PRELUDE TO EL LOBO DEL MAR

[Welsh Wench]

Jack unfurled the map and looked up at the sun, taking his compass out.
"Are you looking to follow north?"
"No, I'm looking to see what the best direction to get a suntan would be."
She made a face at him. "I have NO idea why I let you talk me into this."
He rolled the map back up and said, "Because you find me charming?  When this is all over, Honour, we need to have a long talk. About us. You and me. And where we go from here. We either stay together or we end it. I can't go on like this anymore."
She stood there silently, a million thoughts and a thousand regrets going through her mind.
Hesitantly, she started, "Jack, there's something..."
She stopped.
"Yes, Honour?"
"There's--there's no snakes here, are there?"
"Honour, this is the jungle. What do YOU think?"
"I think you'd better keep that cutlass handy. If you get bit, there is no way I am going to suck the poison out of you."

Jack slipped the harness around his arms and said, "I'd keep that rapier at the ready, love."
"Why? Are there natives around here?"
He laughed. "No, this island is deserted. The Carib residents deem this island as dedicated to the Ancients. Too much mystical voodoo and all that."
She hesitated and then plunged in. She and Jack had been estranged for over eighteen months. They were almost at the 'getting to know you' stage again.
"Have you seen Bonita?"
"I surely did."
"And how is the voodoo queen of Castara Bay? Still tossing bones around and chanting fire and damnation at the mention of my name?"

Jack's thoughts turned to Bonita's words.

"Because dat golden haired child hold de t'ing you need!  Bonita knew she would break Jack Wolfe's heart. Did him listen to reason?  No!  Him were too much in love....Dere is somet'ing not of dis world about her, or wit' her!  Believe it!"

He looked over at Honour. She did hold the very thing he needed but it wasn't the key. It was her love. He realized in the last few days how much he missed her. How he had built a shell around himself and it cracked when he saw her crawling on her hands and knees out the tavern door to avoid him. How typically....Honour.

He shrugged. "Aside from the 'I tole you so' she didn't mention you. No, not at all."
Honour laughed at his imitation of Bonita's accent. "She hated me from the start. She was in love with you, you know."
He said, "I guess she was."
"You guess? Why do you think she hated me and called me a witch?"

"Dere are forces around dat girl even she do not understand!"

Jack looked into Honour's blue eyes, looking for anything that showed anything extraordinary. No, nothing there but the merriment that danced in her eyes that he fell in love with that night they stood before the magistrate and exchanged their vows. Both scarcely believing what they both had done in the morning's light and still they could not keep themselves apart.

"Jack? Jack?"
He drew himself back to the present and gave her his charming smile. "I always said you bewitched me, darling. Let's let it go at that."

[Welsh Wench]

After an hour of following Jack with her rapier held at the ready, she looked over and saw the largest thickest snake she ever saw. She jumped straight on Jack's shoulders, her knees wrapped around his ears. She grabbed his hat to hold on, smashing it down over his eyes as she was screaming and blindly hacking away.
"HON-HONOUR, STOP! STOP! I CAN'T SEE!"
"AAHHH! TAKE THAT! GET AWAY! WE AREN'T LUNCH!"
Jack finally flipped her over his head and she landed on her back.
"Are you out of your mind?"
She stood up, catching her breath. "I have no intention of becoming an anaconda's lunch!"
He pushed his hat back from his face and pointed to a large root wrapped around a trunk. It had slash marks all over it.
"For the love of God, woman! It's my palmetto tree all over again!"
Her rapier was stuck in the tree. She felt her face flaming in embarrassment.
"Well, it could have been a snake! He slithered off. That was it! He slithered off!"
Jack rolled his eyes and yanked her rapier out of the tree.
"Here. Sheath this before you lop my head off."

"Jack? Do you really know where you are going?"
"What, you think I can't find my way around land?"
She held out her hand. "Give me the map."
"No."
"Yes. We have passed that same 'snake' three times now."
"Oh, alright. I'll show you the map but let's eat first. And keep your hands off it till after lunch. I don't want you dropping mustard on X marks the spot."

He handed her some cheese and bread and a few pieces of fruit.
"Wine?"
"You do think of everything, Jack Wolfe."
As they sat there eating their lunch, he spread the map out over a large flat rock.
"See here...it is nothing but jungle."
She looked at it. "I wonder....."
"You wonder...what?"
"It looks a little squiggly there."
"Of course it is squiggly. It's a bunch of leaves. What else did you expect to find in a jungle? An oasis with sand all around it?"
"Here, have some more wine. You are getting cranky, Jack. You always hated to stop and ask for directions."
"That was only a rumour. And how did you hear about that?"
"Tavern talk in St Lawrence."
"Oh."

She reached for it and Jack grabbed it back. "Ah-ah-ah!  It's mine!"
"Community property until death do us part. Hand it over. Oh, I'm not going to hurt your precious parchment!"
He sighed and handed it over. "Be careful of the creases."
" 'Be careful of the creases', he says. Of course I'll be careful of the creases!"
She held it sideways and then gave it back to him.
"Jack, I think you were looking at it sideways."
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Not!"
"Too!"

He stood there looking at it and Honour then gasped.
"Don't tell me you see hairy tarantulas now!"
"NO! I just saw something...wait a minute!"

She climbed up a tree.
"Honour, are you out of your mind? Get down right now!"
She shook her head. "Jack, I know what is wrong! Hold the map up in front of you!"
He held it up and she shouted excitedly. "It is just as I thought!"
"What?"
"Jack, it isn't a jungle....IT'S A MAZE!"

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

"Honour, think about what you're saying! This is a bloody island in the middle of the bloody Caribbean sea. Now there has to be some explanation for the roundabout path on the map. Can you see anything that would stop us from trying to go straight across instead of the scenic route? A lake or volcanic crater, anything like that?"

"No, there's nothing!" she answered. "It's all jungle as far as I can see. Jack, you have to believe me! You can see a pattern to it!"
She climbed down from the tree and took the map from him. "You need to see it for yourself! It's remarkable! What, do you need a leg up? Go have a look yourself. Unless you're afraid of heights."

