"I've come to terms with myself," Anne-Christine said to
Gosseling the moment she awoke. He had been looking at her as
the first sun rays touched her. "Just as I said yesterday,
I'll go to the officer and ask him to let me bring the finds
to the King. If Lisabeth did behave stupidly, then I'll think
of with something else, but I will not return without the
Sphere. That's what I'm going for".
"You think of nothing else, don't you?" asked
Gosseling.
"No, I can't help it," said Anne, laughing.
She jumped out of bed and and walked to the water jug to
wash herself.
"Did you take advantage of me, last night?" she asked.
"Perhaps in my sleep, but you are still a virgin and
that's why I changed my mind".
"Oh, not for my sake," she said, pouring water into the
basin. "I am not a virgin by conviction, you know. It just
didn't happen, that's all, and if the French King wants me,
he'll be my man".
"That's virtually inevitable, in view of your lifestyle.
It's a miracle anyway that you got through all this unharmed,"
said Gosseling.
"Yeah, funny, isn't it?" Anne-Christine laughed. "But it
was a narrow escape sometimes. The Grand Duke fell asleep at
the last moment. Of course, I gave him a potion that made him
sleep like an ox and I allowed myself a long time to undress,
but nevertheless, it was just in time."
"You are beautiful, Anne," said Gosseling. "But I think
your mind is even more exciting than your body. That's another
reason why I remained calm last night. You fell asleep rather
soon".
"Now I'm awake and you may do anything to me that you
wanted to do last night," she said, looking at him over her
shoulder.
"You may guess a long time what that is," said Gosseling.
"Since I won't tell you now, and within an hour you'll be on
your way".
"But I'll be back, alive and kicking," said Anne-Christine, although she wasn't quite sure of that.
"I do not doubt it," said Gosseling. "But you must realize
that I will not wait for that to happen".
"Am I not good enough for you?" asked Anne-Christine
peerishly. "Other men would do anything in the world to be in
bed with me."
"Other men are other men," replied Gosseling. "You are
almost the perfect woman, but you have to mature a little
more. That's all."
Anne-Christine was furious and she threw the water from
her wash-basin over the chuckling scientist.
"Asshole! An asshole you are and I'll get you. Be sure of
that."
"Then you'll have to find me and that is even harder than
stealing the Moscuvite Glassware for the second time. You did
do that, didn't you? Be honest!" cried Gosseling as he crawled
under his blankets like a boy.
Anne-Christine hit him wherever she could.
"I'll get you, too, you lousy professor! No-one can resist
me, you hear? Nobody and certainly not you, even if you can
look right through me and even if you know what I did. I'll
find you wherever you may be and then you'll want to do
everything to me that all those other stupid men want to do.
You hear me? You hear me?"
She contimued beating the blankets until she was out of
breath.
"Oh, I am just waisting my precious time on such a
miserable, nasty, sneaky little man," she said and then
started dressing herself silently.
She went for her breakfast, where Gosseling joined her a moment later. But Anne-Christine was hurt too much and stood
up the moment he sat on the opposite chair.
"Anne, you'll be careful there at the court?," he was just
able to ask her.
"So you care for me a bit, then?" she answered in
surprise.
"Not just a bit," he said.
"That's fine," she said and kissed him on the forehead.
"And don't forget, you'll still be my victim as well, whether
you want it or not".
"Be careful and do not overestimate your capabilities,"
was the last thing he said to her before she turned and walked
out of the inn without looking back. She saddled her horse and
drove in the direction of the military camp.
What she had feared came true. That night, the historic
finds were stolen. The guard had seen Lisabeth in the camp but
hadn't paid attention to her because he didn't want to cause
his officer any trouble.
"Then I'll have to tell an unpleasant story to his
majesty," she thought, and spent the rest of the day
travelling to the royal palace.
"I've got a message for the King," she told the
sentinel.
"What kind of a message is it, from whom does it come and
who who are you?" the guard wanted to know.
"It is not a pleasant message. It's about an historic
excavation, which the King is interested in," she said, still
in her saddle.
"You'll have to wait here," the sentinel replied. He took
the horse by the bridle and knotted the rein at a ring in the
wall. Then he helped Anne-Christine to get down and took her
to a waiting-room filled with benches for visitors. Then he
went to the palace, leaving her in the company of another
guardsman.
On his return, a while later, he said: "You may go ahead,
at the end of the lane, you will find an adjutant of the King
waiting for you".
She proceeded on horseback and found the adjutant.
"You are the very officer who was near the excavation
site," she exclaimed.
"To serve you m'am," the adjutant replied, helping her
down to firm soil. "I understood that you have the results of
the work which is in progress?"
"Unfortunately not," said Anne-Christine. "But I would
prefer to discuss the latest developments with his majesty the
King himself".
