The Alchemist's Door by Lisa Goldstein Page A

sinful ways!” Kelley said. He was shouting now, like a preacher. “If you will hear me, and believe me, you shall triumph.”
    â€œWhat insolence is this?”
    â€œNo insolence. I repeat only what the angels say.”
    â€œAnd in what ways do I sin? Tell me.” Rudolf’s voice had gone dangerously soft.
    â€œNo.” Kelley stared boldly at the king. “Those sins should not be spoken of here.”
    â€œYou don’t know, in other words. And why not? Because there are no sins. You are nothing but a fraud, a charlatan after my gold. You must be mad if you think I reward displays like this.”
    â€œI did not come to you because of your riches,” Kelley said implacably. “I was sent to you by God.”
    â€œLeave me,” Rudolf said.
    â€œThe angel Uriel—”
    â€œLeave me! Now! Or I will have both of you arrested.” He motioned to his men-at-arms.
    â€œCome, Master Kelley,” Dee said, stuffing his things back in the velvet bag. His mind was whirling. Had they truly been visited by the angel Uriel? Did Kelley think that he could say such things to a king? Or had the demon come to wreak havoc on their lives once again? Kelley’s voice had changed a little, there at the end. They were no longer welcome at Prague Castle, that much was certain.
    Kelley continued to look at the king. Dee clutched him by the sleeve and pulled him out the door.
    Rabbi Loew was still waiting patiently. “How is the emperor?” Loew asked. “What is his mood?”

    â€œCholeric. I’m afraid we angered him.”
    â€œOh, dear,” Loew said. He stood and headed toward his audience with Rudolf.
    GONE WRONG, ALL, ALL WRONG, DEE THOUGHT. HE HAD dragged his family across Europe to this place, he had insulted one of the most powerful monarchs on earth, he had come to the notice of a potent and malign entity … .
    A terrible longing rose within him to return to England. Jane too, he knew, wanted to go home, wanted to stop their endless voyaging. But he could not afford to uproot his brood and send them traveling again, especially now that Laski had withdrawn his patronage.
    And there was another reason, though he shied away from thinking about it as much as he could. The demon had come to them in England; it knew where they lived. It was still possible that it had not yet found them in Prague.
    He stopped going out. He sat in his room in Doctor Hageck’s house and observed his household—the children’s arguments, the stenches coming from Kelley’s experiments. He continued to write in his diary but now he left out and changed a good deal. In his version it was the Lord Chamberlain who led them to King Rudolf; the servant did not make an appearance. He did not think about the reason for these changes, though he knew obscurely that they gratified his vanity.
    And underneath everything the fear ate at him, gnawing like a rat at his vitals.
    He studied his daughter closely. She seemed fine, a happy and carefree three-year-old. He worried about her nonetheless. If the demon possessed her again he would be powerless to stop it, just as he was powerless in most things.
    She was too young to question, but he asked Arthur, who was four-and-a-half, if they were unhappy or worried about
anything. Arthur looked impatient with the questions, and puzzled as well. “We’re fine,” Arthur said. He shifted from one foot to the other. “May Katherine and I go play now?”
    â€œIf anything is worrying you—”
    â€œI know how to speak Czech,” he said. “Listen.” He said something quickly: it sounded like gibberish to Dee. “Can you say that?”
    â€œNo. Listen—”
    â€œGo on. Say it.”
    â€œI can’t. Does Katherine—”
    â€œYes you can. Come on.”
    â€œArthur!” Dee said, his fear erupting into anger. The hurt look on Arthur’s face penetrated to his heart, and