“It’ll tell us a lot if we have Jordan’s painting tested. We already know the one at Warrior’s Peak and Brad’s were done more than five hundred years apart. We need to know where Jordan’s fits in.”

“Fifteenth century.”

Flynn turned his head, stared at Jordan. “You had it dated already?”

“A couple years after I bought it. I needed to get some stuff insured. Turned out it was worth several times what I paid for it. Kinda weird when you think of it, as The Gallery’s got a rep for being pricey.”

“Why’d you buy it?” Brad asked him.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve asked myself that. I don’t even know why I went in there that day. It wasn’t one of my usual stops. Then I saw it, and it just grabbed me. That moment, that breath just before destiny, between innocence and power. He’ll pull the sword free. You know it. And in that moment, the world changes. Camelot’s born, Arthur’s fate is sealed. He’ll unite a people, be betrayed by a woman and a friend, and sire the man who’ll kill him. In this moment, he’s a boy. In the next, he’ll be a king.”

“Some would argue that he was born a king.”

Jordan shook his head at Brad’s statement. “Not until he put his hands on the hilt of the sword. He could have walked away from it. I wonder if he would have if he’d known what was coming. Glory and grandeur, sure, and a slice of peace, but then deceit, deception, war. And an early death.”

“Well, that’s cheerful.” Flynn started to pour another drink. Then he stopped, looked back at the paintings. “Wait a minute. Maybe you’re on to something. In the other, you’ve got the results after that moment of destiny you were talking about. Would the god-king have married the mortal, conceived three daughters, if he’d known their fate? Is it about choices, which direction we take?”

“And if it is?” Brad put in. “It doesn’t tell us much.”

“It gives us a theme. And if we make the leap that the paintings are clues to the location of the keys, then we have to follow the theme. Maybe the first is in a place where a decision was made, one that changed the course of lives.”

“Flynn.” Jordan hesitated, swirled his drink. “You seriously believe these keys exist?”

“That’s right. And if you guys had been around since the beginning of this, you’d have come around to that by now. There’s no way to explain it, Jordan, no more than you can explain why that boy was the only person in the world who could pull Excalibur from the stone.”

“How about you?” Jordan asked Brad.

“I’m trying to keep an open mind. You’ve got to add up the coincidences, or what appear to be coincidences. You and I own those paintings. We’re all back in the Valley, and so are they. Flynn’s involved, personally involved with two of the women who were invited to Warrior’s Peak. Jordan and Dana used to be an item. And I bought the painting because I was caught by that face—Zoe’s face. It just about knocked me on my ass. And let’s keep that little tidbit among the three of us.”