"That will be difficult, since his majesty is very
occupied by his work now, but I'll see what I can do for you,"
said the adjutant. "In the meantime, you can stay here in one
of the wings of the palace, for you must be very tired after
your journey".
"How thoughtful of you," said Anne-Christine. "Perhaps his
majesty will have a few spare moments for me tomorrow".
An hour later, Anne-Christine was lying on a canopy bed in
one of the many wings of the palace. She wasn't allowed to
leave her room but she was looked after very well. She had
just been served dinner brought to her by two servants. She
wasn't hungry but had taken a few bites from all the dishes
before she tried to sleep.
Next morning, she awoke in a sorrowful mood. She knew she
had more doubts than the last time she had to cope with the
same kind of difficulty.
"Gosseling is right. I have to be careful. But, on the
other hand, you can only succeed if you are prepared to take a certain risk. I am too confused," she concluded. "If only it
was all over and I was back in Weezebeecke, with Gosseling,
Lisabeth and Ruyters. Good old Ruyters, he would worry all day
long if he knew what trouble I've got myself into".
With these thoughts spinning in her head, Anne-Christine
turned over in bed and tried to think of her friends, who
seemed further away then ever before.
Later that morning, a footman knocked at the door. She was
given breakfast and a message that she would be received by
the King within the hour.
And indeed, at the given time, a footman was sent for her
and together they walked through endless corridors before
reaching the King's room. Here, the footman left her alone and
she had to continue by herself.
Anne-Christine knocked carefully on the door, which was
opened by the King himself.
"Well, well, yet another young maiden," he said.
Anne-Christine kissed the hand he offered her and said: "I
have disappointing news for you, your majesty.
"Oh no," the King said. "The fact that you are here is
already very pleasant news".
"Thank you, your majesty," Anne-Christine replied quickly.
"But I came to tell you that the finds from the excavation in
the military camp were stolen last night".
The King didn't seem very worried. "That old rubbish?" he
said. "I don't care. Anyway, I already have the most important
object here," and he pointed towards the Crystal Sphere,
glowing and sparkling on his desk.
"When the sun shines through the crystal, it is as if a
small miracle were happening," he said. "Come and see for
yourself".
Anne-Christine dared to walk straight towards the desk. A
sunbeam from the window shone rigt on the Sphere which seemed
to sparkle and shine in a rainbow of colours. She couldn't
take her eyes off it.
The King came to stand right behind her and began to
fumble at her cloths without asking permission. Anne-Christine
allowed him to continue and kicked her shoes off. Soon, she
was fully undressed and was guided to the next room, where a
wide canopy-bed awaited her. Without asking questions, she lay
down on the bed and waited.
The King easily undressed himself and he took a small
detour by the foot of the bed. He crawled towards Anne-Christine and lay down on her. Anne-Christine tried to embrace
him when she felt that he wanted his pleasures with her, but
at that very moment the door was thrown wide open and, in a
split second, the King's face exploded before her eyes.
She heard shots and his body fell heavily on hers.
"We got him lads!" they shouted and Anne-Christine, in
great fear, saw an armed gang dashing into the King's bedroom.
As his blood poured over her face, she closed her eyes and
kept them closed even when she felt the King's body drawn away
from her.
"Look, his brains are on that gal," one shouted.
"Those are her own brains, we got both of 'em," cried
another.
It was all over almost as soon as it all had started.
However, it seemed hours before Anne-Christine dared to move
again. Finally she got up and walked to a mirror.
She saw why the rebels had not touched her. Her face was
unrecognisable because of the King's blood which was now
drying on it like a pancake. But otherwise she was
unharmed.
Anne-Christine didn't want to look at herself too long. She
began opening every door in the King's bedroom, hoping to find
a bathroom.
There was an uproar in the courtyard. Anne-Christine
peeped discreetly out of the window and saw rebels playing games with the dead King's corpse.
"I have to find a bathroom as soon as possible," she
thought. "In a moment, the army will be here to repress the
revolt and by then I must be gone".
Anne-Christine quickly left the window and tried every
remaining door of the King's bedroom. Luckily the first door
opened as she turned the handle. Inside, she found a tiled
room with a spacious bath. She stepped into it and turned the
tap fully on. The water was cold so she avoided letting it
pour directly over her body but caught it in her cupped hands
and poured it little by little over her face. With horror, she
looked at the growing pool of red water around her feet. But
she also washed her hair until nothing remained to remind her
of the drama she had just been through. As she left the bath,
she first rinsed and dried both feet.
Back in the bedroom, she walked in a large circle around
the bed without looking at it. She then inspected herself up
and down in the mirror.
"All clean," she concluded.
From outside still came the uproar of the yelling
crowd.
Peeping out carefully, Anne-Christine saw that the rebels had
found some barrels of wine, and were drinking with great
pleasure.
