Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) Read Online Free PDF Page A

cross on his chest was just visible behind his long white beard.
Dougal smothered a smile; the archaic dress would draw attention to the Leader
if he were to be observed outside the castle. His robes befitted a Knight from
the twelfth century rather than the progressive times they were now in.
However, it was the eyes of the man that caught his attention. His cold,
expressionless eyes seemed to look into your very soul.
    Dougal shivered as the old man pinned him
with his gaze—it was almost as though he could read his thoughts—before turning
his attention to the parchment in front of him.
    I certainly pray that he cannot.
    “Good evening, my lords. I welcome you
unreservedly.” He held up the manuscript and briefly reverted to the language
of the Knights Templar
    “ Je me félicite de cette charte ”
    I welcome this Charter, Dougal translated in
his head, while some of the Scottish knights looked confused
    “Tonight we are here for two purposes. I
have recently been summoned to the Council of the Great in Edinburgh and have
been advised our chapter has attained the forty first degree of perfection.”
Two of the old men on the front table gasped and the remainder of the Five
looked at each other in confusion.
    “Yes, my fellow knights, the Unutterable
Degree.”
    Dougal turned his head and glanced at the
men who were sitting in the front row with him. Expressions of confusion vied
with fear and he caught the eye of the other young man, who raised his eyebrows
at Dougal in question. Dougal shook his head imperceptibly and the young man
raised his fingers a fraction to acknowledge the unspoken message.
    The two older men at the front table stood
and embraced their leader.
    They sat and the Leader raised his hand.
    “However, before the Unutterable Degree is
conferred upon our small chapter, we have been given a mission. We must have
unerring evidence the scientific quest for immortality in Vienna has been
destroyed. The Order of the Lunar Temple has chosen our encampment for this
mission.”
    His voice rose in anger.
    “Our knights have taken centuries to
achieve immortality, through spiritual growth and working upwards through the
degrees of perfection.”
    He slammed his fist on to the table and the
goblets rattled.
    “Our spiritual perfection will not by
threatened by the physical sciences.” He stood at the front of the gathering,
silently observing the men as he fingered his long beard. The small group of
men of all ages focused on him, each with rapt attention.
    “Earl Rothmore, I give you permission to
rise and address the gathering of your findings in Vienna.”
    Dougal stood and made his way to the centre
of the room where the Five looked solemnly across at him.
    He was a big man and not easily
intimidated, and as he caught the gaze of the leader of the Five, the
determination in the eyes of the old man sent a shiver down his spine. A shiver
that settled into a pit of cold in his stomach as heads turned to see the
source of a metallic clicking across the paved floor near the side entry of the
Great Hall.
    The two automatons he had left at the
border with the dirigible, moved awkwardly across the large open space toward
the table in the center of the Hall, their brass extremities ringing sharply on
the cobblestones and their brass joints clicking as their robotic movement
pushed them forward.
    He kept his face expressionless as they
moved past him and stood on either side of the table. The gravity of the
situation was illustrated by the presence of the automatons. Their presence
flouted the edict of the Scottish parliament, that no mechanicals or
paraphernalia of the new order enter the country. The roads to the border were
always busy with carriages and cabs conveying Scottish passengers to the
dirigible stations in many of the English border towns.
    “My Lord?” The Leader’s voice was impatient
and he rustled the paper in his hands
    Dougal slowly made his way to the front of
the assembly and bowed