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Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 84
During his next visit to Rome, Stefanio unexpectedly met Roberto Bantini at the Quirinal Palace.“Owl,” Stephanio rushed to him and then noticed that the old friend was dressed in cardinal clothes. The Bishop stood up in amazement, as if rooted to the spot.“Yes, yes,” Roberto smiled, “now I am a cardinal and I live here in Rome.“Congratulations,” Stephanio said sincerely. Of course, he felt a little annoyed that Bantini was ahead of him, but in fact he was glad for his friend. It's strange that I haven't heard about it.- Really weird. Where you stopped?- Cardinal Dethy's.Why not Mario? I heard he got married...“I don’t want to disturb the young ones,” Stephanio laughed.- Well, next time I ask you to me.- Well, since you are in Rome now, then, of course, I will not pass by.***“My dear Andrea, the unfortunate brother Siro writes to you. I still live in Mantua with a few servants, and my position is unenviable. However, I took up the pen not to upset you with the details of my
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 85
Dr. Gold sighed raggedly, his lips trembling.“Wait a second, John, now I’ll catch my breath and continue. I'm sorry, it's hard to remember.“Of course I understand,” the vicar nodded hastily.Ten minutes passed before Gold spoke again:- At first I was going to call on Roberto Bantini to inform him of what had happened and change clothes. But when Algardi told the details of the case, I decided not to waste time and immediately went to the inquisitorial tribunal.However, the gatherings refused to let me in: by the evening, if there were no urgent interrogations, the priests and secretaries dispersed. I tried to convince them, explained that I was the Bishop of Trevi and I needed to see a prisoner on urgent business, but they only laughed, because I was in secular clothes.Desperate, I was about to go to Bantini's to change into a cassock and return again, but at that moment the heavy sashes of the window above our heads parted and a voice was heard from above:- Let him go.The guar
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 86
Istvan crossed the ocean for the first time. However, outwardly, he could not find any differences from the Mediterranean Sea, along which he sailed a hundred years ago on the Starfish. The same boundless water surface, closing on the horizon with the sky, the same waves with cheerful foamy lambs and a light breeze.Listening to the creaking of the masts and the flapping of the sails in the wind, Istvan recalled the years spent on the Starfish, the brave and loving Blanca, the adventures in Tangier, the attack of the pirates. Why does fate take away everyone he loves from him?The priest stood at the side of the brig, licking his lips, salty from sea spray, and thought, thought, thought ... After the murder of Calvo, he did not have time to comprehend what had happened, but now, on the way, the pain from the loss of his son returned with renewed vigor. "My poor Mario! It's terrible to think what they did to you!" Istvan also had other thoughts: "None of my children lived to be twenty
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 87
At the end of the fourth month of the journey in the water of the Amazon, Istvan noticed distinct streams of light. At one of the camps, he drew the attention of the captain to them, and Don Teixeira cheerfully replied:“This is the waters of Madeira, Father. Believe it or not, here each river has its own color, and for many leagues ahead the streams do not mix.“So we’ll reach the tributary soon?”- Take your time, - the captain laughed, - we will sail to Madeira for at least a week.He wasn't wrong. Only ten days later, on the left of the course, they saw a wide tributary, carrying its golden waters to the Amazon. It seemed to István that the bed of the river had split in two, but Sebastian Gomes, to whom he addressed the question, shook his head.No, this is Madeira.Directly opposite the mouth, travelers noticed a group of islands with sandy shores. This is where the expedition dropped anchor.“We’ll spend the night here,” Don Pedro informed the chief helmsman, “and in the morning
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 88
Several days have passed, but nothing has changed. In the mornings, the old doctor came, examined the prisoner's chest and nodded, in every possible way showing that everything was going well. Isstvan's wound had healed, his weakness was almost gone, and he felt great. Only the constant expectation of death unnerved and unsettled. But the Indians did not touch him. From time to time one of them came into the hut, asked something, tried to explain, but Istvan did not understand a word.He lay for days on end, remembering Agnieszka, Lucrezia, Mario... He saw them equally distant, almost unreal. Here, under a roof of skins, it was almost impossible to believe that his life in Europe was a reality. Istvan was separated from her by thousands of kilometers, but it seemed like thousands of years.That morning, as usual, the same girl woke him up, she brought breakfast. Istvan ate the corn porridge with pleasure, washed it down with a tart, cloudy liquid, and took up the Bible again. But with
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 89
Religion occupied a huge place in the life of the tribe. Everywhere in the village and beyond there were so-called waki - sacred things and places. Uakoy could be anything - a bunch of stones stacked in a special way, a rock, a hill, a stream, a spring, an idol carved from wood, like standing on a kurikancha. The Indians carefully looked after all the Huacas. A special place of worship was Nayakuna Pirka - a long stone wall built to the east of the village, which consisted of separate cavities. In them, the inhabitants of the village buried the dead, closing each niche with a wooden door.As Istvan mastered Quechua, he learned more and more about the views of the Indians.“There are three worlds around us,” said Sampa Anka, “underground, earthly and divine. The underworld, Uku Pacha, is ruled by the ferocious god of death, Supai. All dead, unborn babies, some snakes, worms and seeds live there. In the earthly world, Kai Pacha, we are people, but also animals, birds, plants and ghosts.
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 90
Listening to the leader, Istvan could not recover from amazement. So the Templars were in the West Indies long before Señor Columbus?“The Order was rich,” he reflected, “and could well equip an expedition to search for new lands. The Templars sailed here and found huge reserves of silver and gold. So that's where the legends about the untold wealth of the order came from! Some came to rule the Incas, others left, taking away priceless treasures on ships. And then what? They returned forever ... Probably, it was under Philip the Handsome, who banned the order and arrested everyone he could find. But many Templars escaped and lived here until their deaths. Why didn't they leave offspring? Posing as gods? Of course, they were monks! They could not have intercourse with women and remained faithful to their vow even in such conditions. How many times have I broken my vow of chastity? Eh..."This discovery shocked Istvan. All his knowledge of the history of the conquest of the West Indies
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 91
Returning to his room, Istvan was lost in thought. Let's say the evil Aya Naya really kills the Indians, but how and why? However, the methods may be different, for example, to send damage. For what purpose does he do this? And, most importantly, why do corpses disappear? Perhaps the spirit of the deceased raises his body and takes him somewhere? No, what nonsense!Isstvan's mind was in confusion. But he was a man of action, and therefore he soon questioned the leader and his son about all the details. It turned out that the bodies disappear on the third night after the funeral.When an old man died two weeks later at the other end of the village, Istvan decided to follow his grave.“This is unreasonable, brother,” Apu Uma admonished him, “and very dangerous. Only Viracocha knows what happens when the body disappears. Suddenly all living things around perish?“Believe me, Great Leader, I will find out the truth,” Isstvan replied grimly. “I don’t want an incomprehensible curse weighing