"In that state, they'll hang from a high tree even before
sunset," Anne-Christine thought. "I've got to get away....but
not without the Sphere!"
She grabbed her clothes and tried to dress swiftly.
"Those bows come later," she said at last.
She grabbed the Sphere and dashed out of the room. After a
long tour through the deserted corridors, she reached her
bedroom, where she found her belongings untouched.
She put the Sphere in her saddle-bag and found her way
back to the stables, where her own horse was waiting. But it
was unsaddled and so, to gain time, she took another horse
that was was ready to be mounted. She tightened the girth
firmly, mounted and spurred the horse into a gallop. Though
the stirrup-irons were not adjusted to her legs, she drove her
horse fiercely onto the courtyard where she could hardly
divert the bewildered company.
"I think I made it," she thought as she passed the
deserted sentinel's shelter. "What a madhouse!"
For a quarter of an hour, she rode at a fast speed. Then
she allowed the horse to slow down. Night had fallen when she
arrived again at the inn. The landlord told her that Lisabeth
had returned but disappeared again with Gosseling, soon
afterwards. The scientist had left a note for her, which the
landlord handed over at once.
Exhausted by all her recent emotions, she sat in a chair
to read the letter quietly. The contents were complicated. She
read it more than once and yet still could not understand it.
It was clear however that Gosseling and Lisabeth were in love
and intended to go to Upper-Mongolia together.
This news made Anne-Christine very angry, even though
Gosseling's next remarks in the letter told her why they had
made this decision. He assumed that Anne-Christine would have
regained possession of the Sphere and that she already had the
Moscuvite Crystal.
He wrote:
"The Glassware is made for you, as the Sphere is. I am
certain of that, maybe because it is fragile and yet can
resist the process of ageing. Despite its vulnerability, it
can survive centuries. The Great Powers of the Earth have
tried to use its capabilities for their own purposes, but it
gave them bad luck in return. With the Crystal, you have a
gateway to the future as well as to the past. I know that,
since I posessed the Crystal in the future. Don't put it away
in a dark locker but try to catch the light with it, as the
inscriptions on the cups indicate.
Keep on trying until you see the results. Be careful:
there is a clear warning against too much good, which you
should remember. Three pieces collected together may lead to
disaster, this warning predicts. I wish you good luck and I am
sure that the Glassware will give clear indications about how
to find me again, just like you prededicted this morning.
In the meantime Lisabeth and I will look for the power of
the Huns. This may benefit the three of us. I would prefer
doing this together with you, but I feel that she needs my
help more than you do. She is even more reckless than you.
Since I can only be in two places at once and not in three,
you'll have to take care of yourself for a while," Gosseling
ended his letter.
Anne-Christine accepted the letter for what it was. She
could hardly keep her eyes open and went to bed after she had
eaten something.
Next morning, she paid the landlord, after having eaten a
solid breakfast, and she went off to Weezebeecke with more
than one thought in her head:
"What would happen if she tried to catch the sun with the
Glassware and the Sphere? Would she discover why the Crystal
had fallen into her hands? How could Gosseling be certain that
the Crystal would inform her after being placed in the sun?
Did he know because he had posessed it in the future? How
could he write about the future as if it were the past?"
Anne-Christine reached her Castle after a few days. It was
late in the afternoon and she hoped that the sun would be
strong enough for her needs. Without changing her dress, she
hurried to the attic and looked for her Muscovite
Glassware.
She took it to the study, opened the windows and pushed a
small table just in front of them. Then she noticed what she
had seen before on the King's desk. Every piece of Glasswork
which she placed in the afternoon sun was able to separate the
sun's rays into every possible colour and intensity.
Anne-Christine was astonished how the colours changed when
she moved her head even very slighly. By the time the whole
Moscuvite Glassware had been put on the table, the glitter
from all the colours was overwhelming, but it became even more
powerful when she arranged the glasses around the decanter in
more of a circle. The sprakling colours began to hurt her
eyes. The more perfect the circle became, the more obvious it
was that this Glassware possessed very special properties.
Finally, the glow of the colours was so overwhelming that she
felt she was right in its centre and that the room around her
didn't exist anymore.
"Now the Sphere," she thought. "Where is its proper
place?"
She held it above the Glassware uncertain where to place
it, but its rightful place was evident. As if controlled by a
strange and unknown power, her hand was drawn to the
decanter.
She placed the Sphere on it and had the feeling that not
only had the room changed but that she was drawn into another
time as well. Dazzled by the colourful images that continued
to follow one another, she began to see things which she knew
didn't exist. Anyway, they could not exist in the room in
which she still had to be.
"This is Attila's hill," she said when a green wave poured
over her.
"And that's me!" she exclaimed when a giant ray of gold
blond hair just missed her. When she concentrated more, she
realized how complex the situation was. She found herself
standing next to a war lord of short statue who gave orders.
