Again, Damien didn't hesitate for an instant. ‘The credit,' he said, 'usually goes to Pope Leo I, for his diplomatic skill. But the real reason was lack of provisions-‘ Here Damien hesitated, and for a moment Budman thought the boy was stumped. But in his mind's eye, Damien had come up against the ugly vision of venereal disease, and he was simply trying to find the most diplomatic way to explain it. Finally he said, 'And the Army came down with, uh... a pestilence.'

A few of the cadets caught the meaning, tact or no tact, and snickered. Damien blushed.

The chaplain was furious. 'Quiet!' he shouted at the class. Then, turning back to Damien, he decided he'd better trip the boy up on hard facts and get this embarrassing confrontation over with.

'What was Attila's date of birth?'

'Unknown, sir,’ Damien said.

'Date of rule?’

'From 445 to 453 A.D., sir. He died of a nasal hemorrhage while... uh... celebrating his last marriage.' This time the entire class broke up.

'Shut up!' the chaplain screamed, his self-esteem shaken. He moved closer to Damien and said, directly into the boy's face, as if daring him to answer, 'What was his brother's name?’

'Bleda,' Damien said, but again he didn't stop with the simple answer. Suddenly, he burned with the bright, fierce light of a knowledge he hadn't even known he possessed. His eyes glowed. The power of his presence blazed and pulsated visibly in the tiny classroom. Damien knew, and yet he did not know how he knew, everything there was to know about Attila the Hun. And not just the facts, either. He was as though he could see inside Attila's head. He knew his thoughts, his dreams, his wildest fantasies, and he was as certain they were true as if they'd been his own. It was as though he had known Attila in a previous life.

Or, perhaps, been him.

'Attila and his brother Bleda inherited the Hun empire in 434 A.D.,' Damien went on. 'It extended from the Alps and the Baltic to the Caspian Sea.' He spread his arms wide like an emperor. 'The two brothers were inseparable,' Damien continued, fixing his eyes on Mark. The power of his gaze made Mark shiver involuntarily. 'Between the years 435 and 439, although there aren't any records of it, it's assumed Attila subdued the barbarians in the northern and eastern ends of his empire.' He stopped and looked at Budman. 'Shall I go on?' he asked.

But there was no stopping Damien now, and the chaplain knew it. He was both amazed and terrified by the boy, but something told him to let the scene play out. He nodded for Damien to go on.