It was Jack's turn to make a face, followed by a wink that made her smile like a schoolgirl. He climbed the tree to the point she had reached and took in the landscape laid out before him. He was immediately struck by the utter lack of geographic landmarks. No hills, no valleys, no ridges, nothing. The jungle canopy was almost completely uniform in height and coverage. And just as Honour had said, his eye began to pick up regular patterns in the trees and brush that couldn't possibly be the construct of Nature.

"It's impossible!" he thought aloud. "They built a jungle!"
"What? Do you see it? The patterns?"

It took him a few seconds to snap out his awe and amazement. "Yes... Yes! I see it! It's incredible!"
He reached into his satchel and retrieved a small spyglass, extended it to full length and began to survey the farther reaches of the jungle.
"Funny, I remember it being bigger!" she called up to him.
"Excuse me?!"
"Your spyglass, I remembered it being bigger than that, is all."
"My spyglass," he answered, clearly annoyed by her tangent, "is the same size it's always been! This is a spare. Easier to carry around."
"Oh, thank heaven! I thought it had shrunk."
"Honour, may I please have a moment to concentrate?"
"Sor-ry! Honestly, you show a little concern about his spyglass, and he gets all touchy!" she huffed.

Jack resumed his survey of the island, working to re-establish their position relative to the beach where they had landed. 
"Honour, would you hold the map up again, the way I held it?", he called down.
"You mean sideways?"
His mouth worked to form then stifle the beginnings of several choice retorts.  "Fine!  Yes, sideways please!" 
Honour held the map up at arm's length in front of her face to hide her satisfied grin.  After checking the map against his instruments and the terrain, he climbed down to rejoin his wife.  Ignoring her expectant smirk, he took the map from her and turned it the way she'd insisted was correct all along.
"I was right, wasn't I?" she asked.
He gave a resigned sigh.  "Yes, mi querida muñequita, you were right.  Whoever made the map took some artistic license, probably to make it useless to anyone but himself.  Those squiggles you noticed match up with something I saw over that direction.  It's no small wonder we went round in circles."
"Oh, it wasn't just the squiggles.  Look here," Honour said, pointing to a small mark in one of the margins.  It was roughly drawn, resembling a backward 'Z' turned on its side and stretched vertically.  "I assumed it was there to mark north."
"You know... I wonder... no, impossible.... but it make sense..."

[Welsh Wench]

"What makes sense?"
"See what looks like a backward Z laying on its side?"
"Yes, but I thought it was someone with atrocious penmanship."
"When I was a young lad--don't give me that look, I was young once--my granddad Ian would take us hiking. Northern Scotland was full of old relics. And who settled in Scotland first?"
Honour shrugged. "I'm Welsh. What do we know about it?"
"The Romans came around the first century but didn't get as far as northern Scotland. However, the Vikings came from the north.  In 793 A.D. the monastery at Lidnisfarne was sacked with Iona and the Isle of Skye  being attacked the following year. Isle of Skye is where my grandparents live. I could go on and on about the history--it's the professor in me."

Honour stood there with her hands on her hips. "So you most likely have Viking blood in you?"
"I guess so."
"You mean to tell me some tall, blond-haired Viking ravished some sweet Pict girl and you are the end result of it?"
"I love the delicate way you phrase things, darling."
"Well, that explains the pillaging and the plundering and the forceful way you have of courting."
"So I come by this naturally. Alright, back to the history of this. Which has a point, I swear."
"Go ahead. As long as there won't be a quiz on it later."
"Grandad Ian pointed out the runes and taught Thomas and me the rune alphabet. It was called the Elder Futhark and the letter S looked like a backwards Z and was vertical."
She looked over his shoulder. "And we thought that was an S. For South."
"You see where I could make a mistake then."
She nodded.
He continued. "Now in Latin, the word for north is septentrio. I think someone took a rune letter and used the Latin word for north and abbreviated it. He made a riddle of it."
"Cheeky bastard!"
"Oh, and such language coming from a convent-bred girl!"
She smacked him on the head.
"So this whole thing is a mishmash of Nordic runes and Latin thrown in?"
He smoothed the map out. "Probably someone educated and well-versed in languages. Someone who traveled extensively."

He stared at the map, slowly shaking his head as the significance of what he saw from the treetop sank in.  "It's incredible, Honour.  The Ancients completely transformed this island into a gigantic maze!  Imagine the effort it must have taken to do all this!"  An unsettling gleam came into his eyes that Honour didn't care for.  "If they went to all this trouble, the wealth this chest contains must be enormous!"
"It was terribly important to them, whatever it is," she said as she looked over her shoulder at the gleaming gilt chest.  'All this, to protect whatever is in there?' she pondered.  No, the maze had to be protecting much more, some larger secret.  But what?  "I'm starting to understand why LaFork..."
"LaFourche."
"Whatever-- was going on about what mechanical geniuses they were." 

She hesitated a moment and hugged herself as if taken by a sudden chill. 
"Jack, should we be doing this?  It feels like... grave robbing."
He left his seat on the rock and gently took her by the shoulders.  "No, Honour, it's nothing like that at all," he said reassuringly.  "If we were truly grave robbing, we'd be here to pull the rings off dead Ancients' fingers.  We are solving a riddle no one else has managed to crack.  Nothing sinister, I promise."
"But we are here to take their treasure."
"Tut, tut!  We're here to open a chest that I own, by the most prudent means possible.  I'm merely protecting my investment."
"I knew you'd find a way to rationalize this," she chuckled.  "And don't you mean our investment?"
He couldn't help but smile at the the impish look she gave him.  "There's my girl!  Now, according to the map, there's fresh water less than two hour's walk from here.  That's where we'll stop and make camp.  Ready?"
"Lead the way, captain!" she said cheerily. "But you get to take care of any more snakes!"

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Honour emerged from the treeline carrying another armload of firewood.  Just as the map had promised, they found a clearing with a stream of fresh water on one side and a small lagoon on the other.  The lagoon was a surprise not mentioned on the map.  Rather, it had been created by a breach in the outer "walls" of the maze, most likely made by a storm.  Jack was making a final check of the tent stakes as she approached their camp.  The light of day was fading quickly, and a cozy fire crackled away invitingly.  She placed the wood on a pile beside the tent.  He turned and gave her a satisfied smile. 

