Read Online The Adept by Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Katherine Kurtz, Deborah Turner Harris
Ads: Link
part of him preferred to believe that it all was literally true in some way he could not begin to explain.
As a compromise, he permitted himself to function as if it were true, simply accepting and using the insights he ‘sometimes received from his “previous selves,” because they usually worked—even if the methods he employed often did not square with his medical, training or blunt logic, much less his affiliation with the religious establishment to which he gave generous support.
Meanwhile, more tangible proofs confirmed that Sir Adam Sinclair, Baronet, did have ancestral ties, at least, to the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem. The tower house awaiting restoration in the north field had been in the Sinclair family for at least five hundred years—a former Templar site, as, indeed, were most places in Scotland with “temple” in the name. It was Templemor, not Strathmourne, from which the Sinclair family took their baronial title. And it was said that Templar blood ran in the Sinclair line as well, from the dark times after the Order had been suppressed nearly everywhere except Scotland.
At this remove, some of the historical “proofs” Were hazy, of course—not that it really mattered. Some truths simply were. And the ultimate truth about the Templars, which even history books: tended to substantiate—and which Adam’s heart had never doubted—was that the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem had pursued a course of single-minded devotion to the defense of hallowed ground and the guardianship of secret truths, many suffering burning martyrdom rather than betray what the Order held sacred. And though a fourteenth-century King of France had set out to destroy the Order, hoping to gain possession of their legendary wealth, he was never to know that the greatest, treasure of the Templars lay not in gold, but in knowledge . . .
Knowledge. Peregrine Lovat seemed to have it—though it was clear that he did not know what he had. Thoughtful, Adam returned his attention to the young man’s work. Behind the scribbling, the second sketch showed the same strength of determination as the first, but the face was clean-shaved and hawk-visaged, framed in lappets of boldly striped linen. The tall headpiece Peregrine had sketched above the linen was the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, incorporating a solar disk set between tall ostrich plumes—the adornment of an Egyptian high priest.
No longer really seeing the sketch, Adam turned slightly to gaze into the fire, The second drawing was far more startling than the Templar Knight had been, for it depicted the most vivid of Adam’s far memories. He wondered, briefly, what other faces Peregrine might have sketched, had Adam not stopped him.
The boy had the gift, though. There was no doubting that. The question was, who was Peregrine Lovat, that he should possess the ability to penetrate beyond the mask of matter and see another’s soul, especially that of one trained as Adam had been trained? The answer to that question might well have far-reaching consequences, not only for Peregrine, but for Adam and his associates as well.
He turned to regard the young artist for a long moment, reaching deep inside himself for guidance on how to proceed. Peregrine was sitting quietly, hands lying gently cupped in his lap, the eyes closed behind the wire-rimmed spectacles, but Adam had some doubt that the level of trance was deep enough for what he had in mind to do next. Setting the pad on the mantel, he decided to find out how good a hypnotic subject Peregrine was.
“Peregrine,” he said quietly, “I’d like to take this a step further, if I may. Will you trust that what I ask is only for your well being?”
At the younger man’s drowsy affirmative, Adam reached down and gently removed the glasses, so he could monitor better by watching the eyelids.
“Just keep your eyes closed now,” Adam directed, “I’ve taken off your glasses so you can be more comfortable.
As a compromise, he permitted himself to function as if it were true, simply accepting and using the insights he ‘sometimes received from his “previous selves,” because they usually worked—even if the methods he employed often did not square with his medical, training or blunt logic, much less his affiliation with the religious establishment to which he gave generous support.
Meanwhile, more tangible proofs confirmed that Sir Adam Sinclair, Baronet, did have ancestral ties, at least, to the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem. The tower house awaiting restoration in the north field had been in the Sinclair family for at least five hundred years—a former Templar site, as, indeed, were most places in Scotland with “temple” in the name. It was Templemor, not Strathmourne, from which the Sinclair family took their baronial title. And it was said that Templar blood ran in the Sinclair line as well, from the dark times after the Order had been suppressed nearly everywhere except Scotland.
At this remove, some of the historical “proofs” Were hazy, of course—not that it really mattered. Some truths simply were. And the ultimate truth about the Templars, which even history books: tended to substantiate—and which Adam’s heart had never doubted—was that the Knights of the Temple of Jerusalem had pursued a course of single-minded devotion to the defense of hallowed ground and the guardianship of secret truths, many suffering burning martyrdom rather than betray what the Order held sacred. And though a fourteenth-century King of France had set out to destroy the Order, hoping to gain possession of their legendary wealth, he was never to know that the greatest, treasure of the Templars lay not in gold, but in knowledge . . .
Knowledge. Peregrine Lovat seemed to have it—though it was clear that he did not know what he had. Thoughtful, Adam returned his attention to the young man’s work. Behind the scribbling, the second sketch showed the same strength of determination as the first, but the face was clean-shaved and hawk-visaged, framed in lappets of boldly striped linen. The tall headpiece Peregrine had sketched above the linen was the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, incorporating a solar disk set between tall ostrich plumes—the adornment of an Egyptian high priest.
No longer really seeing the sketch, Adam turned slightly to gaze into the fire, The second drawing was far more startling than the Templar Knight had been, for it depicted the most vivid of Adam’s far memories. He wondered, briefly, what other faces Peregrine might have sketched, had Adam not stopped him.
The boy had the gift, though. There was no doubting that. The question was, who was Peregrine Lovat, that he should possess the ability to penetrate beyond the mask of matter and see another’s soul, especially that of one trained as Adam had been trained? The answer to that question might well have far-reaching consequences, not only for Peregrine, but for Adam and his associates as well.
He turned to regard the young artist for a long moment, reaching deep inside himself for guidance on how to proceed. Peregrine was sitting quietly, hands lying gently cupped in his lap, the eyes closed behind the wire-rimmed spectacles, but Adam had some doubt that the level of trance was deep enough for what he had in mind to do next. Setting the pad on the mantel, he decided to find out how good a hypnotic subject Peregrine was.
“Peregrine,” he said quietly, “I’d like to take this a step further, if I may. Will you trust that what I ask is only for your well being?”
At the younger man’s drowsy affirmative, Adam reached down and gently removed the glasses, so he could monitor better by watching the eyelids.
“Just keep your eyes closed now,” Adam directed, “I’ve taken off your glasses so you can be more comfortable.
Similar Books
