The Vessel of Ra

Chapter 11: The Circle

Early morning sun lit up the ruined apothecary windows, but inside was still a dim gray. Drusus floated himself and Lucy to the floor. "This is where I've been hiding," said Lucy.

"Why?" Drusus peered around. "You said something about a scroll. There's nothing here."

Lucy knelt on the floor and smoothed the scroll out. "Here," she said. "This is the way I might not have to fight Ra." She picked it up. "Can you see it now?"

Drusus leaned over it. "Where did this come from?"

"There is library behind the shelves. Go take a look."

Drusus disappeared behind the stone wall. "There's nothing here, Lucy," he called back.

"I think it's visible only by special invitation." Lucy studied her translation. Could she make Drusus understand? "You can't see it? I thought you might be able to. Carlo couldn't see it either."

"Carlo?"

"He saved me." Lucy stood. Should she tell him or not? "I fell into the canal and he pulled me out."

"You fell into the canal?"

"I... yes. That's right." She knelt and smoothed the scroll again. Changing the subject might be best. "This scroll details a ceremony which will separate a demon from a Binder." She glanced back to the ruined shop and the circle of books around the tuffet, plucked a large volume from among them, and motioned to Drusus. "Come see."

Drusus crouched next to the scroll. "I don't recognize the characters."

"Demotic," said Lucy. "Napoleon's soldiers were kind enough to make this dictionary after they discovered the Rosetta Stone." She pointed to the French names on an inside page of the guide.

"You understand this?"

"Yes. Hieroglyphs are plentiful in the family histories. This middle language I can guess at. It's close to hieroglyphics, so I can make out the content of this scroll. I know French, so reading the dictionary was easy." Lucy drew in the dust with a finger. "I don't claim my translation is grammatical, but I believe I have the shape of it."

"When did you translate this?"

"Last night."

"Amazing." He glanced from Lucy to the scroll. "Octavia is sure you're the weakest magician in your family. You can do something like this overnight, having never seen a language?"

Lucy's cheeks tinted blue. "Carlo can learn a language just by hearing it."

"Lucy, it's unseemly for you to call someone I don't know by their first name. I can't approve."

Lucy smiled. "You wouldn't approve at all. He's Venetian. I like him. He feels familiar." Lucy took a deep breath. "Drusus, I intend to use this scroll to separate Ra and myself."

"It can't be that easy," said Drusus.

"This scroll was written by the goddess Isis, or so it claims. Isis intended to use this scroll to trick her Binder into separating from her, and it is only good for one time."

"Isis is a demon? Like Ra?"

"Yes." Lucy paused, tongue in cheek. "No." She watched Ra land on the dome. "I believe Isis and Ra are deposed gods, or what people thought were gods. King Solomon banished them to the Abyss."

"You want to set Ra free?"

"Yes." She studied her feet. "Don't you suppose it is our moral imperative? Not to keep someone a prisoner against their will?"

"Ra would keep you a prisoner if what Octavia says is to be believed."

"Maybe. But I am not Ra."