"Home sweet home.  What do you think?" he asked.
The tent was made from a broad piece of sailcloth, staked close to the ground at the back and staked taught over a three-foot long pole at the entrance.  Palm fronds had been spread in a thick mat on the ground to form a mattress of sorts, and two bedrolls sat ready for use.
"Very nice," said Honour.  "Where's mine?"
"What do you mean, 'yours'?  This is it!  Our tent.  You didn't expect me to drag a lot of extra amenities along with us, did you?"
"Well, really... I didn't know what to expect," she admitted sheepishly.  "I've never done anything like this before."
"You've never slept out under the stars?  It's really quite easy.  I admit, it's not as comfy as our room in Castara, but it will do for the night."
She was grateful for the glow of the fire to mask the gentle blush that found its way onto her cheeks at the memory. 
"All right, then.  But you stay on your side, understand?"
Jack gave her a teasing bow.  "My lady, I swear upon pain of death to stay on my side of the tent.  But I will not place the same restriction on you.  I'd be remiss in my duties as host if I weren't welcoming in every possible way." 

Then, there it was.  That smile.  The smile that never failed to make her knees feel suddenly weak.  She took a  deep breath as he went into the tent first and laid out the bedrolls side by side, nearly touching.  He extended his hand to help her inside.  As she took it, she could see that damnable smile was still there.  As she lay down beside her husband, she thought back to the previous night when she'd stolen into his bed and the comfort of his presence, even if he never knew she'd been there.  But she pushed those thoughts aside, and rolled over with her back to him.

"Good night, Jack," she said quietly.
"Good night, Honour," he replied.  "Honour?"
"Yes?"  She'd caught the odd note in his voice.
"I... sweet dreams, love."
She smiled to herself.  "Sweet dreams."

The jungle became a symphony of subtle noises as soon as the sun went down. Honour listened to various insects, a cawing of a bird she had never heard before and even the croaking of frogs. In a way it was comforting to know that life goes on.
As long as they let her alone.
And didn't have six to eight legs and spewed venom.

She found it hard to sleep. Thank heavens that Jack wasn't a snorer. At least he wasn't in that month they were together.
A month.
Four weeks.
Thirty days since it was June that they met, married and parted ways. She felt a twinge of guilt and regret. A twinge? An enormous amount.
And in one night, her life changed forever.

In all this time Jack had never once asked her about the chests of guilders. Honour laid there wide awake, unable to turn her mind off. In the past eighteen months, she had been able to. But not any more. Her fingers trailed over the palm frond peeking out from under the bedroll as she thought about the time she had been separated from Jack.

Honour rolled over and faced her husband. He was sound asleep still. She gently touched his hair. So like Zara's.....
'I'm sorry, Jack. I'm sorry you weren't there for it. When the time is right, I'll tell you about her.'

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

She tossed and turned but sleep eluded her. Honour looked out of the tent to see the moonbeams dancing on the water. She thought how nice it would be to take a refreshing dip. Just for a few minutes....enough to make me a bit sleepy.
Honour looked over at Jack. If he hadn't changed his sleeping habits in the last eighteen months, he could probably sleep through a monsoon.

She quietly slipped out of the tent and walked fifty feet down to the lagoon. All that she heard were the chirping of the crickets and the croaking of the frogs. Carefully she took off her breeches and her shirt and hung them on the branches and then quietly slipped into the cool water, diving under and emerging, the water droplets clinging to her wet skin.
Just like that day in Castara, she thought. Castara was so long ago. The beach and the grotto where they made love....

She shivered but not from the cool water.
Regret for what she lost.
And anticipation for what lay ahead.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

White smoke billowed and swirled, momentarily obscuring Jack's vision.  He stepped forward, smiling in satisfaction as he looked upon the crippled, burning Mercedes.
"Continue fire!!" he ordered. 
An unexpected movement in the periphery caught his attention.  To his horror, he realized his beloved wife had taken refuge in the ship's boat!  She was directly in the of the field of fire, virtually unprotected.
"Honour, what are you doing?!"
Sudden, searing agony overwhelmed him as a Spanish sniper's musket ball buried itself deep in his shoulder.  The world reeled in slow motion...
"JACK!!!"

Jack sat bolt upright in the darkness, his breath coming in ragged gasps.  The panic subsided as the quiet chorus of the jungle worked its soothing magic, and he began to realize where he was.  He was safe.  More importantly, so was Honour.  It was only that accursed dream again.  Rubbing the dull phantom ache in his shoulder, he looked to make sure he hadn't disturbed her sleep.
But she wasn't there.

Surely she hadn't wandered off.  Even in their relatively civilized compound at Castara, she had been content to stay indoors after sunset.  "Honour?  Honour!" he called.  No answer.  He left the tent to begin the search, and grabbed a piece of firewood to fashion a torch. 

That's when he caught sight of her.

Honour stood nearly waist deep in the placid waters of the lagoon, her exquisite form silhouetted by the moonlight.  Beads of water glistened on her skin like precious gems.   Jack watched in silence as she moved with fluid grace, cupping handfuls of water and letting it run in rivulets over her body.  If it had been Venus herself bathing under that silvery moon, he could not have been more dumbstruck by her beauty nor more filled with desire.    As he looked on, he never noticed the piece of wood slip from his fingers.  One end hit the ground, and the other went into the fire, sending a shower of sparks heavenward.

The unexpected display caught her attention.  She looked back toward the camp to see if anything was amiss.  Instead, she saw Jack standing by the fire, watching her.  A momentary flash of modesty washed over her.  But the urge to cover herself was swiftly replaced by other, stronger urges.  She would not deny she was still taken with him.  Ever since the night she had let him into her bed only to discover he was after the Sun key, the memories of how good it felt to make love with him had been impossible to shake from her mind.

'He is your husband, Rhiannon!' she thought.  'He already knows what you look like out of your chemise.  What can it hurt?  It was always so much fun to tease him, and he deserves it...'

Smiling wickedly to herself, she dipped her head in the water and flung her long hair back, sending a glittering arc of water through the night air.  Once more she brought up handfuls of water to cascade down her skin, but this time she did so more deliberately, seductively arching and stretching her body in an almost catlike fashion.  She imagined Jack there with her in the water, his hands lovingly caressing her as she leaned back against him.  She could almost feel the warmth of his lips on her neck, delivering kiss after tender kiss...

