Into the Lion's Den (68 page)

Friederich chose to ignore the childish bantering; without a doubt Konrad was for some dark reason, jealous of the attention the old toy was receiving. His pupil could live with Guntram forgetting the world around him when he painted, but that he had kept the bear with him or taken it to Ostermann to ask him if he knew someone who could tell him anything about the bear as he remembered that it had belonged to his grandmother, Sigrid zu Guttenberg Sachsen, therefore it should be almost an antiquity.

“Or perhaps we should keep it under a glass,” Konrad mumbled, upset that he was purposely being ignored.

“Must be its colour. I don't remember this particular dark shade when I was a child. Most of them were beige or light brown,” Friederich commented while he sat the teapot and pastries over the table in the library.

“Maybe it's only dirty,” Konrad suggested and Guntram looked at him with real fury in his eyes.

“Where is Luitpold, my Duke?” Friederich asked and Konrad blushed violently much to Guntram's astonishment.

“Who's Luitpold?” the boy asked, believing that he was going to hear one of Konrad's adventures.

“No one,” Konrad barked and throwing a killer's look at his Tutor.

“He's more or less the size of Jacques, although he's forty years younger and in a honey colour, Guntram.

He was very well loved and carried all over the house by its ear. Perhaps we will have to remove it from its box,” he pondered, serving the tea to Guntram.

“No! Leave it as it is. It's well packed and protected against mots!”

“Yes, that's true. I remember his Excellency asked me to bring it to Steiff's in Zurich so it would be cleaned it and packed, not six or seven years ago. But I don't remember where the box is.”

“Don't take me for a fool, Friederich! You're perfectly aware that Luitpold's box is on the second shelf counting from the top in my dressing room! To the left!”

“How dumb of me, my Duke,” Friederich exclaimed in mocked contemplation, before leaving the room.

“Do you really have a teddy bear, Konrad?”

“It's packed since I was ten. I only asked it to be repaired because the ear was about to fall off.”

“We might have to put them together. They could be friends.”

“If I were you, I would hide my bear before the children come and find it. I don't think it would survive another generation, especially if the babies carry the Lintorffs' genes,” Guntram had no other choice than laughing and dropping the subject.

The bear remained in its chair much to Konrad's annoyance, but he never mentioned the subject again.

Guntram de Lisle's Diary

November 24th

I'm still trembling from the nerves. This morning I went to Ostermann's studio to help with the packing
of my four paints for the exhibition in Berlin; the Madonna, a group of children reading; some of the women I paint
with in the studio, copying a nude model and a portrait from Marie Amélie von Kleist, as she accepted to let me make
some sketches from her face but with dark brown hair as I feel it looks much better than the platinum blonde look. She
comes a lot to the house as she studies with Armin Banking and Finance. Both are in the second year. Can you believe
that I have to sit with them in the room they're studying per Konrad's orders? It's horrible! I do my best to make
myself scarce and mind my own business with my pencils or watercolours, but I'm perfectly aware of Armin's romantic
intentions toward her.

I hate completely to be a chaperon, third wheel or whatever it's called. It's not as if Armin is going to
jump on top of her and drag her under the oak table. They're twenty-two or twenty-three years old and I bet she's not
a virginal maid to be protected. Konrad can be so old fashioned. They are just cousins in second or third degree.

Gertrud is Albert's cousin. IF Ferdinand von Kleist would have told me something like “take care of my daughter's
virtue”, I would be defending it, but he doesn't care at all. The mother also not.

It's really not my problem if they run away to their things after school or after studying here on
weekends. That bloody garden-forest is sixty acres and very cold for me to run after them. I guess he's in love with her
since he was twelve and now it's his big break.