She saw him, but did not hear him. All around her, a battle
was being waged, but Attila -she presumed he was the warlord-
didn't seem very concious of what was happening. He smiled at Anne-Christine confidentially as he drank wine from the
Glasses of the Muscovite Glassware.
The battle seemed to be going well and Anne-Christine
smiled too. Sometimes a messenger came to deliver news. Attila
kept his good humour while these soldiers were coming and
going.
Then she saw a captured young Prince being led to Attila.
His hands were tied. He was still partly armed and wore a bag
over his shoulder. His clothes showed that he was not a Roman,
for Anne-Christine knew what Romans looked like.
"It must be a Prince of the Visigoths," she thought.
"Attila fought against a combined army".
At the order of the war lord, the young Prince's bag was
turned upside down and emptied. Anne felt a shiver up and down
her spine when the Crystal Sphere fell out. It was the same
Sphere which was giving her these wild images in which she was
entangled at this very moment. She saw that Attila was
fascinated by this acquisition, though he gave it to the Anne-Christine who was standing next to him. She also saw that she
thanked him for this gesture.
And then the situation suddenly changed dramatically. The
ranks of warriors defending the command hill seemed to
collapse under a storming attack by the Visigoths. Some of the
arrows and lances landed very close to her.
The captured Prince was proud of his trick. Everyone knew
how supersticious Attila was and by introducing a strange
sequence of events the great war lord was now losing his calm.
He gestured wildly, shouted contradictory orders, and then was
struck by a lance and collapsed.
He stood up again but he seemed to know now that he was
losing this battle, despite its promising start. He looked
around for his most precious belongings, including the Muscovite Crystal. Then he fought a way to safety, together with a
handful of loyal supporters, leaving Anne-Christine behind in
despair.
The Crystal Sphere slipped out of her hands and rolled
down the slope, where it was trodden into the ground by
battling soldiers. Here it would remain buried until she would
dig it up fourteen centuries later.
With the little dagger she wore at her side, she freed the
Prince from his ropes. The battle was almost over. Now that
their leader had taken to his heels, the entire Hun army had
run for shelter. Romans and Visigoths made a triumphial march
in which both the Prince and Anne-Christine participated.
Anne-Christine was completely confused. The images seemed
to follow one another at a hectic pace. She had no time to
digest them all. Sometimes she closed her eyes but, when she
opened them again, she found she had made a giant leap in
time. By thus closing her eyes, she could skip over hours or
years.
After the battle of the Catalaunic Fields, the images
showed an endless series of castles, marriages and births.
Sometimes she saw herself walking, on one occasion as a child,
on another more grown up. Now and then, she seemed to
recognise other people in the vortex of events.
When she saw her parents, she thought that the series of
images was coming to a standstill but in that she was
wrong.
She saw herself as a child, at school and playing in the
woods around Weezebeecke Castle. When the first images of
Pennickx arrived, she clapped her hands before her eyes.
"No, not again!" she heard herself cry out, loudly, and
she dared to look again only after a long pause. She
understood that she had jumped to the future. There were no
horses and carriages any more and everything was larger than
she had ever seen in her life. She could make no sense of the
buildings, the crowds of people and the ships.
She saw herself again, now accompanied by Gosseling. "That
is how I will meet him again!" it flashed through her head, but then she had seen enough. She lifted the Sphere from the
Decanter.
"Incredible," was all she could exclaim after falling into
a chair, fully exhausted. The room was still filled with
broken scenes, one after the other, but they showed no clear
pattern any more. She reached for the Carafe and placed it on
the floor in the shadow of the table.
"Incredible!" she said once more.
She did not know how long she had been sitting in the
chair for she had lost all notion of time. Eventually she
gathered enough strength to put the Crystal to a safe place.
When she returned, the room was the same old place it always
had been. Anne-Christine sat in her chair again for a while
until she couldn't stand it any longer and then jumped up.
"I'm going to see whether Ruyters is home," she told
herself.
The sun was not much lower when Anne-Christine left the
Castle on her way to the steward's house. Ruyters was coming
out with a can in his hand to water the vegetables in his
small garden.
"What a surprise, you are back!" he cried. "I do hope
everything turned out as you wished?"
"Oh yes," she answered. "But I came to ask you if you
would care to take a little stroll with me. The sunset is so
beautiful today".
"Why of course," said the old steward putting down his
watering-can. "That is quite an honour".
He offered her his arm and they started to walk along one
of the many sandy paths where Anne-Christine used to play as a
child.
"You are certain that nothing went wrong on your journey?"
he asked again, very concerned about her.
"No, nothing, but I cannot tell you all, because it is far
too complicated," she replied.
"Goodness, I am so old! If even you cannot understand it,
there is no point my even trying," Ruyters sighed. "I just
hope that you are happy".
She didn't answer immediately.
"Perhaps I think I am," she finally said.