Vatican City; Early Twenty-First Century; September
Even though it was now the third evening that David had had dinner in the apartment of the custodians, he still couldn’t quite believe his good fortune or the tolerance of the two men who’d allowed him another chance after his almighty misdemeanour on their first meeting. Surprisingly, both of them had put it behind them and Tully was even laughing about it, but he suspected that Marcus was still cautious and wary of him. Thankfully, the younger Roman hadn’t been around as much and had only made brief appearances in the library; in fact, he’d been out yesterday evening and was again tonight. David had to admit that he was quite relieved, as he found the younger custodian somewhat intimidating, though he’d been amiable enough company on that first night, but it had taken him a while to thaw.
Tully, though, he genuinely liked spending time with and was honoured to be invited up the stairs for both lunch and dinner. Afterwards he would sit with the older Roman on the balcony and admire the exquisite view of the eternal city, and sometimes they would chat until late at night.
They were sitting now at the wooden dining table with a bottle of red wine between them, discussing anything and everything under the sun.
“If you could do it all again, what would you change?” David asked the older man.
Tully looked at him, then sat back on the chair. “Now that’s a question.” He thought about it, then shook his head. “I don’t know if I’d change anything,” he replied and smiled at David. “Is this all part of a great plan?” he said gesturing around the room. “Or can you escape your fate? And should you try to? I don’t know. What about you?”
David shook his head. “A lot, small things mostly.”
“Such as?” Tully asked pouring more wine into David’s glass.
David smiled. “Not making a total idiot of myself the other day, by doing something really stupid.”
Tully laughed. “That’s forgotten, we all do silly things.”
But before David could ask if Tully thought that Marcus had also forgotten the incident there was a knock at the door. Tully pulled a quizzical face and began to get up, but before he’d moved from the table, the front door opened and a young fair-haired man entered the apartment.
“Iulius? To what do we owe the honour?” Tully called out as he went to meet the newcomer. “I thought you were happily ensconced with Natalia?”
David saw the man stop, tilt his head to one side and look askance, then he seemed to realise what his friend was doing. Iulius exchanged a few words with Tully then walked towards David and introduced himself. “Iulius Barrius, pleased to meet you,” he said holding out his hand. David hastily clambered to his feet and took his hand, noting that he had the same old-fashioned clipped British accent as the other men.
“David Lowe, I’m staying locally and doing my masters.”
Iulius smiled. “Using the library then?”
“He certainly is and he makes a pleasant change from all those earnest young theologians. Do you want a drink? We’ve discovered this delicious red,” Tully said, moving towards the kitchen in order to get another glass.
Iulius shook his head. “Sorry, but I have to decline. Tully, we have an issue that I need your help with.”
Tully frowned. “Where’s Marcus?”
“Phone’s switched off.”
Tully exclaimed and shook his head in annoyance. “I bet it is, it’s his turn on call. In fact you shouldn’t have been informed either. Why were you contacted?”
“Because Paul keeps getting your answer phone, so he asked me to come over. I’m sorry.”
David watched bemused as the older Roman walked over to the phone and inspected it, then gave a sigh. “Nadia’s been cleaning and turned it down again.” He looked up at Iulius. “Sorry, I didn’t notice.”
Iulius shrugged. “That’s all right. Does me good to get out occasionally otherwise I’ll go rusty. I’ll go if you want?”
“No, don’t be silly. You’re supposed to be on leave,” Tully answered, then turned to David. “I’m afraid we have to call it a night. As you might have gathered I have to go out. You can stay if you’d like though?”
David stood. “No, I’ll go, I’ve had enough to drink anyway and I’ve a lot to read tomorrow. Thank you for a lovely evening.”
“Can I give you a lift anywhere?” Iulius offered.
“No, I’ll be fine, I’m staying close by anyway, and the walk will do me good. Nice to meet you,” David said and offered his hand to the young man.
Later that night, as he lay in bed, David wondered what the issue was that had come up unexpectedly and had been so urgent that Tully had needed to deal with it immediately. He took a sip from the glass of water he had by his bed and picked up the First Account of the Custodians of the Arcane Knowledge and began to read the second part.
Dedicated to the Emperor Publius Aelius Hadrianus Augustus.
By the Custodians of the Arcane Knowledge; an account of the first encounter with Kin.