Back to the story. We were packing the things when a private courier arrived with a letter for me. “I'm
not your post office, boy.” Sweet Ostermann told me while I opened the letter not knowing who could have sent it. I
use the e-mail mostly with my friends from the University or former school classmates. I guess everything I write is
monitored by Goran's people, just for security reasons. After all, Konrad leaves all his papers, blackberry, laptop and
many other things on my desk or in the bedroom. Inside the envelope was only the paper with the safe box directions
and the key. I was frozen and lost the minute I saw it.

I didn't know what to do and I thought that if he can send this, then he can take me away too.

I asked Heindrik to drive me to the bank and first he complained a lot but gave up when I told him I had
a letter from Repin. He colourfully swore in Swedish and left me in front of Goran's office as “the Duke is in meetings,
dear. Perhaps in two hours I could make a hole in his schedule,” according to Monika van der Leyden, his secretary.

“When did you get this?” Goran asked me in a way that chilled my bones, looking at the paper and key,
without touching them.

“An hour ago. At Meister Ostermann's studio.”

“And you're perfectly aware of its use and provenance, isn't it?”

“Yes, I am. Repin gave it to me in Rome and told me someone from my family had given it to him along
with my bear.”

“Why didn't you tell us?”

“I don't know.”

“That's not an acceptable answer, Guntram.”

“I thought it was from my uncle Roger and the Duke hates him! I didn't want him to go after him! Then,
I only got the box with the bear and I thought that maybe I had dreamed about it with all the drugs I had in!”

“Roger de Lisle is a traitor and so are you for hiding this information to us.”

“I'm not a traitor! I don't even know if this is from him! Why would he give it to me if he never cared
about me?”

“You lied to us. You said the bear was in St. Petersburg with you but you had given it away at the age of
twelve, to your lawyer's and he sent it to a “living relative of yours” who happens to be in league with Constantin
Repin, informing him about our methodologies. Am I wrong, Guntram?”

“No, Goran, you're right,” I whispered.

“I will increase the vigilance over you, Guntram. This is very serious and dangerous for you. I will
speak with the Duke. Leave the things here and return to your teacher's.”

“Yes, Goran.”

“One more thing. What is inside the safe box?”

“I don't know. According to Repin, it should be one Bronzino drawing, very valuable, from my father's,
some gold bullions, photos and nothing more. I can't remember well.”

“Go back to work, now.”

I spent the rest of the day in the studio trying to paint but it was impossible. Finally, I settled for
studying. At four, Heindrik drove me home and I remained in my studio with Mopsi. Late in the evening, Konrad,
Goran and Ferdinand arrived and locked themselves up in the library. Friederich told me they wanted to see me.

They were sitting like in a courtroom. Konrad in the middle, Ferdinand at his right and Goran at his left.

They wore sour and stern expressions and none of the greeted me or offered to sit.

“Keeping vital information from us is a serious offence, Consort,” Ferdinand started and I looked at
him, shocked to hear him using that word with me.

“I didn't consider it important, sir.”

“Unimportant? A link to one of the men who rose against us and tried to kill your own Consort and
Griffin?” he asked in disbelief.

“I didn't believe it was real, I never saw this paper again, till today! I thought it was a taunt from
Repin!”

“We decide what is real and not! Not you, boy!” Ferdinand shouted me. “You didn't tell the Summus
Marescalus and much less your Griffin that a member of your family wanted to contact you and that you had physical
evidence that could lead us to him or her!”

“I didn't have anything! The paper and the key disappeared!”

“You're a traitor like your entire bloodline! We accepted you like one of us and granted you our
protection and you betrayed us!” Konrad said in low voice and I looked at him.

“I didn't betray you nor the Order. I don't even know if this is true or another twisted game!”

“You will be punished for this.”

“As the Hochmeister wishes,” I said. “He knows better.”

“Tell us the name of your lawyer.” Goran said for the first time.

“No, look for it by yourself.”

“This is not a game boy!” Ferdinand roared and hit the table with his fist.

