Lineage of Zeal, Book One: Rosemary

Chapter Twenty-five: Ascent

No sooner had Rosemary reached the door, footsteps approached behind her.

"Didn't take long, whatever you needed to do," said Rosemary, holding her torch high enough to shine on the approaching hooded figure.

"Wouldn't want to keep such a pretty demon waiting," Daniel said as he produced a key ring and fitted the proper key into the thick wooden door. "I like my organs on the inside."

"Of course. So what's the plan?" asked Rosemary as she and Daniel stepped through the door into a large, circular room. Including the one they had just entered from, the dimly lit room had nine evenly spaced ports, all but one of which was sealed by a door. The open port led directly to a rising staircase, from which more flickering torchlight poured into the round room. "Like you said, getting to Vargas won't be easy. As much as I'd like to, I can't just bull my way up there. Not if he really is a demon."

"I was just thinking about that," said Daniel as he approached the first door to the right of the staircase and unlocked it, motioning for Rosemary to join him. "First things first, we need to do something about your appearance. I have a robe," Daniel knelt by the foot of the bed that took up most of the small room they were in, opened a trunk filled with what looked like nothing but black cloth, and handed Rosemary a robe, "but your height might be a bit of a problem. Actually, no, that won't matter. It's the red sticking out at the bottom that matters. And your hair."

"You don't have to worry about that," said Rosemary as she pulled the too small robe over her form. "I can change that."

Once the robe was on as well as it ever would be, Rosemary turned her mind in on itself. It would be harder this time without Courtney to force her mind free, but all that training with Leviticus wasn't for nothing. She let her spirit drift into the currents of energy that surrounded her, let them carry her away, until she felt a slight tug. Something had seized her; something was pulling her spirit back in. And that something was just what Rosemary was searching for.

Daniel whistled. "So you can change your hair and clothing color on demand," he said, "but the tan seems a bit much."

"It's not as simple as it looks," Rosemary muttered. "This is a form I've taken, a form that fully realizes the demon within me. It will help with healing my wounds, so I'll keep it for now, but I can't maintain it forever. Let's hurry this up so I'll have some left over for Vargas."

"Wait, so you mean—never mind," said Daniel, shaking his head of the thought. "The next part, right. Well, now you're the first—well, only, really—inductee into the Holy Order of the Black Raven. There's only ever been one at a time, but only Vargas, Aldeck, and my father the Grand Father know that. The greatest weapon this Order has is the mystery that surrounds it, and we're going to use that weapon as our own."

Leaving the room, Daniel stood with his back to the next door, to the right of the room they had occupied. "All anyone knows is that my Order operates in the bowels of Holy City Celus. Those bowels—where we are now—are actually the conjoined basement of my family's castle and the Grand Cathedral, which is really just the same building, but my father—"

"Get on with it," Rosemary growled, tugging at some of the tighter spots on her robes.

"Right, well," Daniel paused to swallow the lump forming in his throat. "Beyond the door behind me is... Leah."

"So she still lives," said Rosemary, looking past Daniel into the darkness beyond the iron bars set in the door.

"Why wouldn't she? You thought I'd have her killed because of what she became?" asked Daniel, looking off to the side, his voice becoming more a whisper with every word he spoke. "She might be that, but she's still the woman I married. And just as loyal as she ever was."