Blood Prize by Grace Ken

Author:Grace, Ken [Grace, Ken]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Maktub It Is Written
Published: 2014-01-30T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty Eight

The chairman scrutinised the other six dapper men sitting around the table. They appeared grotesque, with old stone-hard faces, beak like noses and enormous jowls. Their horrible expressions amused him. They reminded him of a sentry of gargoyles, employed by the Church to scare away the devil and all of his imps.

I know your collective mind.

Their eyes and lower jaws appeared to be the only part of their anatomy to move; each making use of a stiff demeanour and a formal set of manners, as a well-constructed facade.

You can’t hide your black hearts from me.

Their stoic faces disguised all thought from those that didn’t know better; concealing any hint of emotion.

Good. They honour their true Gods; money, power and title.

He felt relieved. The group cast their vote and to a man, they agreed, but the chairman knew that none felt happy with the decision.

None could refuse such an offer, but the cost …?

The price meant granting a monster the power to rule the spiritual world. In return, they elevated themselves to the summit of Mount Olympus; he like Zeus and six other man-made Gods to rule the physical world as they liked, yet each man suffered his decision with anxious unease, like smelling wood-smoke deep within a forest.

With a slight tilt of his head, Antonio Costa, Chairman of the Assembly of the True Faith, motioned for his assistant to attend him.

“Keep the cardinal waiting. A little stress might minimise the cost of our negotiations.”

Antonio turned and concentrated on the other six members of the Assembly. Breaking a long-standing protocol, he revealed his palpable distaste for the cardinal to every member of the gathering.

He smiled at their astonished expressions.

“You see my feelings on this matter, gentlemen, as I clearly know yours.”

He spat the words at them, like unwanted phlegm.

“I have no doubt that the man can deliver his promise, but we will need to perform miracles to keep him in line. If we give our power to this black-hearted cardinal, we will no longer be behind the scenes. Instead, we’ll be exposed in our holy quest, for all to see.”

Antonio held back his smile, as the small balding man rose to address the board. Secretly he considered him the antagonist of the group; the one bringing hostility to the table at every opportunity.

“This is a perilous situation. What do you propose, Mr Chairman?”

“I propose nothing. I am just stating the obvious. When this endeavour begins, we will have to control the environment like never before. This means eliminating any opposing us. We must take every measure to win our rightful place in God’s plan for humanity, despite the probable toll. Remember gentleman, men have fought many wars for God. Body counts don’t matter, only victory does.”

“And how will we control the cardinal?”

“With all of our means. He can’t pass wind unless we have caused it to happen.”

“Mr Chairman, is this feasible? Once he holds the high ground, it will be much more difficult to apply our influence.”

“We have the man-power inside the Vatican.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.