“I have nothing to say. Do what you have to do. I will not endanger a family's life because of your
paranoia.” I took one step forward, removed the seal and left it over the table. “I never saw my uncle in my life and
never knew about him till this time. I have no reasons to believe that this is from him.”

“Is it your teddy bear or not?” Goran asked.

“Yes, it's mine. Now, give me back the key and paper because they are mine, not yours and I'm sick of
your threats.”

“You have no idea of what we could do to you,” Ferdinand said menacingly.

“I was already in a torture séance, thank you. I survived it and said nothing. Can you tell the same,
Ferdinand? Or are you just one of those desk officers? The only one who can speak here is Goran.”

Goran, to my surprise, chuckled, visibly amused. “It's true, Guntram. Not even the Duke was on the
receiving end as we, little brother. Dähler is damn right, he calls you Dachs, badger because he says that even if
you're midget size and frail, you have more teeth than a crocodile. Not many dare to insult us.”

“Or tell Repin to piss off,” Konrad smiled in an ironic way.

“Next time you address to me with such a tone, boy, I'll spank your bottom, so you learn manners!”

Ferdinand said partly sneering.

“We don't believe you are a traitor. If you were, you would have kept the things and used it against us.

You came to us not even an hour after you found it and that's all right, little brother,” Goran said and I looked at
Konrad, totally abashed.

“Pick up your ring, Guntram,” he simply told me. “Tomorrow you will go to Geneva and open that safe
box with Goran. Of course you can keep the painting or the gold, but we will keep any document in there. We will also
investigate who opened it and you will not interfere any longer. Is that clear?”

“No, Konrad, I can't let you hurt any member from my family!”

“We are your family, Guntram. They abandoned you in 1989 and now they are only trying to use you to
attack us. They never cared about you before and now, they come with golden presents and love when you became my
consort? You can keep the toy as it was a gift from an honourable man. Perhaps your father even saved that money
for you and asked Roger to give it to you but he kept it who knows why.” Konrad rose from his chair, circled the table
and embraced me and kissed me on the forehead in front of the other two. I felt very uncomfortable, but they said
nothing or made any gestures. “You can breathe again, Guntram,” he joked with me but two seconds later he said:

“you must always inform everything. We don't like leaks of any kind or from anyone.”

“Konrad, whoever is this person, is my only family left. Perhaps is someone from the Guttenberg
Sachsen because both things belonged to my grandmother.”

“The Guttenberg Sachsen have no problems with us. In fact, we buy wine from them and finance several
of their ventures. If they would like to approach you, they can do it at their convenience. If you want to meet them, I
can introduce you to the old Udo Guttenberg Sachsen; he's the patriarch and would be delighted to meet you. You are
a member of the Lintorff family.”

“Like I, for example,” Ferdinand told me. “You're invited to all their Christmas parties and one day you
find yourself fighting with your two sons over a hard gingerbread cookie and you realise that your youth is over.”

“They're not that bad, Ferdinand. You can go now Guntram. Friederich will call you for dinner.”

I was dismissed like a child and here I'm writing before dinner. Probably tomorrow I will have to travel
with Goran to Geneva.

“Do you believe him, Konrad?” Ferdinand asked.

“Of course, he came to us. Knowing him like I do, he was thinking that he was protecting the snake from us, then he was afraid for not telling us about it, but didn't know how to get out of the mess and finally exploded when he saw it back, probably thinking this is a threat from Repin.”

“I have checked all his materials, friends and movements for a long time and he has no contact with him or ever had,” Goran said

“Investigate all what you can over that account. I was expecting him to make a move over Guntram.

Execute him on sight, is that understood?”

“Very well, my Duke.”

No matter how many times Goran had tried to reassure Guntram in the car, the young man was more nervous than ever. It was a mix of longing, fear of what he might find inside and desire to see it. His growing concern over his uncle's fate also weighed on his soul. Goran had told him countless times that there was nothing to be worried about because he believed in his innocence, although he had been somewhat sneaky and little forthcoming in Rome;