Stone of Fire: An ARKANE Thriller (Book 1)

Chapter 24

Doge’s Palace, Venice, Italy
 May 23, 2.33am

    Mario carefully packed the pieces of the mini-copter back into the suitcase then the trio retraced their steps down the stairs and exited through a hidden doorway.
“This was once been used by the Doge for his personal visits to the church,” Mario explained as he led Morgan and Jake behind the great marble pillars of rose and teal. “The secret rooms are hidden in floors built behind and above the open public rooms. These are simple wood, whereas the others are ornate and painted gold for impressions’ sake. There are prison cells and even a torture chamber here.”
     Morgan shivered, memories of what she had suffered at the hands of those in power invading her thoughts. She pushed them away.
“Governments are all the same throughout the ages,” she said, “nothing changes.”
Mario shook his head.
“Actually, Venice was one of the most impressive early democracies. The government had a complicated election process that prevented the nepotism and despotism that plagued other parts of Europe at the time. It was truly a light in the medieval darkness of tyranny on the continent.”
Morgan heard the pride in his voice, defense of his beloved city. She knew she had her own conflicting feelings about Jerusalem, a city she loved and despised, where truth was ever malleable and people’s lives hung in the balance of the great religions. Perhaps Venice had been just as tangled.
    Mario led them through the maze of tiny wooden spaces.
“This is the authentic Venice, the real halls of power. Casanova was imprisoned here, you know. He was one of the few who escaped. It is an amazing historical place, once the keeper of all the secrets of the republic.”
     They walked up the grand staircase to the first floor of the Doge’s Palace, torchlight illuminating the colors of paintings covering the walls, the opulence of a once wealthy Venice. Mario stopped at a painted scene of a group of nobleman and opened a panel with a key. The hidden door swung open and they went inside the secret rooms of the Doge’s government. The ceilings were low, half the size of the grand rooms they had come through, designed to fit two levels of offices to each of the public facing levels with tiny windows camouflaged into the outside walls, providing a little light to the dark space. Here the civil servants of the Venetian government had toiled away, the real power behind La Serenissima.
     They finally reached a large open plan document room from which all the original Venetian paperwork had been removed. Wooden panels around the side walls were painted with the coats of arms of noblemen who had ruled Venice over the years. Morgan sank down into one of the chairs, still holding the stone they had retrieved. She wasn’t letting it go. Even after their honest conversation in the dark of the Basilica, she couldn’t trust Jake’s motives for seeking the stones. But it had been a long day and she badly needed sleep. Mario pulled some blankets and a sleeping bag out from one of the cupboards.
     “You can rest here for a few hours until morning if you like,” he said. “As long as you’re gone before the other workers come in. People here are late starters. They like to have their coffee first.”
     Morgan nodded, barely able to keep her eyes open now but she quickly texted David to keep him updated on their progress. Then she made a rough bed with some blankets and curled up, grateful for her ability to sleep quickly even under great stress.

***

      Jake stood in front of one of the windows, trying to get a cell phone signal. Finally he connected with Marietti and spoke low so as not to wake Morgan.
     “We have the stone of St Peter. Morgan was right, it was here in Venice.”
     “Excellent. It’s imperative that you also get the others before Thanatos is able to find you again.”
     “We haven’t had any trouble here. Maybe they’ve lost our trail.”
     “Or maybe they’re in front of you, Jake. They know ARKANE is involved, and what is at stake at Pentecost. We can’t leave any out in the world.”
     “Where are we heading next?” Jake asked. “Did you have Martin narrow down the options?”
     “Since you’re in Italy, you’ll be heading for Amalfi, where the relics of St Andrew are kept. There’s evidence they were taken there after the Sack of Constantinople. The plane will take you down there tomorrow morning. We’ll speak again after that.”
     The phone went silent as Marietti terminated the call.

     Jake hung up and stared out the window at the dark lagoon lapping against the Doge’s palace. He could see the Bridge of Sighs leading over to the ancient dungeons lit by the lights from the Ponte della Paglia. The sighs of the damned, he thought, as he turned to look at Morgan’s sleeping form. Tonight he felt as if he walked among those ghosts of ancient Venice, trapped into living their bleak sentence every night.

***

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