Honour knew her seductive display would have Jack aroused to the point of frustration, and she laughed quietly to herself.  What she hadn't counted on was the feelings it awakened in her.  Her mind touched on the many times they had made love together, each memory stirring her longings for his touch into a delicious ache.  But not tonight. Not just yet.  Despite the hunger she felt, it was worth it to know Jack would be thrown off his game.  He wasn't the only one who knew how to beguile.

A small part of her nagged, trying to stir up some bit of shame at what she was doing, but it was drowned out by the sense of freedom she had at that moment. No pang of guilt, no feeling that she was betraying the memory of her first great love.  She would always feel a measure of guilt for his death.  Rhys' memory occupied a special corner of her heart, and that would never change.  But he was just that- a memory.  Little Zara filled her heart to bursting now, yet there was still room for one more great love.  It was clear to her now who that love would be.

Once again she dove into the water, then emerged with a sigh as she sought to shake off her own heightened desire.  She turned and walked toward the shore, and had to stifle a laugh as Jack broke free of her spell and realized she was coming back to the camp.  His awkward attempt to retreat unnoticed into the tent was both comical and sweet.  Once she had pulled her clothes back on, she made her way quietly to the tent and slipped inside.  He was lying with his back to her, pretending to sleep.  She sat on her bedroll for a while and watched him with a bemused smile on her lips. 

"Too bad you didn't join me, Jack.  It would have been fun!" she whispered.

His sigh, the sigh of a man who was certain he had watched a golden opportunity pass him by, told her everything she wanted to know.

[Welsh Wench]

The sun broke through the trees, replacing the moonlight. The cawing and chirping of the birds took the musical interlude of the night symphony to a new height.
Honour stretched out and reached out for Jack but he wasn't there. She sat upright and a wave of relief swept over her as she saw him coming up out of the lagoon, his hair wet. He shook it and sent droplets spattering into the air.
"Cooling off, Jack?"
He looked a bit guilty to her delight as he said, "Not at all. I just wanted to wash yesterday's dust off."
"It's wonderful in the water. I decided to go for a swim last night. The moon was beautiful. It was almost as if heaven was holding a crystal sphere in her hands."
He started, "I kn--I can imagine."
She hid her smile behind her hand.

Jack cleared out the campfire and opened up one of the knapsacks that carried the food provisions.
"What did the cook pack?" Honour asked.
"Oh, the usual. Biscuits. Some smoked meats. Cheese."
"What, no fruit?"
'Honour, we needed things that would last."
"Jack, we aren't going to be out here forever. You said overnight. So we find the altar, open the chest and then head back. Two overnights."

He offered her some cheese. She looked around and a smile broke out over her face.
"Wait right here."
"Honour, it isn't good for you to be wandering around out here. Remember there are snakes."
She held her finger up. "I'll be back in a minute. Count to sixty."
As he did so, she appeared when he was at fifty-nine. Her chest was misshapen and lumpy.
"What the HELL? Did you get an allergic reaction to a bee sting?"
She shifted her shirt out of her breeches and a half-dozen apples came tumbling out to the ground.
"Not only that, I found a beehive where there was some honey.  I happened to have a container so I put it in there. Now we can sweeten the biscuits."

Jack handed her a biscuit.
"I don't have a spoon, Jack. But here..my fingers are clean!"
She dipped her finger into the jar and brought it out, drizzling the honey over the biscuit.
She slowly sucked the honey off her fingers.
"Mmmm! This is delicious! You know what I heard?"
"That it is fattening?"
"On the contrary. It reminded me of the tradition of the honeymoon.  Did you know, Jack, in ancient times it was traditional to present the newlyweds with honey to help them enjoy their first sexual encounters and aid to procreate a child?  The use of honey as an aphrodisiac is also mentioned in the Kama Sutra. Where it is said that honey spiced with nutmeg is said to heighten a...oh, look! A butterfly!"
Jack said, "Yeah, yeah, a butterfly. So...how do you know about the Kama Sutra?"
"Hmmm? Well, it is some sort of book,  I guess. I've never even seen it."
"What part did you like best? The part where the monkey gets loose?"
"Don't be silly, Jack! There is no monkey in the book!"
"AHA!  But how did you know?"
"I didn't. I mean, there wasn't a picture of a monkey in the..."
She found herself turning red.
"Well, I might have glanced at it."
"You never were much of a manual person, Honour.  More of a hands-on type."
"Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Shut up." 

Jack watched as she licked the biscuit crumbs off her lips.
"Mmm...that was so good!"
Jack just stared at her method of cleaning up. She caught his gaze.
"What? Did I forget a spot?"
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then sucked the crumbs off.
"Honour?"
"Yes, Jack?"
"Don't do that."
"I don't want to be a mess when we get to the altar.  You never know what ancient gods you may run into and I want to look my best!"
She reached over and picked up an apple. She took a bite and said, "Oh my goodness! This is delicious!"
Jack grimaced. "And so goes the fall of man, Eve!"
She looked at him quizzically and then laughed.
"Oh! That wasn't what I was thinking. Remember the story of Paris and Helen of Troy?"
Jack laughed. "You forget, dear heart, that I was an Oxford scholar."   
She sighed. "I always loved your bedtime stories, Jack!"

Jack rolled up the bedrolls and took down the canvas sailcloth as Honour gathered up the food and put it in the knapsack.
"How much longer till we get to the altar, Jack?"
He looked at the map and said, "Due west. About three hours."
She looked up at the sun. "Looks to be about eight hours so we had best be on our way. Maybe we can set up camp near here tonight. That lagoon was so refreshing and....AH! Jack! Get it off me!"
Jack reached over and plucked an emerald green beetle out of Honour's hair.
He crushed it in his hand and tasted it very quickly with his tongue.
"I've seen these before."
"What is it?"
"Some fly. From Spain."
"Oh. Well, isn't it out of its jurisdiction?"
"I think they can fly anywhere."
Jack scraped the beetle's little carcass into a piece of paper and slid it into his pocket.
"Why don't you just throw it out, Jack?"
"Oh....I don't know. A souvenir?"
Honour shook her head. "You save the strangest things...."

