"Father", Eason began, "thank you for that back there. But, you -"
"Killed someone? It was a necessity, my son," said the priest, "and one for which I shall perform a proper penance for my soul. And for his," he added. "Besides, had I allowed that deed to transpire, your questions would not have been answered - because the lady would not be alive to ask them. You were not the assassin's target - she was."
Percilla was pale and white, but not from fear, but from anger, boiling up from her heart and near to bursting forth. "I did not 'choose a guardsman', Priest. I asked my friend to accompany me on a journey, which he accepted. And now, you're saying that I am to be swept up in some conspiratorial tale, with events out of my control? I assure you, that will not happen, while I have a say in my own affairs!"
"And so you still do, My Lady," the priest said. "The time for your decision is almost at hand, and once made, will certainly put events "out of your control". Are you not aware of what your terrible power to decide can do?"
"Whatever are you talking about?" Percilla asked.
The priest turned to her, and said patiently, "Think, my child, on the very word, 'decide.' Its roots are ancient in language, but it comes from the same root as, 'to kill.' Suicide, Homicide - DE-cide. Choices and options die when a course of action is chosen. When you commit homicide, you kill someone. But when you decide, you kill all other choices but the one you have selected. So, when you decide, be mindfull of what you kill..."
"Now, we are almost at our destination. I will take my leave shortly, but I daresay we shall meet once again." Eason saw that he was right: the car was just now pulling up to a gate of iron and stone, ornate columns flanking the medieval-looking portcullis. A guard was barely visible in the shadow of the gate, but as the car moved inside, Eason noticed the plaque upon the wall:
"Hungarian Embassy."
**************************
The motorcar came to a halt outside a grand entrance on the Embassy Grounds. The priest got out, and ushered Eason and Percilla inside, passing through an opulent Victorian foyer and along a corridor leading away from the door. The Hungarian Embassy was an old building, a series of London townhomes with the adjacent walls removed or holed through for access. The trio entered an anteroom to the right, a room of oak panelling and sparse furnishing.
"Here, friends, is where I must part," the priest said simply. "Devlesa avilan, My Lady," he said to Percilla, who nodded her head at the familiar salutation. To Eason, he said, "Stay by her side. Protect her. She needs you." And he turned and left.
That phrase again, Eason thought. What significance, beside the obvious, I wonder...
Percilla began observing her surroundings. Accustomed as she was to English opulance, she was curious as to the spareness of the room. No unecessary funriture, no displays of diplomatic largesse; it would be proper to put forth some show of wealth, as befitting the impressions of international custom. But here, there was little to be seen.
"Eason," she said, "have you noticed, there aren't any windows, and only one door?"
"Yes", he replied, "but to keep us safely in, or others out?" Eason moved to the door, and seeing it was not locked, opened it a crack to view down the corridor. A single man stood nearby, partway down the corridor, watching both ways. The man made eye contact with Eason, briefly, nodding his head and motioning him back into the room. The message was polite, but firm: please stay where you are.
"I assure you that you are quite safe here, my friends. Diplomatic immunity, and all that!" came a voice from within the room. Eason stared around, and saw Percilla staring at a man who had entered the room, seemingly out of thin air.
"Welcome, My Lady, and Good Sir. My name is Horvath - Istvan."
"I assure you that you are quite safe here, my friends. Diplomatic immunity, and all that! Welcome, My Lady, and Good Sir. My name is Horvath - Istvan."
Eason had turned from the door, and moved toward Percilla, standing next to her, protectively. He's suspicious, and rightly so, Percilla thought, with death or worse pursuing us!
"I ask you, be at ease, here," Horvath was saying, "for inside these walls, you are under His Majesty's protection, as are we all. Here, also, we might speak as friends, and in confidence." At this, he produced the coin, in its proper aspect. Percilla and Eason did likewise.
"Would you care for refreshment, either of you?" Horvath said. "If you follow me, please?" And he turned to the passage in the wall, beckoning them to follow. Percilla, her eyes flashing once more, stood her ground and did not move. Her composure returning, her tone turned biting.
"Not one step shall I take, Sir," she said, "until I get my answers! I demand to know why I've been brought here, by a foreign power, so it seems, and why we were assaulted, and what manner of enterprise it is, that I have seemingly stumbled into!"
Eason rose to Percilla's defense. "Sir, even though you have demonstrated your connexion to Percilla and I, can you not tell us more? We have so little information to go on. This whole thing started when Percilla's uncle died on her very doorstep -"
"Ah, yes, and the unfortunate circumstance that was," Horvath admitted. "Yes. It is time for both of you to know what it is, we ask of you. And, what your desity holds for you, My Lady St. Cyr."
"I am the Assistant Attache' to his Excellency, the Ambassador from Budapest to The Court Of St. James. As such, my schedule permits greater freedom of action, and allows me to assist The Order in its activities. We were alerted to your discovery of the document, and anticipated your departure, based on what we knew of your temperment, My Lady. We were fairly certain that you would set out to find more on your own, and expected that our resources would be required."
"You knew of our finding the scroll?" Eason asked.
"Certainly, young man," Horvath said. "As you shoulld have surmised, we have been following the descendants of Baron Mircea since his death, fifty years past. And it was Edgar who, unwittingly, set our plans in motion, thogh they are premature and forcing us to react, rather than act at a time of our choosing."
"Uncle Edgar knew of you!" Percilla said. "Of course! He was a member of The Order of the Dragon, all this time -"
"Yes, and no, My Lady," Horvath said. "Edgar was never a member of the Order, though due to his unique family connexion, he divined our existence, and our mission.
"There are three ranks to the Order: The Outer Court, the Inner Court, and the Elders. I, as a member of the Inner Court, have been charged with two missions: to ensure your safe passage out of England and on the next stage of your journey; and to bring you advise and counsel on what is to come."
"So, does this mean," Percilla said, "that Eason and I are now members of the Order?"
"Not precisely, no," Horvath replied. "While you, as the heir presumptive to Baron Mircea, have a blood claim to membership, and your friend, Eason, is your protector and companion, out of necessity you have only been presented with the lesser passwords, and knowledge of the Order. But neither of you is even inducted into the Outer Court - yet. Once I receive communication from the Elders, that staus most certainly will change."
"But, sir," Eason asked, "what IS the Order of the Dragon all about? It must be more than simply the continuation of an obscure noble family in Europe! And to have international reach and resource, as you claim, there must be more than what we already know!"
"Eason speaks for me, Your Excellency," Percilla said. "I, too, wish to know more. My mother and grandmother, apparently, knew of their heritage, as I now do. And there are forces involved who are willing to use deadly force to stop them from some unimaginable goal of their. Will you now make this plain, even to me?"