that it lies in a most ordinary place. But you will be enabled to travel more or less where you wish or need to go.”
“Do you mean to make a sorcerer of me, Your Majesty?”
“Perhaps. I am able to offer you certain privileges to aid you in your Quest. But I know that you take pride in your own intelligence and skills and it is those which shall be most valuable to both of us. And you have courage, von Bek, of several kinds. Although you are mortal, that is another quality we have in common. That is another reason I chose you.”
“I am unsure if I am entirely complimented, Your Majesty. To be Satan’s representative upon Earth, some Anti-Pope.” I changed the subject. “And what if I should fail you?”
Lucifer turned away from me. “That would depend, let us say, on the nature of your failure. If you die, you travel instantly to Hell. But should you betray me, in any way at all, von Bek—well, there is no way in which I cannot claim you. You shall be mine soon enough. And I shall be able to debate my vengeance upon you for all Eternity.”
“So if I am killed in pursuit of my Quest, I gain nothing, but am transported at once to Hell?”
“Just so. But you have seen that Hell can take many forms. And I am able, after a fashion, to resurrect the dead…”
“I have seen your resurrections, Your Majesty, and I would rather be wholly dead. But I suppose I must agree to your bargain, because I have so little to lose.”
“Very little, captain.”
How radically had my life been turned about in the past twenty-four hours! I had over the years managed successfully to rid myself of all thoughts of damnation or salvation, of God or the Devil, during my career as a soldier. I had served many masters, but felt loyal to none of them, had never let them control my fate. I had believed myself my own man, through and through, for good or ill.
Now, suddenly, I had been informed by Lucifer Himself that I was damned and that I was to be offered at the same time a chance of salvation. My feelings, needless to say, were mixed. From a pragmatic agnostic I had been changed not only into a believer, but into a believer called upon to take part in that most fundamental of all spiritual concerns, the struggle between Heaven and Hell. And I had become an apparently important piece in the game. It was hard for me to accept so much at once.
I understood what Sabrina had meant when she had told me, also, that only souls already owned by Lucifer could exist in the castle and its environs.
I had originally refused to accept that knowledge, but it was no longer possible for me to resist it. The evidence had been presented to me. I was damned. And I had already begun (more than I would have admitted then, I think) to hope for salvation. As a result, I had committed myself, against all former habit, to a cause.
I bowed to Lucifer. “Then I am ready to embark upon this Quest, Your Majesty, whenever you wish.”
It was ironic, I thought, that Hope had been revived in me by the Fallen One and not, as should be traditional, by a vision of the Madonna or a meeting with some goodly priest.
“I would like you to begin almost immediately,” said the Prince of Darkness.
I looked outside. It was not yet noon.
‘Today?” I asked Him.
“Tomorrow. Sabrina will spend some time with you.”
At this hint of manipulation of my private emotions I bridled. “Perhaps I have no further desire to spend tune with her. Your Majesty.”
Lucifer clapped his hands lightly and Sabrina entered the library and curtseyed.
“Captain von Bek has agreed to my bargain,” Lucifer told her. “You must now do as I instructed you, Sabrina.” His voice had become gentle, almost kindly.
She curtseyed again. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
I looked upon her beauty and I marveled all the more. My feelings for her had not changed. At once I became almost grateful to Lucifer for sending her to me.
Lucifer returned to the central table, taking another book with
J.A. Konrath, Bernard Schaffer