The provisions were packed and Jack and Honour headed towards the west.
"Oh, look, Jack! What lovely little flowers!"
Jack stopped and grinned. "Damiana. The Mayans and the Aztecs used it to make a tea."
"Was it good?"
"Oh...very good! Really good! It relaxes a person so they never want to get out of bed."
"Really! I should try that on nights I can't sleep."
Jack picked a few.
"I'll make a special tea for you tonight."
"Oh, Jack, sometimes you are so sweet!"
"Honour, you have no idea how accommodating I can be."

She squeezed his arm and said, "Isn't this all exciting?"
"Yes, love. And the best is yet to come!"

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

The farther they pushed into the jungle maze, the thicker the undergrowth became.  Honour kept track of their position with the map and compass, while Jack hacked away at the jungle's foliage to clear their way.  After more than an hour of slow progress and seemingly endless swinging of his cutlass, Jack was ready for a break.
"Why are you stopping?" she asked.
He turned to her with an incredulous look on his face, the tip of his sword dragging in the dirt beside him.  "In case you hadn't noticed, my beloved pet, I've been making a path through the jungle.  Without assistance, I might add!"
"I helped for a bit!"
"What, fifteen minutes, if that?"
"My arm got tired."
"More's the pity.  The trees quake with fear when you lift a blade."
She stuck her tongue out at him.  "You don't intend to let me live that down, do you?"
"Let me think," he said thoughtfully.  "Not a chance."

She put her hands on her hips and glared at Jack as if she were about to give him the tongue lashing of a lifetime.  Instead, the pair dissolved into laughter.
"I really did hack that poor palmetto to shreds, didn't I?" she giggled.
"Yes, you did!  Like a whirling Dervish, you where.  Very impressive.  Where did you learn to handle a sword like that?  You never did tell me."
Honour retrieved a skin of water and gave it to her husband.  "In school," she answered vaguely.
He drank deeply from the skin and handed it back for her to drink.  "Interesting school.  I'm not familiar with any academies for young women that include swordsmanship.  None within the financial reach of a stablehand or housemaid at any rate."
'Damn him!  Doesn't he forget anything?' she thought as she finished a mouthful of water.  "The lord of the manor was a generous man.  He did all he could to help my sister and me get an education."  It wasn't one of her better lies, but it was plausible.

Jack cocked his head and frowned.  "I thought you were an only child, Honour."
She froze for a moment, knowing full well she'd been caught.  Indeed, she had told him she had no siblings that night they entertained each other with their life stories.    Fortunately she hadn't made a bigger gaffe and let slip she had three sisters total.  "Really?  I was certain I told you about her."
"I'm certain you didn't," he countered, making sure to keep any accusatory tone out of his voice.  "Then again, communication never was our strong suit."
"We're talking now.  That has to count for something."  She sat down on the ground next to him.  "Since we're on the topic of children... did you ever want any?  With me, I mean?"
Jack chuckled.  "Honour, the thought never crossed my mind."  Her face fell slightly in disappointment.  "Until I met you, that is.  My whole world changed then.  Suddenly, a real life seemed possible.  A fine home, a beautiful wife, a yard full of children-- just like our parents told us it would be if we sat up straight and finished our peas and carrots.  Why do you ask?"
"I was just curious.  This place reminds me so much of Castara, and I was reminiscing.  Besides, what makes you think you don't already have children?" she asked coyly.
"Excuse me?" he sputtered.
"Your reputation precedes you, remember?  I'd heard lots of stories about you before we met, and not all of them had to do with prize ships and sacked towns."
He smiled at her rakishly.  "And still you married me, in spite of what you heard."
"Maybe I married you because of certain stories?  A girl gets curious, you know," she smiled in return.
Their faces drew closer to each other.  "Did I, um, measure up to what you were expecting?"
"Exceedingly so," she whispered.  A wicked gleam came into Honour's eyes.  In a flash, she brought Jack's cutlass straight up in between them.  He flinched, and gave her a puzzled look.  "You need your strength for the jungle, lover boy.  We have a temple to plunder, remember?"
"Cutlass tease," he laughed as he took his blade and returned his attention to clearing the path.  "'We have a temple to plunder'... I'd rather plunder you!" he muttered.
"I heard that!"  Honour watched as he resumed slashing away the jungle growth, secretly thankful that he was busy and couldn't see the happy grin on her face.

She looked around at the surrounding jungle as the moved along, trying to remind herself that though this wild place reminded her of Castara, the similarities were merely superficial.  Even after seeing the artificial arrangement of everything with her own eyes, it was easy to forget the island had been completely reshaped by human hands long ago.  At least she hoped they were human.  She found it easy to push such worries aside, however, knowing Jack was there with her.  He had a way of making her feel safe, despite their rocky past.  It also help that Bonita wasn't lurking around every dark corner like some terrible snake, waiting to strike...

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

A sharp clang jarred her from her thoughts.  Jack stood rubbing his sword hand, looking with disgust at yet another enigmatic seven-foot tall column.
"Damn it!" he swore.  "These blasted things are everywhere!  Not as close together as the ones we found near the start of this overgrown maze, thank Heaven."
"Maybe they never expected outsiders to get this far.  Or they changed the spacing to throw us off," Honour mused.  "Did it break your sword?"
"No, thanks for asking.  My hand's fine, too."
"You'll live," she teased.  "Dear Lord, this air is stifling!  It's like breathing water!"  She loosened the neck of her chemise, revealing a considerable amount of cleavage in the process.  "Now, according to the map...  what do you think you're doing?"
Jack had stepped close to her, pretending interest in their map.  The look on his face showed that his real interest lay with an entirely different landscape.  She quickly covered herself with the parchment and gave him an exasperated look.  "You have a one rut mind, Jack Wolfe!"
"And you have two of the most amazing--"  He paused as her eyes widened in warning.  "-- blue eyes I've ever seen.  Really.  They're spectacular."  He took a respectful step back when Honour gave him a dismissive brushing wave of her hand.
"As I was saying before your eyes nearly fell out of your head, we'll need to cut back to our right, and then bear off to the left in a wide arc."
"At this pace, we should be there in just over an hour," he said.  "I'm sure we'll find plenty of these damned pillars to guide us.  Hopefully I'll see them before I hit them."
"Do watch your blade, my husband.  I'd hate for it to get dull," she said with a saucy wink.
"For you, love, my blade is always at the ready."
"Promises, promises..."

