“Definitely not,” August said. “For two reasons: First, he has his left hand raised. He should be saluting with his right hand, which was called the weapon hand. Second, even if it were a rare left-hand salute, the sword should be lowered. This sword stands high and ready for battle.”

“What does it mean?”

“His left hand is in a position that suggests he’s offering something. Combined with the sword, it could mean that he’s offering something for battle. Or in exchange for a battle,” August said, thinking aloud. “Say the Order of the Dragon has something—a secret, or a treasure—something they hold in exchange for war? It’s like Vlad Dracul is saying, ‘Choose one, the sword or the secret.’”

“I’ll take the secret.”

“Me too. And hopefully the next two images will tell us the rest of the story.”

He shuffled the images on the screen, bringing into view the next illumination. The ox was set in the lower outpost of the initial L, which was rendered mostly in ruby- and rose-reds and blossomed with emerald- and sapphire-colored vines. The ox itself was portrayed in a warm chocolate, decorated with two ivory horns atop its head. Most curious was the banner emblazoned with a Latin word, lumen, which the ox pinned down with its left hoof.

“The ox was the symbol for Saint Luke,” August said.

“The four evangelists had symbols?”

“Yes,” August said. “Saint Matthew was represented by a man, because his book starts with Jesus’ genealogy and, therefore, his place in human history. Saint Mark was represented by a lion, which corresponded with Jesus’ kingship. Saint John was represented by an eagle, which we saw earlier, signifying the lofty nature of his poetic story of Jesus. And Saint Luke, which we see here, was represented by the ox, a symbol—almost universally—for sacrifice,” August said.

“It sounds like there’s nothing too odd about the ox, if it’s in keeping with the usual symbolism for Saint Luke.”

August tapped his finger on the screen. “No,” he said. “There’s one thing that’s off here.”

“What?”

“The reason the gospel writers were represented by a man, a lion, an eagle, and an ox was because of a passage from the book of Revelation,” August said. “Let me read you something from the Gutenberg.”

Xandria retrieved the great book and handed it to him.

August flew through the pages to the last book, the Apocalypse of Saint John. He turned to chapter 4 and read the words to his audience of one. “Et in conspectu sedis tamquam mare vitreum simile cristallo et in medio sedis et in circuitu sedis quattuor animalia plena oculis ante et retro. Et animal primum simile leoni et secundum animal simile vitulo et tertium animal habens faciem quasi hominis et quartum animal simile aquilae volanti.”

Xandria tapped a foot. “You have about twenty minutes left.”