The Kingdoms of Eden

CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Return of the Demon King

With slight, misplaced, guilty stoops, John Dee and Patrick cautiously approached the demon king. The absurdity of their shamefaced bearings quickly caught up with the two men and they glided into the upright postures of men who had every right to be in that place—which was more than could be said for the demon. Dee sat on one of the chairs that had been magically offered to them. Patrick, in defiance of the evil in their presence, pulled out a different chair, before sitting down. The furrowed bald dome that crowned the demon's head was just as Dee and Patrick had remembered—it was a little greyer from when they last met the creature, but it was still terrifyingly familiar.

"John," Saturn began. "It has been such a long time. I have missed our little games. Watching you struggle to protect your charge held such bleak fascination. Like watching an ant square-up to an elephant. You were a worthy foe, yet a feeble one. How is my Elizabeth?" asked the demon, with cheery torment in its tone.

"The Queen is well," said Dee, with rising anger. "And from what I recall, she was never your Elizabeth. She will never be your Elizabeth."

Saturn grinned, triumphantly.

"She lives with my eternal blood coursing through her veins. Every foul breath that she takes is my gift to her. Mine to give, and mine to take away. I would say that makes her my Elizabeth; don't you agree?"

"Say what you like," said Patrick. "You have tried and failed so many times to enchant the best of us, it really doesn't matter what you say. Enough with your taunts; get to the point that I assume you have come here to make. And who exactly is it that I address? Saturn? Demon? The Tempter? You have had so many names over thousands of years. It has been my experience that the ineptest conmen often change their names. Or to be more correct, they must change their name as they are so hopelessly transparent. For my part, I prefer, The Trickster, The Joker, or even The Fool. They have all been used to describe you and they suit what you are so very well. Pathetic abomination."

Saturn's grin narrowed.

"Those names were given to me by others. Those others are no longer with us," Saturn said, with quiet menace. "Take care, saint. You don't exactly live up to that particular moniker."

For a few moments the air in the room thickened with unbridled trepidation.

"I like, The Fool," said Dee, with a cautious smile. "As for Saint Paddy; he was always more of idea than a man. And so it is with all saints; the real life man or woman never quite lives up to the majesty of the myth."

"You have certainly come a long way since we first met, John. But you would be wise to watch your tongue. This place is not that place. The rules are somewhat different here," Saturn added.

Six orbs of light appeared around Saturn's head. Patrick turned to Dee with alarm. Dee raised his hands in protest.

"Don't look at me," Dee said. "This is not my doing. I fear the demon is trying to make a point. Not very subtle. Not very meaningful. It can't help being what it is. Pointless."

Patrick turned to Saturn for an explanation.

"John Dee used these orbs of light to protect his queen when we would spar. In the mortal realm they held some power over me. In this place, they hold none. Much like John Dee himself. He turned his back on greatness, and now here he sits. Impotent and desperate."

"And extremely bored," said Dee, impishly.

Dee stood up. Saturn's demonic face clouded with rage. Dee smiled at him.