Over the course of the next hour, Jack and Honour carried on much as they had when they were first married; talking and laughing about everything and nothing, each careful not to touch on their collapse or the intervening eighteen months.  It was easier than either imagined.  Any awkward silences were deftly filled by flirtatious banter or pleasant remembrances.  For Jack, it was a happy reminder as to why he had been so taken with her from the start, and moreover, why he fell in love with her.  In truth, the contents of the chest were no longer that important to him.  It could be empty, and it wouldn't matter that much.  He understood that the real treasure was right there beside him.

He felt the tip of his sword graze stone.  This time he was determined to proceed cautiously.  "Honour, may I have your rapier, please?  I think I found another column, but not where we're expecting one to be."
"What do you mean?  We should be on top of the temple site by now.  And I will not have you beating stone pillars with my sword!  I just had it sharpened."
"I need your sword because it's longer than mine, dear."
"It takes quite a man to make that admission," she giggled.
"Now who's got the one rut mind?" he asked in mock exasperation.  "I'm going to use it to poke around..."
Honour's giggles burst into full laughter.  Jack walked to her and pulled the rapier from its sheath.  "Hey!" she protested.
"Don't worry.  I'll be gentle."
"You've told me that one before..."
"And you never complained.  Not once.  Now, let's see what's in here."  He slowly slipped the blade in amongst the vines and branches that formed a forbidding wall in their path.  Halfway in, the blade hit stone.  Further probing showed that it was another pillar, but much larger than the ones they had already encountered.  He handed the rapier back to Honour and carefully cleared away the foliage with his own sword.  What he revealed left both of them staring in wonder.

The massive column was at least four feet wide, and taller than Jack could reach with his sword.  Carved into the face of the monolith was the figure of a man in ceremonial dress, facing to their right with his hands raised in front of him, palms out.  The pose was not threatening, but somehow reverent.  Jack took his cutlass and continued probing the undergrowth.  Some ten feet to the right of the first monolith, he found a second.  Upon its face was carved the mirror image of the first.

"Jack?  It's a gateway.  I'm sure of it," she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

"Aye," Jack said with a satisfied smile.  "The gateway to our destination.  Excellent navigation skills, darling!  Wherever did you learn to read a map like that?"
"Some unscrupulous pirate I met a while back," she smirked as she put the map away.
"You were an excellent student as I recall."
"You were a passable instructor."  She drew her rapier and smiled broadly.  "Now that we're here, shall we see what's on the other side?"
"I was beginning to think you'd never ask!"

The couple worked together with a renewed sense of purpose to penetrate the curtain of wild growth that stood between them and the temple site.  It was easier than they expected.  Within minutes they were through, and before them lay the temple complex of the Ancients.  They stood together and surveyed where that mysterious race gathered to worship their gods. 

"Well, that's just disappointing," sighed Jack.
Honour unconsciously wrinkled her nose.  "What a mess..."

The area had been laid out like a grand courtyard, with a large central structure flanked by a handful of smaller ones.  It must have been impressive to behold during the heyday of the Ancients, but time had been a cruelly neglectful steward.  The small buildings had completely collapsed, making it impossible to divine their original shape or purpose.  Fortunately, the main temple had fared somewhat better.  One could still see the roughly pyramid shape of it, but its adornments lay crumbled at its base, the watchful statues of their gods dashed to rubble.

"There must have been an earthquake, if not several," observed Jack.  "I'm sure the yearly storms that plague this region haven't helped matters."
Honour shuddered.  "I hate hurricanes.  What do we do next?"
"LaFourche's journal said we need to find a chamber with an altar.  I'm assuming it's in there since there's only one temple," he said, motioning to the ruins.
"'Assuming'?  You mean he doesn't say for certain?"
"Forgive me.  I didn't think to ask if the chamber is in Temple Number One, Two, or Three.  We've got one temple-"
"That we can see..." she interrupted.
"What say we try the obvious solution first before getting all picky, shall we?"
"Fine," replied Honour.  "But which door do we use?"
Jack turned and took a long look at the temple.  It had three black openings in its face that seemed to lead within. 
"Oh," he said quietly.
"Not in the journal either, was it?"

Jack opened the haversack and pulled from it the journal, a small copper box of gun cloth, and a striker.  He handed Honour the journal and retrieved one of the torches he had fashioned back at their camp.  She leafed through the book as he worked to get the torch lit in the humid air.
"Hardly Botticelli, but interesting," she said as she looked at the drawings.
Jack slung the bag around his neck and held it open for her to return the book.  "Grab an end, love, and we'll go see which door is our winner!"
"Did you mean the chest, or you?"
"If you grab my end, sweetheart, I'll have to douse this torch in favour of the one you'll have lit.  Shall we?"

They carefully carried the chest up the debris strewn steps to a landing at the middle of the temple's face.  Once there, they set the chest down on the mottled grey stone.
"Stay right her, Honour.  I want to check these side doorways just in case they decided to be sneaky."
Quick as a flash, she snatched the torch out of his hand.  "I'm just as capable of exploring as you are, Jack!  I'll check this side door first."
"Honour, wait!  You don't know what might be in there!"
Jack watched as she walked to the doorway at the left side of the landing.  She turned and gave him a mischievous smile before ducking inside.

His heart nearly stopped when he heard her scream.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

When Jack reached Honour, she was standing in an enclosed room with her back to the door, trembling.  Her hair was tangled with thick cobwebs.  She never noticed when Jack brushed away a large spider that was about to crawl up underneath her golden mane.  As he picked up the torch she had dropped, he looked to see what had her so transfixed with fear.

On three of the walls,  from floor to ceiling and from corner to corner, were carved human faces, their eyes closed as if sleeping. Each one was unique, and to Jack's surprise there were women's faces along with those of men. The stone they were carved from seemed polished smooth. And quite unlike other ancient cultures, the faces were disquietingly realistic, not stylised or abstracted. There was nothing else carved on the walls. No writing, no deity figures. Just row upon row of slumbering faces.

