my mother’s aura and an angelic being, he must have been fed Star-Fire. But where would the brotherhood have acquired the otherworldly substance? Legend had it that the otherworldly race the Nefilim were the master producers of Star-Fire, which seemed to imply that the Sangreal brotherhood was still acquainted with the Nefilim and was supplied by them. Or perhaps the knights had acquired the knowledge to produce their own Star-Fire. Of greater interest to me was my mother’s claim that I was of the bloodline of the Dragon Queens, about whom I knew nothing.
A knock on the library door startled me. I folded the document and hid it inside the nearest book. ‘Enter.’
Part of me was delighted when Levi joined me in the library, for my mother’s account was disturbing and I was pleased for the distraction. On the other hand, Levi’s early arrival was a nuisance in so far as my travel plans were concerned.
‘I thought I might find you in here,’ he said with a large smile on his face.
I suspected that my son already knew about my pending journey. Unlike me, Levi did not need to be in a person’s close vicinity to know their thoughts; he had a knack of plucking any information he desired from the stratosphere, as easily as others selected flowers from a garden. I wondered why his arrival had not been announced.
‘I did not expect you until tomorrow.’ I moved to greet my tall, handsome lad—as blond as his fatherbut with not even the hint of my waves or my Lord Devere’s curls.
‘Indeed…but I managed to get away early.’ Levi took hold of both my hands and kissed my cheek. ‘And I came here directly, so that we might have more time to talk.’
‘Was there something in particular you wanted to discuss?’
If my son’s early arrival was due to the cause I suspected, that meant he had known the outcome of my meeting with Malory this afternoon before it had even taken place.
Levi returned my loving smile, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.
It was always a happy and lively occasion when our family came together over dinner. Levi was something of a harmonising force in our lives; he brought out the best in everyone. Since he had been away studying, the mood of all in our house had been rather subdued.
Our eldest daughter, Rebecca, was a feisty sixteen-year-old redhead who rarely stopped talking and so missed exchanging lively banter with her older brother. Daughter number two, Charlotte, was fourteen and exactly the opposite of Rebecca, as she rarely said a word. Unlike her older sister, who was psychically void of talent, Charlotte, like Levi and myself, had the gift of clairvoyance and was particularly interested in the natural world. Hence Charlotte and Levi had a psychic bond and understanding, which Charlotte did not have with her other siblings. The youngest of our children, Thomas—who did not object to being named after my father—was a typical ten-year-old boy whomissed having his brother around as he resented being left in a house with so much female company. I think my Lord Devere missed Levi for the same reason. Myself, I missed Levi’s constant little psychic challenges—like the current one concerning whether or not I would break the news to my husband of Levi’s intent to accompany me to Persia.
My suspicion concerning the reason Levi had wanted to speak with me had proved correct, and I had insisted that I intended to tell my lord of my plans only. If Levi wanted to throw away his fellowship to accompany me, then that was a matter for him to take up with his father. I had no intention of championing his cause, despite the fact that Levi predicted quite the opposite—and his predictions were seldom wrong.
Upon the conclusion of the main course, Tibbs entered to announce that there was a strange man at the front door, who refused to leave a calling card and was requesting an immediate audience with myself.
‘How do you mean “strange”, Tibbs?’ Lord Devere inquired.
‘The