“It was probably important to the painter to represent Sigismund as the lesser of the two men,” August said. “Charlemagne deserved a more favorable portrayal as the very first Rex Romanorum. Which brings us back to the eagle. As you can see, the Holy Roman Empire used the eagle as their symbol.”

Shields emblazoned with the eagle’s image hung over both Charlemagne’s and Sigismund’s heads. It was the same as the eagle in the illumination.

“So it appears that Gutenberg is trying to connect everything,” August said. “The illuminations point to the kings, the Holy Roman Empire . . . as well as the Orphans and the Order of the Dragon.”

“But you still haven’t figured out what connects them,” Xandria said.

“Maybe the next illumination will shed some light,” August said.

“Ten minutes left.”

“It’s not enough time.”

“It never is, is it?”

August carefully peeled through the Bible, stopping at the book of Daniel, the final stop of the hour. Only ten minutes left. Probably nine now. At least the image was fairly straightforward.

Six—The Lions’ Den

A single initial—the letter A—fitted with a memorable scene: a man, presumably Daniel, fixed between two snarling lions.

“It’s pretty self-explanatory,” August said. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary yet.”

He rolled the story of Daniel in the lions’ den around in his mind, looking for a clue. From what he could remember, God shut the mouths of the lions to protect Daniel. He inspected the illumination. Yes, it appeared that the lions’ mouths were closed.

So why was Daniel afraid? The Daniel in the illumination was clearly frightened, covering his mouth and looking worrisomely at the lions surrounding him. This was a faithless Daniel. Interesting, but certainly not the crucial piece of information he was searching for.

“Five minutes.”

“I know, I know . . . ,” August muttered. And then he saw it, like a light emerging from a mist. “Amazing. Again, the key is with the animals.”

Xandria glanced at the illumination, keeping her watch up and in clear view. “The lions? Yeah, I saw those.”

“No. Something else. Let your mind drift away from the obvious.”

She looked again at the image on the page. The illustration of Daniel and the lions was set within the bottom arch of the initial A, which was yellow-green and branched into a series of vines and bulbous flowers, flowing out in shades of purple and blue. August pointed to a spot of gold in the A and, following it, to a new set of characters that emerged from the field of green: an old man, holding a small creature with a flat nose and tiny pointed ears.

“What is it?”

“A hedgehog, another medieval sign of wickedness. Legend said that the hedgehog shook grapes from the vine and carried them away on his spines. People believed that the devil did the same thing with men’s souls.”

“And the man holding the hedgehog?”