Cecile began pacing around the room, staring into the eyes of the Yorktown men, of Madison, of Mehta, and finally Flora. Flora remembered Cecile’s cast-iron stare from their first meeting, when Cecile was in the jail cell. She had never been able to hold her gaze. This time was no different.
Finally, Cecile said, “There is a sanctuary. Duncan was told this secret in his youth, and he told me of it. It was a riddle I wanted to solve, and to be honest, I didn’t believe it at first.” She looked to Duncan, who raised an eyebrow. “Now I have seen it with my own eyes. I will even take you there and show you, but only if we can gain access. We need the key, and I am hoping you have it.”
“And what is this key?” Madison asked, her voice strained.
“The answer to your question lies in understanding the founders. Not the Old World founders you read about and take guidance from, the founders of the rebirth of Seeville. The Okafors, the Kelemens, and the Lechkys. They formed many of the institutions you have today. The temple of Adherents was initiated by the Okafors, the Kelemens created the biking guilds, and the Lechkys formed your initial laws.”
Cecile walked around the room and touched an ancient bust of George Washington next to the wall. “We know one of those families, in particular, came from the sanctuary. One of them knew that when we were mature enough, we could return, and it could protect us. But they didn’t want just anyone to be able to gain access. They wanted someone who would be a good steward of all the benefits the sanctuary could provide. They wanted it to be one of their own.”
Cecile turned around from the bust and faced them all. “So why are we here? What is the key? We are here because there is only one way to gain access to the sanctuary. The key to the sanctuary is that it needs to be opened by a Kelemen, a male Kelemen. I have spent years looking for this key. First I found the sanctuary itself, but then I spent years searching through the Halls of Records of various Spoke cities. Until recently, I thought there were no Kelemens left, so many had died, or were scattered.”
Cecile turned to face Flora then, her eyes intent and focused. “But then I heard about your first husband, Flora. Despite the fact that you lied to me and referred to this man as your cousin, I pieced it together from Duncan’s correspondence with Madison, and from the talisman you drew in the detention tower. I learned that the reason I hadn’t found him before was because they had removed his talisman from the Seeville Hall of Records.”
Mehta said, “Come now. This sanctuary fantasy is one thing, but now someone has tampered with the Hall of Records?”
Owen interjected quietly. “Actually, I don’t know about the rest, but that’s true. I checked for myself. It’s one of the reasons Madison came back from Yorktown. They were trying to destroy all records of her existence, but also Warrick Kelemen’s and Duncan’s, so they would be removed from the lord’s council. They must have removed Granger’s talisman because he was a Kelemen as well.”
Mehta frowned at Owen’s comment, but didn’t counter.
During the interruption, Cecile had been pacing her way over to Flora. Her eyes had opened wide, and they were shining with purpose. “So Flora… that’s why we are here. We came for your husband, Granger. He is a male Kelemen. He is the one person that can give us access to the sanctuary.”
Flora looked down and gritted her teeth. The mention of Granger’s name still cast a shadow on her soul. When she looked up, Mehta was standing beside her, arms crossed. “Granger is dead,” Mehta said. “He was shot by the former master of this place, Euclid.”
The fire in Cecile’s eyes fizzled, extinguished by the cold news. Her shoulders slumped ever so slightly. Across the room Duncan gritted his teeth and tilted his head to the side, absorbing some psychological blow.
“Tabernac,” Cecile said, staring down, ruminating in Mehta’s words.
Madison looked thoughtful, her brow knitted. After a moment of consideration she asked, “Cecile, why do you need Granger, exactly? Why do you need a male Kelemen?”
Cecile responded stoically. “At the entrance of the sanctuary it will draw blood from the person seeking entry. The sanctuary will know whether or not it is the blood of a male heir.”
Madison smiled. She said, “Please, please, everyone. Put down your guns. We have a common cause. We should all be friends here. Let us spill wine instead of blood. We need to celebrate our new partnership. Benjamin, please get us some wine and glasses.” Some switch had been turned in Madison. She seemed uncannily jubilant given the situation, especially considering her ruefulness in the past few days.
Never one to disobey, Benjamin holstered his weapon and backed into the den. Other Yorktown men slowly lowered their weapons as well. The men in black also lowered their guns but ever so slightly, not quite understanding the change in sentiment.
Madison said, “You see, everyone, the sanctuary will be looking for a male heir and can only identify it genetically. It will analyze a person’s Y chromosome to make sure.”
“So?” Cecile asked.
“So whomever opens the sanctuary has to be a male descendent of the Kelemen line but not necessarily a Kelemen in name.”
Then it dawned on Flora. “Talon,” she said. “Talon was born from Granger’s seed.”
Madison smiled and nodded.
Cecile asked, “Talon? C’est qui? Who is this person?”
“My son,” Flora answered.
“Your children… you had them with Granger? Not with your current husband?” Cecile exchanged a hopeful look with Duncan.
“Yes. They are all in Grand Caverns,” Flora replied.
Cecile nodded in relief, then something gave her pause. “Grand Caverns, as in the place that is about to be overrun by the Spoke army?”
“Yes,” Mehta answered, “of course! I can’t wait.” He threw his hands up and stomped out of the room.
“It looks like you will be will be able to see your children after all,” Madison said to Flora, hobbling over to her and putting her hand on her shoulder. “But you’re going to have some company.”
Finally, the full implications were crystalizing for Flora. They needed Talon, and they were going to help her rescue him.
Hoods were removed, weapons were put away, and handshakes were cautiously made. Wine was served in the den, and bread was broken. The conversation rapidly moved to preparations for the journey. Tension and suspicion remained, but it looked like violence would not have the day. Flora went along with the introductions but mostly tuned out. She was still trying to make sense of the circuitous discussion in the foyer.
She wasn’t sure about this so-called sanctuary. Nor did she trust Cecile and her people. She still harbored doubts about Madison as well. But none of that mattered right now.
Through a stroke of good fortune, she would be given one more chance to do right by her family, and despite herself, a neglected feeling emerged within her, one that had been quelled for a long time.
A flicker of hope rekindled in her once again.
THE SENTINEL PROJECT
The call came only four days after Bhavin’s failed attempt to plead with the public on live TV. Axel had been working in their war room deep under Nadar tower, trying to digest all the news reports, trying to tease apart fake from real. Gail’s forces were only gaining in strength, and save only a few spots where they were able to challenge her, she had full dominion over mass communication and the web. They needed to find some weakness to exploit, or to change their strategy, because what they were doing wasn’t working.