"Well," said Jack. "You don't see that every day. Are you all right?"
Honour swallowed hard. "They... they were awake."
"Awake? As in...?"
"As in staring at me."
"Honour, they are just stone carvings," he said in reassuring tones. "Coming into this dark room from outside, your eyes played tricks on you. See?"
He passed the torch close to some of the faces. The torchlight glimmered off the polished stone.
"I swear, their eyes were open. I'm sure of it! Jack, there is something very, very wrong with this place."
"Sweetheart, we've all heard fantastic stories about ancient ruins in the New World. Claims that they're cursed or haunted, but none of it is true. There aren't such things as ghosts or curses. It's easy for your imagination to get the better of you, especially with something as strange as this room is. But we are fine. It's just an abandoned old temple. Just stones and paint. And I really, really want to get those cobwebs out of your hair. They do nothing for you."
"You're sure we're safe?" she asked, giving a wary glance at the walls around them.
"Safe as houses, I promise. Now, let's get back out in the sunlight and back to what we came here for. We can appreciate the artwork later. Just promise you won't strike out on your own again? There haven't exactly been groundskeepers about to patch up crumbling walls or broken floors."
"Trust me, after finding this awful gallery, I'll stay close." She quickly stepped back out into the sunlight.

Jack chuckled at Honour's flight of fancy. He had never seen anything like this strange chamber before, and the craftsmanship was on par with some of the European masters. It was understandable how she could have imagined the faces were something other than stone. He paused at the doorway to look back and admire them one last time.

He thought better of his decision to loiter when, just at the moment he turned, he was certain he saw the eyes of several of the faces quickly shut.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Jack emerged, blinking, into the sunlight. He tried to convince himself that he was merely seeing things, prompted by what Honour imagined she had seen. The power of suggestion. That had to be it. They were just carved stone faces. Incredibly, impossibly realistic stone faces. They couldn't be anything more than that.
Could they?

Honour stood before him, trying to get the cobwebs out of her hair.
"I've never dealt with anything so sticky in all my life," she complained. "I'll never get rid of this awful stuff." She looked at Jack as she continued to pull at the stubborn strands of silk. "You saw it, didn't you?"
"Saw what?"
"The faces. You caught them looking."
"What makes you say that?"
"First, the look on your face. The one you always get when you find a puzzle you can't solve or something you can't explain."
"And the second?"
"All your replies are questions."
"I really do that?"
"Stop it. And yes, you do." Satisfied she had removed most of the spider's handiwork from her hair, she dusted her hands off on her breeches. "But we've come too far to let a little thing like a haunted temple stop us. That's what you're thinking, isn't it?"
Jack crossed his arms. "Fine, Madame Mind Reader. If you're so certain what's on my mind, what am I thinking now?" He cocked his eyebrow and smirked.
Honour sighed. "What you're always thinking about between every other thought in your head. And forget about it." She pointed at the chest. "That's the only chest you're getting your hands on today."
"Ah, but there's always tomorrow. You know what an optimist I am."
"Insufferable is more like it. Now, Captain, two doors left to try. Which one?"

Jack walked back out into the courtyard area in front of the temple and regarded the structure.
"Based strictly on the symmetry, I'd say the middle door is our way in. But just to be thorough..."
He jogged up the other set of narrow steps and briefly looked into the doorway. Moments later he was descending the steps again.
"Same decorator," he announced. "You'd think they would enjoy a little variety. You could teach them a thing or two about wallpaper."
"What colour were their eyes?"
Jack shook his head. "You know I usually order drinks before I get that personal."
"You noticed mine before any drinks were poured."
"You've always been the exception, my dear. Right from the start." He slung his end of the chest's harness over his shoulder. "Ready?"
Honour reluctantly picked up her end, but stopped short of shouldering it. She looked up at Jack worriedly.
"I'm scared, Jack. This place, this temple, those ghastly faces... all of it really frightens me."
"I know. And I know how very brave you can be."
"Aren't you scared, even the least little bit?"
He paused, then looked up at the sky. "It really is a beautiful day, don't you think?"
She shook her head, then shouldered her end of their golden burden.
"Yeah. Just perfect."

The entered the central doorway of the temple and paused in a foyer-like space to let their eyes adjust. Jack held his torch aloft. The light flickered and danced on the intricate carvings in the walls. Before them was another doorway and a flight of stairs descending into the heart of the temple.
"I hope these are the only snakes we see for the rest of the day," remarked Jack.
"Snakes?! You didn't say anything about snakes!"
"I'm sorry, I thought it was common knowledge that traipsing through a jungle implies the possibility of snakes. My fault for not being specific. I'll revise the travel brochures."
"You know I hate snakes, Jack."
"Don't worry, they won't be any too pleased to see you either. Call it a draw."
"I should have stayed on the ship and sent Briggs along with you."
"You've seen him and Puddin' together. I wouldn't call Josiah a friend of the animals."
"Exactly why I should have sent him instead."
"You know you want to see what's in this chest as much as I do."
"At the moment, not really."
Jack held his torch higher and looked through the inner doorway.
"I can't see a landing yet, but it can't be too far down. Ready to press on?"
"Might as well, as long as we're here."
"That's more like it. We'll go slowly, and mind your step."

Slowly they descended the long stairway, being careful to place their feet carefully on each sand-covered step.
"These carvings are incredible," whispered Honour.
"Why are you whispering?" Jack whispered back.
"Because we're in a temple?"
"It's not like we're nipping off to the church basement to see what's under each other's choir robes. You can speak up."
"Oh, right. Why do I feel I just got a disturbing glimpse into your childhood?"
"One has to start somewhere. You were saying about the artwork?"
"The detail is amazing! I don't know what a tenth of it means, but it's strangely beautiful."
"The Ancients were ahead of their time in so many ways, love. I can't even see seams between the stones. But they can't have plastered over the walls, because you can't carve plaster with much detail at all."
"And plaster would have crumbled by now. Jack, are the walls getting... rounder?"

