The Mistery of Belicena Villca
Rodolfo continued speaking :
– The Circulus Domini Canis will give all of you new identities because , naturally , you will no longer return to where you were until now . The Golen should never suspect that we are alive or that any of us belongs to the lineage of Tharsis . We will only return to our names the day that we succeed in breaking the Power of the Golen , either by destroying their satanic Orders , either by strengthening the Circulus Domini Canis to the maximum . Meanwhile , we will work in secrecy within the Order of Preachers and will take care to ensure that Vrunalda and Valentina ' s marriages bear fruit .
We will not be able to return to Spain as long as there is the possibility of being discovered or recognized . We must maintain the fiction that the House of Tharsis effectively became extinct . I know that means leaving the Vraya abandoned to her fate , but that is preferable before risking a new siege of the Immortals in the Secret Cavern . Remember that many have died to keep the Wise Sword and that the Vraya will be just one more of those who will give their lives for such a noble mission . Yet one day we must return to the Secret Cavern to restore the Guard . We will have to foresee then the way to recover the heritage of the House of Tharsis . For that nothing seems better than doing the following : there is an Initiate in the Circulus Domini Canis , a young Catalan Count , who would be willing to give up the rights of his rich Mediterranean Manor , in favor of a son of Alfonso III , in exchange for the Tarseval County . I discount that the King of Portugal will grant that favour , taking into account the advantages obtained , in prestige and income , to the beneficiary of the Catalan County . Everything will be arranged by the Order , but there is something else : I have thought that this Count is the ideal consort for Vrunalda .
Here the surprise was painted on all faces . Vrunalda , a fifteen-year-old young girl , who had been a novice at Fanjeaux since the age of thirteen , redenned . Rodolfo explained his plan :
– Do not be surprised , you will soon find he is right . I understand that it must seem crazy the idea of sending Vrunalda to Spain , after the dangers I have confirmed and of the Strategy that I have proposed , but I will show you how it can be possible . If we act with caution and take a reasonable time to adjust details , for example about four years , nothing allows us to anticipate more dangers or difficulties , on the contrary , the presence of Vrunalda in the lands of The House of Tharsis is necessary for the charismatic power of the Stone of Venus to act on her seed . Of course , we will not send her unprotected , because we have the power to endow her with a new personality , whose change will hardly be noticed by the Golen . The fact is that one of the German members of the Circulus Domini Canis is a Territorial Lord vassal of the House of Swabia , a widower for many years and devoted to preaching within the order . When his wife died , this Noble entrusted us with his little nine year old daughter as a novice at the Fanjeaux monastery , who passed away three years later , more or less for the date that Vrunalda entered . I ' ve talked to him , and he agrees that Vrunalda take the place of his daughter ; he is even willing to swear that she is his legitimate descendant and to die rather than betray such oath . He will take Vrunalda to his castle in Austria and present her as his daughter , who has abandoned the religious life for having been promised to a Catalan Count . For four years he will integrate her into German customs and will supply all of the information about her recent family . I hope that after that time , Vrunalda will be able to pass for a German Lady and respond to all the interrogations about her lineage . For now , here we have already replaced the tombstones and adulterated the death certificates of the monastery , being thus who died , and was buried three years ago , would be at this time Vrunalda de Palencia . What do you think of this plan now ?
The smile lit up the faces of the Men of Stone , evidencing that they fully trusted Rodolfo ' s plan . They approved everything that he had proposed , and listened respectfully to the end of his presentation :
– With regard to Valentina , I will tell you that I have not decided anything yet and that you will have to find a husband who meets the conditions
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