Deadman's Blood by T. Lynne Tolles Page A

table. Devon said, “With the animals on it, it reminds me of a coat of arms.”
    “Exactly. I think it is a coat of arms of some kind,” Dominic said.
    “And this symbol where the four animals meet, what is it? It looks like a stick-figure king,” Devon pointed out.
    “You are very perceptive, Devon. I was puzzled by it too, but I think I figured it out. I think it is the royal seal of the four courts combined. If you look closely, it seems to be made up of letters. A ‘W’ on top of an “M” make up the body of the king. The head of the king seems to be made by a “D” laying on its side with the flat side down. An “L” on its side seems to make up part of the crown. Granted, it is primitive, but all four letters are there,” Dominic explained.
    “Interesting. So two arms point to two animals above and the two legs point to the other two animals. So each animal represents one of the brothers?” Devon asked.
    “Yes, Wallace is the wolf, Larsen is the lion, Mathew is the eagle, and Douglas represents the bear,” Dominic said.
    As he handed the artifact to his left, Josh grabbed it with just a little force and Devon noticed one of the symbols move near where the stick figure seal’s right arm pointed just below the eagle.
    Devon said, “Did you see that, Josh?”
    Josh answered, “I didn’t see it, but I felt something move.”
    Devon held out his hand, “May I?”
    He examined it closer and saw that there were four small spots at the ends of the stick figures’ hands and feet that seemed to move slightly. “I don’t think this is just a coat of arms, Dominic. I think it is a puzzle box or container of some sort. I had been handling it so gently that I didn’t notice before, but there seems to be something inside it.”
    “How fascinating,” Dominic said as he got up from his seat to look over Devon’s shoulder.
    “Maybe it’s a combination,” Josh said.
    Devon said excitedly, “Of course. That’s exactly what it is, Josh. Dominic, who was the first born brother?”
    Dominic looked in his notes. “Umm, the first born was...Wallace.”
    “And he’s the wolf, right?” Devon confirmed.
    “Yes.”
    Devon touched just below the right leg where the wolf was. “And the second?” Devon asked.
    “The second is Douglas and he is…the bear,” Dominic relayed.
    Devon touched just below the left leg where the bear was, then asked, “Okay, the third?”
    “The third is Mathew and he is...the eagle,” Dominic answered.
    Devon touched just above the right arm of the seal stick figure pointing to the eagle.
    Dominic said, “And the last is Larsen, the lion.”
    “Right,” said Devon and pushed above the left arm, under the lion. A tiny mechanical click sounded and one end of the fluted, hand-carved cylindrical artifact popped open.
    Devon handed the artifact carefully to Dominic, who was as giddy as a little kid being presented with a puppy. “Here, Dominic, you do the honors.”
    He smiled and took it out of Devon’s hand as if it was a piece of blown glass and slowly walked to his seat, never taking his eyes off of the object.
    Dean said, “What’s in it already? I’m about ready to jump out of my skin over here, Dominic.”
    Dominic heartily laughed; he truly loved Dean’s sense of humor and his child-like excitement. Dominic took a deep breath and slid the contents out into his other hand. It too was cylindrical and ornately etched with bears, wolves, eagles, and lions; and the now familiar stick man adorned a circle area in the middle. It had jewels here and there and appeared to be pure silver with delicate filigree between the animals. Each end of the cylinder was decorated with what Dominic thought were caps that were bulbish in shape and ended in a point, like an onion dome or Russian castle roof.
    Darby said, “My God. It’s so beautiful, but what is it?”
    “I believe it is a scroll case.” He carefully removed one of the ends to reveal a piece of ancient parchment. He