Keohane, G. - Solomon's Grave

Solomon’s Grave

Daniel G. Keohane

Copyright © 2009 Daniel G. Keohane

All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments

Most authors, if they want to be successful in this business, rarely work in seclusion. A number people contributed their time and talents in helping me bring Solomon’s Grave to publication, and I’m happy to have the chance to say thanks one more time (for anyone I might have forgotten, please forgive me, but thanks!).

My wife Janet, for being the first to pour over the manuscript. For her patience and support as this book came to life during lunches, holidays and coupon days. Andrew, Amanda and Audrey for their bottomless enthusiasm for their Dad’s little obsession. Mom & Dad for a lifetime of love and encouragement, you know I can never say enough to show you how much I appreciate what you’ve done for all of us. Fran Bellerive, proofreader extraordinaire over the decades, for using your colored pens to decorate every page, and never—I mean, never—letting me get away with anything. I’m a better writer for it. Mark Lowell, proofreader extraordinaire number three, for never hesitating to ask the tough questions, and for picking this book apart and putting it back together in the right order. Reverend David Switzer of Trinity Church in Northborough, who took the time to sit down with a complete stranger and discuss the life and times of a pastor, so many details which eventually found their way into Nathan Dinneck’s life. Alton Gansky, for his willingness to mentor a struggling new novelist, and his support and bottomless knowledge of our little secret buried under Solomon’s grave. Mario Kivistik for his Estonian translations (yep, those cryptic lines late into the book are Estonian). My agents—Cristine Ranghetti who lovingly laid this book onto Dragon Moon’s desk after previously finding homes for it in Italy and Germany (you’ve made my life very interesting, to say the least)—and Sara Camilli for closing the deal. My editor at Dragon Moon Books, Gabrielle Harbowy, for going through the manuscript more than once, and making it even better (she probably wouldn’t approve of ‘even’ in that sentence, though), and of course publisher Gwen Gades, for saying ‘yes,’ and her constant enthusiasm for the project ever since.

For Janet, my Elizabeth.

“And God spoke all these words: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

You shall have no other gods before me.”

Exodus 20:1-3 (NIV)

“As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord....”

1 Kings 11:4-6 (NIV)

Part One: Homecoming

Prologue

Constantinople, 1204 A.D.

Bishop Georgios Palaiologos stumbled on a raised stone as he ran the length of the torch-lit corridor. The top strap of his sandal broke loose. There was no time for mending it. He curled the toes of his right foot to hold the sandal in place and continued on. Even in this little-known passage he could hear the sounds of Latin crusaders crashing through rooms and halls on the main floor. The Church of the Twelve Apostles, God’s most holy and majestic Byzantine cathedral, was overrun by those who claimed their animal violence in His name.

The courier, a young boy of barely seven years, had given him the warning with terror etched on his small face. The message was from Georgios’ fellow bishop at Hagia Sophia. They are coming; the Latins are coming and you must leave with as many of the relics as you can carry. No one is being spared. No one.

Then the boy’s face crumpled. Before Georgios could reach out to comfort him he’d escaped out a side door, desperate to return home. The bishop now offered another prayer for the boy’s safety as he opened a door hidden behind a tapestry at the end of the passage. He did so slowly, wary that perhaps he’d underestimated the preparedness of the knights storming up the church’s steps only fifteen minutes after the courier departed. It would take time to find their way down here, but Georgios maintained stealth as he ran down the winding flight of steps and entered the large, cross-shaped tomb below the church. It was empty. For now.

No time to consider his plan. Still, when he saw the twelve caskets laid out in the chamber, relegated centuries before by Constantius to hold the most sacred relics of Christ’s original twelve apostles, the large man sagged to his knees.

“Dear God,” he whispered, hands clasped together against his chest. “Please protect your church. Do not let these murderers destroy your temple. Guide my steps.” He wanted to remain there, fall prostrate to the cold floor and beseech the Lord to lay his hand over the perfect and irreplaceable objects which lay within the sarcophagi. The sounds above him became suddenly louder. They had found the entrance to this basilica. He had to go now , since what he sought made even these precious objects insignificant.

Georgios was the caretaker, chosen by God. He mustn’t hesitate. There were some, perhaps many, among the invading hordes, dark-minded men no more faithful to Pope Innocent III’s holy Crusades than were the neighboring Turks. These hidden marauders, servants of the Dark One himself, were his true adversaries. He rose to his feet, curled the toes of his right foot into the broken sandal, and ran to the far corner of the chamber. He passed the Column of Flagellation, the very pillar to which the Lord Jesus was bound and whipped. He closed one eye, trying to pretend it was nothing more than a support column.

Nothing more.

Dear God, why does this have to happen?

The door was flush with the wall, save three indented holes into which he clumsily put the fingers of his right hand. He pulled. The door gave, though it tried to resist his efforts. The bishop leaned back, adding his own weight to the action, and the door swung wide. As soon as he released his handhold, the heavy stone began sliding back into place. He reached out and liberated the closest of the torches lining the room. They were lighted always, maintained by the nuns of his own order. Those poor women... no, he must think of nothing else but his mission. The door buffeted him as he passed inside, knocking him against the wall. Sparks from the torch dusted across his face. His right sandal, at last, broke free. He did not stop to reclaim it, but kicked off the other within the inner hall and walked barefoot along the passage. He held the torch’s flame high to keep the heat and smoke out of his eyes.

Before he turned the corner into the chamber, the bishop felt its power. No matter how often, how constantly drawn he was to this secret room, the barely restrained power of God—both glorious and deadly—filled him with awe. But he did not slow; he could not . His bare feet slapped against stones regularly cleaned and washed by his own hand.

The relic before him seemed to suck the very light from his torch’s flame, filling itself and shining back a hundred fold. Georgios was certain it was not mere reflection across the ornate gold that caused this. He had many theories on why this relic, as holy and historical as it obviously was, was so coveted by both God and Satan. Why he and thousands before him had devoted their lives to its secrecy and protection. Some day he would need to write his theories down. He cursed his procrastination. He may not live out the day to write any more in his journals.

After inserting the torch into the nearest sconce, the large man climbed onto the platform. Voices now, behind him. How had the cursed knights found the apostles’ chamber so quickly? Sounds of breaking stone. Georgios stumbled, closed his eyes and wanted to weep at the thoughts of what might be happening beyond the sealed door.