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PROLOGUE
“The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.”
Revelation 12, 9
600 AD.
His every step echoed like a thunderclap through the former family home. In Gregor's childhood, it was a home filled with warmth and love, but it has now turned into a monastery of order and brotherhood. Not what he had imagined. But what else could he do but bow to what was unalterable.
Less than ten years ago, a man knocked on the door of his monastery one day and made him an offer he could not refuse. Gregor was a monk at the time and had dedicated his life and his home to Christianity. However, any lack of worldly goods could not protect him from the lust for power that overcame him when the stranger proposed his deal. The papacy in return for his support in implementing countless plans for a brotherhood. Of course, all in the spirit of Christianity, which the Knights of John served.
He was not familiar with the order's name, so he accepted the offer without a care in the world. The thought of the office of Pope was not absurd to him, as his great-grandfather had gone down in history as Pope Felix II.
When the Brotherhood's first demands arrived, he realized how wrong he had been. Even Pope Gregory the Great had no way of escaping their clutches. If he had thought he could take on a small brotherhood, he soon realized that the Knights of John had risen underground to form a secret state, and their spies could be found in all high positions in Rome.
He, who understood the message of God as one of love and charity and lived by it, wanted to spread the word of the Lord accordingly, but the Knights saw things differently. In disgust at his own person and the deal he had made at the time, he had had Sardinia forcibly converted to Christianity over a year ago. The guilt he had brought upon himself with this order weighed heavily, and every evening, he pleaded in his prayers for a short life so he would be spared the order to commit further atrocities.
Gregor's belly blazed with anger —a feeling he had never felt in all his years as a monk, like hatred, resentment, and envy. But the conversation he had just had with the very man who had offered him the office of Pope sat deep in his heart and destroyed everything he believed in.
Sighing, he paused briefly to collect himself. As on any other day, he was expected in the dining hall to carry out his duties as he would without the Brotherhood breathing down his neck. With charity.
He hurried on, and as soon as he opened the door to the small hall, he was Gregory the monk again. Twelve of Rome's needy sat at his long stone table to dine with him as usual. Each time, it was a different woman or man with whom he talked, listening to their worries and needs so he could help where he could.
Today's guests were hardly any different from those of the previous days. The food and wine had already been served, and he took his place at the table. Those present greeted him friendly and respectfully, and talked, ate, and drank. He had made a habit of reciting stories from the Bible after the communal meal. Today, he chose the excerpt from the Holy Scriptures in which Jesus proclaimed: The kingdom of God is at hand, and in it all people are equal.
Was it a rebellion against his subservience to the Brotherhood? He didn't know, but it had been the same issue his counterpart had called parasites of the Christian faith half an hour ago. Equal rights, as Jesus had envisioned, no longer existed within Christianity anyway. Where women had once led congregations, taught, and spread the word of God, men now claimed sole rights to positions in the Church. The new people of God had become a church of men.
"But Christianity without women?" he murmured furtively to himself.
"Just as unthinkable as a pope without power, isn't it, Gregor?" a dark voice suddenly resounded. The Pope raised his eyes and saw an unknown man step out of a circle of light. It had to be an angel of God.
It became quiet around him. No one dared to make a single sound. All the guests paused in their movements as if frozen.
"Do not be afraid, children of God," the angel now said gently. "This meal will be blessed, and you and your descendants will be blessed from now on."
The men and women threw themselves gratefully at his feet as he walked slowly towards the Pope.
Gregor knew that a different fate awaited him, and fear ran through him at the sight of the angel, whose long black hair lay over his shoulders and who gazed at him with shining blue eyes. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead, and the room seemed too small.
"Come on, Gregor, let's walk in your garden."
The Pope rose wordlessly and followed the messenger of God out into the fresh air and the hot Roman sun.
"We know about your agreement with the Knights of John," the dark-haired man told him in no uncertain terms. "You are not the first to fall for their offers and patriarchal beliefs. Almost 230 years ago, we were unfortunately unable to intervene when the canon of the Bible was established, and only the gospels written by men about men were selected. Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria was already too deeply entangled in the machinations of the Brotherhood and, therefore, no longer amenable to reason. But with you..." The angel looked at him critically from the side. "With you, dear Gregor, we have not yet given up hope."
"Then you also know I am not a strong man. I cannot escape their will," the Pope stammered nervously. His back was now soaked with sweat from the heat and the fear that was throbbing inside him like an infected ulcer.
Unexpectedly fast, the angel's face shot in his direction and stopped just before his. The blue eyes now resembled fires that could devour him at any moment.
"Then tell us your price, venal human," growled the stranger.
The Pope's thoughts only flitted briefly to his evening prayers. An untimely but painless death.
A cruel grin formed around the angel's lips. "So, it's true? This is your fondest wish?"
The churchman nodded silently, horrified that his visitor knew his thoughts and deepest secrets.
The angel's face slowly withdrew, and a thoughtful expression crossed his beautiful face.
