. His joints ache, his vision is dimming, he sits before the fire and thinks only of his youth.” She shook her head. “That is no life. Better to go out like the flame of a candle in the wind.”
“But if you could remain strong? Think of all the things you could learn.”
She could see why such a prospect was intriguing to Kadar. His curiosity about everything could never be satisfied. “That would be a joy.” She was silent a moment. “Would there not be a point when you could learn no more, when everything seemed the same?”
“If that time ever came, it would only pose another challenge.” He smiled. “And I doubt if you could ever learn everything in this world.”
“Unless everyone grew old with you, it would be a lonely life.” She shivered. “I would hate to see all the people I love die.”
His smile vanished. “And, if everyone grew very old, there would be far too many people to be fed. Famine breeds war.” His lips twisted. “And war would kill far more certainly than old age. Checkmate.”
Kadar had thought of wars, and she had thought of Ware and Thea and all the people at Montdhu she cared about. It was too sad. She would think no more about it.
She shifted her shoulders as if to rid herself of the burden. “If you have no more pleasant conversation than of war and famine, I will think better of spending the evening with you. I don’t know why you wish to dwell on such impossibilities anyway.”
He smiled. “It’s my dark soul. I merely wished to hear your thoughts on the subject.”
“You’ve heard them. Now take me back to the house. All this talk of famine has made me hungry.”
16
“YOU MAY USE THE GRAIL,” Tarik said. “But Layla and I will go with you, and if we think the grail is in danger, don’t expect us to let you keep it.”
Kadar nodded.
“This is Tarik’s decision. I hope you’re satisfied. You played on his guilty feelings very well,” Layla said. “It’s not my will. I think it complete madness. I’ll be watching you closely.”
