Page 108 of The Last Kingdom

“I always thought what Father told me,” Albert said, “aboutdas letzte königreichwere simply stories. Fanciful tales of nonsense. But once I read the journal it became clear that Ludwig III took the notion quite seriously and actually created something real.”

Yes, the old king had.

It waits in a safe place, watched over by the Sängerkrieg, protected by the Rätselspiel, waiting for a time when we are once again revered.

“Do you know what he meant by ‘watched over by the Sängerkrieg’?” he asked Albert.

His brother smiled. “I don’t. But there are people here that do.”

Chapter 61

LUKE CHECKED HIS WATCH.

5:20P.M.

He, Toni, and Christophe had taken refuge in an underground room, just past the chapel—a storage area for cleaning supplies and other equipment. He’d hoped that nothing inside would be needed and, thankfully, no one had disturbed their solitude. The cathedral had closed nearly ninety minutes ago for some sort of private ceremony. For the past fifteen minutes the organ above had been playing.

“Let’s do it,” he said.

Toni opened the door and carefully peered out. “Looks okay.”

They fled the room and returned to the chapel. The music was louder, seeping down below from the stairway through the closed iron gate. Its deep bass tones should offer excellent cover for any noise they might make.

“But first,” Luke said, “we need to find out if that gate is locked.”

Toni climbed the stairs, hesitated a few moments, then descended and shook her head. “Closed. But not locked.”

Good.

Their escape route seemed okay. The idea was to open the burial vault and retrieve the pocket watch Fenn had said should be there. Also, if they came across anything else “out of the ordinary” they should remove that too. Really? Out of the ordinary inside a one-hundred-year-old decayed body? Everything about this screamed trouble. Yet Christophe seemed oblivious to anything. Toni, on the other hand, had tossed him enough looks that he realized she also smelled trouble. Regardless, once done, they should be able to leave by blending in with whatever was happening upstairs. The only glitch would come if whatever was happening included a visit down here.

“Okay,” Christophe said. “You said this wasn’t going to be a problem. Show me.”

He stepped over to the five burial vaults.

“Give me a hand,” he said to Christophe. “Lexi, keep an eye up those stairs for any visitors.”

She nodded and remained at the bottom of the stone risers as he and Christophe turned their attention to the square engraved slab that sealed the final resting place of Ludwig III. He’d not been able to get extra close earlier with all the people around. But now he saw that his hunch was right. The stone was not mortared to the wall. Instead a gap existed, indicating that it was a separate piece. He saw that Christophe likewise understood. They each worked on a side, wedging their fingers into the gap and wiggling the stone outward. It took effort but there was enough play to allow them to work a steady back-and-forth until they could get a solid grip on the outer lid, sliding it out ever so slowly. Together, one on each side, they freed the cap and set it on the floor.

“That was heavy,” Christophe said.

Yes, it was.

Luke stood back up and stared into the receptacle.

Empty. No coffin. No body.

Nothing.

Oh, crap.

This was worse than he’dthought.

* * *

COTTON STOOD AT NEUSCHWANSTEIN’S CRENELLATED GATEWAY ANDnoticed the stone figure of a dog above one of the doors. Beneath it was an inscription.BEI TAG UND NACHT, DIE TREUE WACHT.Faithfulness keeps guard by day and night. The phrase included in the riddle Dianne McCarter had provided to him.

“Looks like we’re in the right place,” he said.

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