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Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: Createspace
ISBN-10: 1453700854
Type: Fiction
Pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9781453700853
The entire Order of the Red Cross of Gold finds itself in danger of annihilation as Omar, the Prophet's new world order continues on the path of world domination. Reduced to nothing more than a handful of Knights and a few hundred monks, the Chevalier du Morte has no choice but to flee Scotland and take refuge on St. Patrick's Isle and the Isle of Ramsay where they intend to hold out against the Prophet until the bitter end.
They soon find themselves cut off from the world as Omar's embargoes and blockades prevent free trade and their only connections to the outside world come from smugglers willing to run the blockades trading news and materials for Ramsay Stout. But things are not well in the underworld and soon enough, the Chevalier du Morte finds himself entangled in the affairs of the elves who are under threat of attack from a neighboring kingdom. Mark Andrew must decide whether to stay with the remnants of the Order or come to the rescue of his beloved elves.
Omar's continued fascination with the crystal skulls and his overconfidence in his own skills causes him to make a mistake that solves Mark's dilemma in a most unexpected turn of events. Reconciliation, retaliation and retribution lead to some very interesting situations.
History tells us that the Knights Templar were disbanded on Friday the 13th of October 1307 when the King of France conspired with the Pope to have them rounded up, arrested and imprisoned on spurious charges of heresy, blasphemy and other crimes. But the King was not quite successful. Some of them escaped. Some of them thrived and some have lived a long, long time. In fact, an entire sub-order called the Red Cross of Gold is still operating in the twenty-first century behind the scenes, waiting for Armageddon and the return of Christ when they plan to fight the Anti-Christ at his side.
Mark Andrew Ramsay, the Chevalier du Morte, Knight of Death is one of twelve members of the semi-immortal members of the ruling council of the Order of the Red Cross of Gold. He is a reclusive Scot with a grumpy personality who spends most of his time in the lowlands of Scotland where he works as alchemist, assassin and Knight of Death for the Order. He provides them the financial means to support their global operations, he makes sure that the members of the Order stay in line and he releases the souls of his semi-immortal Brothers when the need arises.
Excerpt
“That is good news. I have prayed that your marriage would be healed,” Simon told her on a more serious note. “I have never forgiven myself for what I did. I simply didn’t understand what it was then. Old notions die hard. You have tried hard to make a modern man of me, but it is hopeless, cheri`. Besides, the old ways were better where love is concerned. Simple is better. Make a choice and stick with it for better or worse. Those are the best words in your marriage ceremony. God will always bless diligence, especially in the face of adversity. The eye may stray, but the heart sometimes must be suppressed in order to protect the soul. That is why God gave us both hearts and minds. The mind to rule the heart and the heart to temper the mind. We must never let our hearts rule our minds. And at the same time we must not allow our minds to crush our hearts. Hope is always in the heart where it may flee your better logic. And the heart is what is affected by the illogical and the improbable. What I am saying is that my heart will always belong to you, but fortunately the heart has an infinite capacity for love. I sometimes visualize my heart shaped like a pyramid. At the bottom is my love for you. On top of that is my love for Rachel. On top of that is Joey. If the world goes on and I lose Joey, there is still room for yet another layer. Of course, there are many other things layered in the stones, the love of each of my children, my grandson, my father, my Brothers, but as long as each successive layer is carefully laid and constructed, the pyramid will be in no danger of toppling. And at the top, always protecting and always covering the rest is my love for God. The capstone covered with shining gold.”
“That is a lovely sentiment, Simon,” Merry nodded thoughtfully. “But the Christian ideal might disagree with you and say that God is the foundation. They say that Jesus Christ is the rock and the foundation of faith.”
“Then perhaps it is not a pyramid after all, but a diamond with God at the bottom and God at the top.” He smiled at her. “That would be even more stable like two pyramids pressed together at the base.”
“Perhaps. But I am no geometry expert,” she laughed. “All I know is that things are better now. I actually hate the idea of leaving here in a way. I feel very safe here with the sea surrounding us and separating us from the rest of the world. I know that it isn’t much protection in this day and age and that we were never very safe here, that Omar could have come and destroyed us all at any moment he chose. But it was a good illusion.”
“Mark Andrew is the master of illusion. You never know what to expect from him. He has always been able to make the most impossible things seem possible. And even more adept is Lucio at such things. Lucio has never owned much of anything. Do you know that? Other than his apartment building in Naples and a few artifacts. He has no other holdings and has not invested in anything since he lost it to Vesuvius. Even de Lyons owns land in France and Armand de Bleu has holdings in Portugal and France. Barry has his collections and he protects them jealously. He also has a small estate in Devonshire from which he collects revenues. Montague must own several blocks in downtown London by now though it is well-concealed in the records and I, myself, inherited many lands from my father when he left the Order. Italy and France and a very nice place in Greece. Some I have never seen. You should have kept your land in Texas, Merry. Land has always been a premium thing in this world. But Lucio has never taken time to own anything. It is as if everything he is and everything he has, travels with him. Even spiders own their spaces between the rafters and no other insects dare to enter their domains upon pain of death.”
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