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the Vatican. This betrayal had shocked them all, but Maureen had forgiven Peter quickly. She had defended him to the others, saying that he had only done what he felt in his heart was best for Mary Magdalene’s message. Still, Bérenger believed that the priest’s loyalties pointed far more clearly to the Vatican than to Maureen and the truth that she had uncovered.
    The events that followed outraged Bérenger Sinclair. The Church tightened the restrictions on what Maureen was and was not able to reveal regarding her discovery of what they referred to as the Arques Gospel. Bérenger blamed Peter for surrendering the priceless document to the Vatican in the first place and putting Maureen in a position that forced her to compromise. Further, he was increasingly frustrated by the distance that separated him from Maureen and annoyed by what often felt like her blind loyalty to Peter. In the most heated argument of their relationship, a frustrated Bérenger accused Maureen of spiritual weakness for allowing Peter and his Church to walk all over her and suppress the truth. Maureen was shattered by his accusation. The crack in their relationship had become a chasm.
    When Bérenger Sinclair met Maureen Paschal, he believed he had discovered something he had searched for yet despaired of ever finding: the woman who was his equal. Maureen was his one and only soul mate, the partner who could not only share in his visions of a better world but who had the passion and the courage to make those changes with him. There was tremendous strength in that petite body, and likehim, she possessed a Celtic warrior’s spirit that was an uncommon force of nature. Thus his accusation of weakness cut her to the core in a way that he was keenly able to understand. He often had reason to repent the Celtic aspects of his own nature, particularly when his passion manifested itself in the warrior’s approach favored by his Scottish ancestors. His DNA was a double-edged sword, as was Maureen’s. That they were so alike in their heritage and spirit was equal parts blessing and curse as they tried to forge a relationship. If they could learn to work together in harmony and harness their shared passions for the work and for each other, they could create an unstoppable energy toward positive change in the world. But those same passions had the power to be singularly destructive.
    That Maureen had included his name most tenderly in the dedication to her book, alongside those of Tamara and Roland, was the only thing that had made Bérenger Sinclair truly smile since the argument that had separated them.
    “I pray that we will see Maureen soon,” Roland said in his gentle way. “And something has just occurred that makes me believe that it might be sooner than we think.”
    “What? What happened?”
    Roland smiled at him. “Tamara has just received a strange package, addressed to you. Stay here. We will bring it to you. But while you’re here”—Roland pointed to the far library wall where the Sinclairs’ illustrious family tree, painted from floor to ceiling, spanned a thousand years of history—“take a close look at the mural of your family’s lineage.”
     
    And so it was that the Queen of the South became known as the Queen of Sheba, which was to say, the Wise Queen of the people of Sabea. Her given name was Makeda, which in her own tongue was “the fiery one.” She was a priestess-queen, dedicated to a goddess of the sun who was known to shine beauty and abundance upon the joyous people known as Sabeans. Their goddess was known as “she whosends forth her strong rays of benevolence.” Her consort was the moon god and the stars were their children.
    The people of Sabea were wise above most others in the world, with an understanding of the influence of the stars and the sanctity of numbers that came from their heavenly deities. They were called the People of Architecture, and their structures rivaled those of the greatest Egyptians, so