Prologue III - Time of Trials

From The Twisted Mind of Money Lloyd

Prologue Part III

The Time of Trials

    

The Council was in a state of complete upheaval. Chaos reigned as its members expressed their outrage, shock and terror.

    "…poisoned!..."

    "…Treachery…"

    "…It's already begun…"

    "…The Trials are upon us…"

    "Order,order!" Petruchio shouted above the bedlam.

    After they'd settled down Li Chi-shang spoke first. "Honored regent, on to Council business, the reason we are summoned this day is no mystery –"

    "Yes," Baron Rothstein interrupted the Chinese billionaire. "Since our esteemed Chairman has met with an untimely demise, leaving us without a Chair-"

    Grimes cut off the international banker, with obvious ambition. "The Seat is vacant-"

    "Silence!" Petruchio yelled. "The Seat is far from vacant while I am acting regent and I will have order! The death of our Chairman is most unfortunate, it couldn't have come at a worst time but this will not stand."

    He indicated the body of the slain skull. Lord Rennoll's bright red blood shone in stark contrast on the black tabletop, splattered like abstract art. There wasn't a Council member present that didn't harbor the suspicion, the intuition that the untimely death of the former Chairman was regicide. Yet the apparent murder of one of their own, while in the midst of their inner circle was unfathomable.

    Without doubt one or more of the Council members had conspired to commit the crime. They were the only ones with the means. They were all sadistic and devious by their own right, yet each knew the price to be paid for breaking a rule such as this. The secrets and oaths of the Order were terrifying. It was part of their fiendish system to punish not only those who trespassed but the transgressors' loved ones as well.

    Indeed, each Council member as a rite of passage to become one of the blood, -beyond being born within one of the thirteen bloodlines- had been commissioned to shed the blood of one very dear to them to prove their undying loyalty to the Order. Domino's sacrifice upon the altar of power haunted him; the ghost of an innocent soul unjustly slain. These unmitigated sacrifices of innocent blood were prime ties that bound their inner circle within circles of their various international organizations. That and their unbridled lust for complete power and total control on a global scale.

    As if thinking along the same lines, Petruchio solemnly said, "We live by the rules. We die by the rules."

    Governed by merciless tradition and ruthless ritual, thought Domino. Though they portrayed themselves as a non secular order many of the stipulations of their constitution had its origins within the original luciferian bible. And Salman Rushdie must have studied their book of power diligently before authoring "his" satanic verses. Indeed, there were those of the fold that were devout luciferians and students of demonology and satanic symbology. But the cold calculating Domino didn't subscribe to such frivolities. If there is a devil in hell, then his agents on earth are most certainly mortal men, the worst of them being men and women of massive material means.

    Domino made eye contact with Grimes, a political scientist/beast connected deeply into the upper strata of the state department. The man was greasy; a well-oiled part of the military-industrial complex. He despised this man. He winked and Grimes smiled back malevolently.

    Nodding his head Petruchio said, "This is that hour of darkness in which the power of evil is exalted, gentlemen, we are hereby in the Time of Trials."

    They all knew what this meant. The vacancy of Chairman instituted the process by which a new Chairman would be chosen, all part of the great game; a points-based period of three hundred and twenty two days. A significant figure of course.

    "We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of our past." Petruchio said. "Now is not the time for us to be at each other's throats like a pack of mad dogs after a single bone. And know this, each and everyone of you. I am on watch for any further transgressions and since I alone stand neutral as regent, it is I who will launch the investigation into the murder of Rennoll."

    "I couldn't be in agreement more." Said Baron Rothstein. "And because of all that is at stake I move to fill Rennoll's seat immediately. I nominate David Rockenfeld, due to his long proven loyalty and numerous contributions to the Order."

    "I second that nomination." Grimes said.

    Li Chi-shang billionaire business man and head of the Chinese Triads now spoke. "Yes, Rockenfeld is the proper choice."

    "Rockenfeld it is." Domino agreed.

    Petruchio nodded his head, "Rockenfeld it is then."

    Power moves were being made. Domino spared a glance at Baron Donald Rothstein. Now here was a diabolical plotter of Shakespearian proportions and his ruthlessness was surpassed only by his cruel cunning. This new head of the Rothstein international banking family obviously had designs on reclaiming his family's monopoly on power and dominance over all the thirteen bloodlines. And Grimes, the current head of the American branch of the Order was with him.



    Then it dawned on Domino; the very nature of the poison, the fact that it was so potent, fast acting and abominable meant it had to be government created. As director of the CIA at the very heart of Washington's intelligence infrastructure, insidious tools of terror like this poison were Grimes' area of expertise. And he had the resources to plant it.

    Then there was the fiendish Li Chi-shang, billionaire businessman and head of all the Chinese Triads. Yes he too was in league with Rothstein. Domino had no choice but to agree with his nomination of the Rothstein's oldest ally the Rockenfelds, lest he totally tip his hand.

    Yes, this was definitely that hour in which the powers of darkness would be exalted. Domino knew that if he was to be the one that was exalted then he was going to have to play the game like never before. And he had to call on his prime ally. As his worthy adversaries would be drawing upon the resources of their various quarters, he too would be drawing upon his.

    And his was the criminal quarter, his area of infinite expertise. For though fragile alliances would form and dissolve within the Order as well as rivalry, at the end of the Time of Trials, there could be only one.

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