The Mistery of Belicena Villca the bodies : his life , explained Peter , was destroyed , and would have agreed to die a thousand times that night before having to survive enduring the pain of remembering those he loved so much . He would consecrate his existence to seek out the Golen , now his own enemies , and would try to fulfill his oath ; he would take revenge or die trying : it was obvious , he said with innocence , that only the fury that ignited in his blood allowed him to stay alive .
Peter of Crete did not know where to start the search when the monks arrived , relatives of his wife , who surely would know how to guide him . The Men of Stone , whose dead relatives numbered by hundreds , were in no mood to be moved by the little drama of the Byzantine Knight ; yet they admired his noble naivety , the courage without limits he exhibited , and the wonderful fidelity of his love . It was obvious that he had no idea of the enemies that he faced and that he had no chance before Them ; but it would be almost impossible for him to locate them by himself and that Impotence would be his best protection . So the Lords of Tharsis were leaving , without having said a word , when they were reached by Peter of Crete : the man had not believed them the least ; on the contrary , he was sure they were hiding something from him and he decided to accompany them ; he offered the protection of his sword to the monks , but if they rejected him , he would follow them at a distance . There was no way of persuading him to leave their company . The Men of Stone had no choice : either they allowed him to accompany them or they would have to execute him . They decided the first , for Peter of Crete was clearly a man of Honor .
The head of the Domini Canis was waiting for them . His name was Rodolfo and he was born in Seville , but in the Order they named him as “ Rodolfo of Spain ". His wisdom was legendary , but for strategic reasons , he never wanted to stand out in academic circles and he only accepted that priory in the outskirts of Toulouse : from his monastery operated the innermost group of the Circulus Domini Canis . He came from the same family as Petreño , and had a degree of kinship as second-uncle of the newly arrived monks , who were cousins to each other . He placed Peter of Crete in a monastery that housed lay pilgrims and then spoke frankly :
– I know everything ! The Voice of the Pure Blood revealed it to me at the moment of occurrence . And the internal gaze allowed me to observe the Ritual of the Demons . Now They have left for the Temple of Melchizedek with the conviction that they managed to exterminate the House of Tharsis . So we have a small strategic advantage that we must use wisely to save the Lineage of Tharsis . This is the picture of the situation : from Spain , only you two and the Vraya have survived ; here , there are two nuns , who are my nieces Vrunalda and Valentina ; and there are two Initiates , one in Paris and the other in Bologna : I already sent messengers requesting that they appear urgently in Toulouse . Gentlemen , we must hold a Family Council !
Fifteen days later the seven were gathered in a secret crypt , under the Church of the Monastery of Rodolfo de Tharsis . In truth , there wasn ' t much to discuss , since the remaining six would accept whatever Rodolfo proposed , by far the wisest of the Lords of Tharsis . And they were not wrong because his plan , simple and effective , produced extremely strong results against the Enemy strategy , and allowed to save the Lineage of Tharsis . He put it this way :
– First of all , I must confirm that the House of Tharsis is struggling as never before faced with the alternative of extinction ; and that the possibilities of continuation of the Lineage are minimal : concretely , they are based on the two Ladies here present . It is not unknown to You that in all the history of our lineage the Men of Stone have always come from the matrilineal inheritance : the message of the Pure Blood is transmitted from daughter to daughter , and only from the Ladies of Tharsis are born the Men of Stone and the Kâlibur Ladies . That is why the main priority of the Strategy to follow is to link these Ladies in marriages suitable for our purposes . This means that such marriages must be strictly under our control : everything must be expendable in favor of the family mission , even a sterile husband !
Vrunalda and Valentina nodded .
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