The Master's Apprentice - Oliver Potzsch Page 0,203

man watched as the doctor and his assistant walked away toward the hay market. He could only just make out their outlines through the windows. A liquid as red as blood gleamed in the expensive glass goblet he was holding. The man took a long sip, licked his lips, and smiled.

The end and the beginning were near.

When the doctor had sought out Heinrich Agrippa, the man had been a little concerned. He didn’t want Faustus to learn too much—not yet. Even though it most likely wouldn’t change his destiny now.

His destiny was written in the stars. Impossible to change.

Still, he’d wanted to avoid those two scholars taking their musings too far. And so he’d intervened. It had been so easy to lure young Karl Wagner in. Everyone had their weak point, their little secret, and it hadn’t taken long to find out his.

The man ran his finger along the glass rim of his goblet, creating a humming, almost whining sound. His plan had been for the boy to get caught and tortured, and maybe even executed. It had annoyed him for a while now that Faustus had a companion. The doctor was weakest by himself, and most easily steered. Once his assistant had been arrested, Faust couldn’t have stayed in Cologne any longer, and his conversations with Agrippa would have come to an end.

The man took another sip of the delicious red drink. Well, now they were running away together. He’d save Karl for later. The most important thing was that he didn’t lose Faust again like he’d done before. It had taken him a long time to find him once more. Now that the portentous moment had nearly arrived, he couldn’t lose sight of him. He had watched Faust from a distance for years, had helped him occasionally, and had even removed obstacles from his path. But for a few weeks now he had followed him closely, like a sleuth.

The end and the beginning.

Only a few more months.

The man took one last sip, then he carried his goblet over to the cage with the birds, who greeted him with cawing and flapping.

“Here you go, my little ones,” said Tonio del Moravia, pouring the rest of the red drink from the glass into the bottom of the cage. “Drink! Drink with me to the day that must come soon. We have waited long enough.”

The birds greedily drank up the fresh blood. Standing in the twilight of the candles in the room, the master looked like he hadn’t aged one day.

23

CREAKING AND GROANING, the wagon sped along the road by the river. It was still raining when the first glimmer of dawn appeared above the vineyards in the east.

Johann had been whipping the horse like a madman for almost three hours. He wanted to get as many miles between them and Cologne as possible before the guards raised the alarm. Most likely, a delegation of soldiers was already on its way to catch them. Johann didn’t want to begin to imagine what was in store for them if they got arrested. Two sodomites and heretics dabbling in black magic! It was just what the Cologne Inquisition had been waiting for, and Karl had walked straight into their trap.

After Karl had told Johann about his escape, they had rushed to Agrippa’s house. Their wagon was parked there, and Agrippa was the only one who could help them now. With his connections and a pile of money, they had managed to get out of the city. A brief hug goodbye had been the only farewell the two scholars had time for. They had hastily reassured one another that they’d meet again one day and continue their conversations.

But they’d already had the most important conversation.

Johann knew there was only one place where he might lift the secret surrounding his birth. Agrippa had sparked the idea a few days ago, but only last night had its meaning become clear to him. They had spoken about lenses, about eye glasses, and about the laterna magica, and then Agrippa had said something else.

But what if we could also better see what’s in the heavens? If we could see farther, we might understand what makes your birth so special.

Johann knew of an apparatus that might enable him to do just that. But it was hidden at a very dangerous place—a place he hadn’t sought out in more than fifteen years. He didn’t know if Tonio still visited the place.

Back in the wagon, Satan whined. The old dog wasn’t