Название: The Blade of Gilgamesh
Автор: Jeff Edwards
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Политические детективы
isbn: 9781925283907
isbn:
‘And it is for that reason that I am not sending the sword away with the rest of the treasure.’
‘Oh?’
‘I want you to select someone. You will not tell me that person’s name so that I will not be able to reveal it even under torture. He must be a person of great intellect and bravery. The sword will be entrusted to him and you will give him the following instructions. He will take with him all the records pertaining to the history of the weapon to hold in safe keeping. The documents and the sword are to be kept by him and his descendants until the day arrives that they receive coded instructions notifying them that the Order has risen again and it is safe for the sword to return.’
‘I will see to it immediately.’
‘You know of someone?’
‘Yes. I will dispatch him this very evening.’
***
In the total darkness that follows the dropping of the moon beneath the horizon, two horsemen left the Templar headquarters.
Each man led a pair of pack-horses whose saddlebags weighed heavily with gold from the Treasury.
In addition, the lead rider had an ancient sword strapped to his back beneath his long riding cape and his horse’s saddlebags contained the history of that sword.
***
On Friday the 13th October, 1307, exactly as Jacques de Molay had predicted, Philippe of France made his move.
In exquisitely timed lightning raids across the expanse of France the properties of the Templars were raided and the members of the Order arrested. Even though these were men trained in battle they surrendered without a fight, exactly as they had been ordered to do.
Philippe had his revenge. The Templars were tortured and forced to confess that the outlandish charges brought against them were true.
They were sentenced to death, but many recanted their admissions before dying.
Jacques de Molay was one of these, and as the flames licked around him he announced with his dying breath that both Philippe and Pope Clement V would soon join him.
Both were dead within twelve months.
***
While the wagons containing the Templar treasure wound their way toward the port of La Rochelle, two horsemen turned their mounts in the opposite direction and made for the border of the Italian states.
The man selected for this important task was named Antonio and the young man had been one of the Templar’s chief accountants, second only to the Treasurer himself.
The second man was Thomas, Jacques de Molay’s personal servant, who had sworn an oath to protect the sword and its carrier with his life.
Antonio knew that France could never again be safe for a Templar and he had decided to return to the province of his of birth, where he would enjoy the protection of his extended family.
Their destination was the region of Mugello, north of Florence, where his family had been farmers for many generations. The family’s enterprises had prospered and allowed his father and uncle to attend university in Padua. There they had graduated as doctors and adopted the surname of Medici which is plural for ‘doctors’.
The family had their eyes firmly set on gaining further wealth and prestige which was why Antonio had been chosen by his family to join the Templars. Their Order was the most powerful business enterprise that Europe had ever seen, and the best place for an emerging family to gain the business knowledge that would lead them to future riches.
Now, with the Sword of Gilgamesh in their possession and saddlebags full of Templar gold, the Medici family was set to become a power to be reckoned with.
Chapter 10
The ornately carved and magnificently painted banqueting hall was bedecked with a myriad of colourful banners, while a band of musicians played a jaunty air from their loft high above.
Below them, the long table stretching down the centre of the room groaned under the weight of food, while servants stood behind every chair to ensure that the revellers needs were catered to.
Despite this ostentatious display of wealth Lorenzo de Medici, who was called ‘The Magnificent’ by his supporters, was not a happy man. He would have preferred the feast to have been cancelled but his rivals needed to be shown that it was he, Lorenzo, who ruled Florence, just as his family had done for generations.
As the head of the richest and one of the most powerful families in Europe, Lorenzo had attracted many enemies, not only amongst his commercial rivals but from the Church in Rome as well.
This rivalry had culminated in Easter 1478 in the murderous attack upon his family during church services, and resulted in the death of his brother Giuliano, and his own wounding. The conspiracy had involved the Pazzi and Salviati families, who were both rival banking families, as well as the priest presiding over the church services, the Archbishop of Pisa, and even Pope Sixtus IV to a degree.
What made Lorenzo feel even more threatened was that after the plot had failed Sixtus IV pardoned the attackers and gave them dispensation for crimes in the service of the Church.
The Medici empire was under attack and Lorenzo knew that he must plan carefully to ensure their survival.
***
Seated to the left of Lorenzo, Dante degli Alighieri, the renowned poet and author, better known as simply ‘Dante’, saw the worried looked on his benefactor’s face. He knew what was troubling the man and sought to find a topic that might bring a smile to the great man’s face.
He caught Lorenzo’s eye, and nodded down the table. ‘They’re at it again. Squabbling like a pair of children. Whoever sat them across the table from one another was tempting fate.’
Lorenzo followed Dante’s gaze and smiled thinly. ‘It amuses me sometimes to see two men of such great intellect carrying on like scullery maids. I believe a little anger can sometimes go a long way to providing the impetus required for them to achieve their best endeavours.’
‘Isn’t it bad enough that they spend hours arguing in their studio about who should have the more space or who deserves to be near the window? All would be much quieter around here and much more work would be done if you were to send one of them away.’
‘Ah, my dear Dante, and who would you choose to send into exile? Michaelangelo Bounarroti, the man who is capable of turning a block of marble into a vision of such purity that the very angels weep, or Leonardo de Vinci, whose artworks are mesmerizing in their perfection and whose gift of creating mechanical marvels is unsurpassed.’
‘Their gifts are great but their egos are in constant conflict. I think you should let one go, my Lord.’
‘Perhaps, one day, but I have great need of them both at present, just as I have need of your talents. Which reminds me,’ he turned to the liveried servant behind his chair, ‘Remind our warring prima donnas that I wish to see them both in my chambers in the morning.’
The servant bowed, and made his way down the СКАЧАТЬ