Jack stopped and looked behind then, then ahead again. Indeed, the shaft of the stairway was far less angular that it had been near the surface.
"Well, that's just damned odd. I've never seen anything like this before. Amazing technology."
"Jack, I've got an idea. Just hear me out..."
"Honour, no. We are not going to use these carvings as inspiration for new wallpaper for the captain's quarters."
"Oh."

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Finally, they reached the bottom of the long staircase. The passageway had gone from being fairly narrow with high, straight walls, to a much wider space with walls that were smoothly curved. Apart from the steps, there was not a straight line to be seen. Jack and Honour found themselves in another anteroom, with round doorway before them. The doorway itself was rimmed with strange, evenly spaced ridges. The wall carvings had taken a similar organic turn in style. Even the colour of the stone seemed to have changed, from a nearly coral pink to a sickly translucent grey.

"I never thought we would see the end of this staircase," said Honour. "I wonder why they put everything so far underground? Wouldn't it make more sense to build up?"
"They transformed an entire island into a maze, love," replied Jack as he inspected the doorway's ridges. "I imagine building an underground complex would have been child's play for them. We couldn't even see the temple when we climbed those trees. I have a feeling that was by design. This was a special place only to be visited by specific people, not a general place of worship or commerce."
"Invitation only? All others shall be shot?"
"I'll slip the doorman a few coins if he makes a fuss. Shall we see what lies beyond?"
"We've come this far. At least we're out of that jungle heat. Is that a cool breeze I'm feeling?"
"That it is. And notice the echo? There must be a cave of some sort. Let's find out."

They stepped through the doorway and into a huge, open space. The light from Jack's torch barely illuminated the walls to either side, and revealed nothing them and only stone floor reaching ahead. They set down the chest as they tried to get their bearings.
"Oh my," said Jack quietly. "This wasn't in the journal."
"Not in the journal? How could this not be in the journal? How do you not notice something this big?"
"I'm guessing certain details were left out in case the book fell into the wrong hands." He held the torch up as high as he could as he looked at the walls. "Hints a clues only. Things that take sharp observation to sort out--- damn!"
He recovered clumsily from stumbling over a ridge in the floor.
"Sharper than than, I'm guessing," chuckled Honour. "We'll need a lot more torches at this rate."
"You may just get your wish. Here, hold the torch."

Jack retrieved a long pole that was stored in a socket in the floor near the doorway. On one end was a tarry ball of pitch. He held it to the torch until it ignited. As he held the long torch near one of the walls, he found a large bowl like protrusion with what appeared to be a wick about six feet off the floor. He touched the flame to it, and wick began to burn with a bright, steady flame.
"I'll be damned," he laughed. "The oil is still good!"
He went from one side of the huge chamber to the other, lighting the large lamps as he found them. Finally, eighteen lamps were shining brightly, their light reflecting off polished crystalline facets in the ceiling and illuminating the entire area.

Honour stared in wonder at the architecture of the expansive chamber. In many ways, it rivalled the most opulent cathedrals of Europe in its grandeur. But she could not help be feel unsettled by the look and feel of the place. Arches in the ceiling had the appearance of protruding ribs, and even the bowls for the lamps looked as if they were being held by long, bony fingers. Six doorways, three to each side, had the same strange ridging as the chamber entrance, but on a larger scale. She felt almost as if they had wandered into the belly of some enormous stone beast rather than something made by human hands.

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

Jack looked around the chamber in awe.
"Honour, isn't this magnificent?" he called out as he turned in circles, trying to take in all that the lamps had revealed. He was in front of what appeared to be a large altar flanked by two massive stone columns. The columns and the wall behind the altar had more of the same strange carvings inlaid into them; strange symbols, and intricate vine-like designs that wove together to form elaborate designs that reminded Honour of Celtic knotwork she had seen in the Welsh countryside. The vine carvings that climbed up each of the two columns ended in the same way - at a slumbering stone face.
"Have you ever seen the like?" he asked.
Honour swallowed, fighting the urge to run back up the stairs and escape this bizarre place. "Not in the last week or so, no. I've got a nutty aunt who would be positively giddy over the décor, though."
"Maybe we'll find the artist's signature. If we every figure out how to read their writing." Jack walked to her and took her gently by the shoulders. "Are you still with me, love? You've got that look on your face."
"Which look is that? The 'I really want to scream' or the 'I really want to run' look?"
"Squarely between the two."
"Oh, you are good."
"Nice of you to remember," he smiled. "Wait, is that a blush I see in your cheeks?"
She gave him a gentle push. "Not that I'll ever admit to you. And quit smiling at me like that!"
He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "I'll get you out of here as quickly as I can, right after we get the chest opened. I promise."
"Don't promise me. Just make it happen."

"As much as I would love to explore this place top to bottom, I suppose that can wait. We're the only ones who know how to get here. I can always come back."
"You would consider coming back here, even after you find the treasure?"
"Knowledge is treasure, too, love. And there's a whacking great load of it here to be recorded. But first things first." He picked up one end of the chest. "Let's get this opened, since they were kind enough to make things so easy for us. Take the other end, and help me get it up on that altar."
Honour did as he asked, and together they carried the chest to the altar. As they set the chest upon the altar, she looked up furtively to see if either of the stone faces had decided to watch them. A sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw they had taken no notice.

"Right," said Jack quietly. "Here we go."
He pulled two small pouches from a small cartridge box on his belt. From the first pouch he produced the silvery moon key and placed it on the altar. Then he opened the second pouch and retrieved the sun key with its spiny protruding rays. He held it out for Honour to take.
"Don't get any wise ideas about swallowing it," he teased. Honour replied by sticking out her tongue.
He picked up the moon key and took a deep breath. "We'll place the keys in their respective sockets at the same time. You ready?"
Honour held her key over the sun emblem on the lid of the chest and nodded.
"On three, then." He held his key over the moon emblem and began to count. "One, two... three."
Together they placed their keys firmly into the carved sockets on the chest's lid and watched intently.

Nothing happened.

"Bloody hell," Jack grumbled. He pulled out the journal and quickly flipped through its pages.
"What's wrong? Did we miss something?" asked Honour.
He found the entry that explained how to open the chest and stabbed his finger at it. "There! Look, it says to place the chest on an altar, then put the keys in their proper spots in the lid. That's what we did! How can this not work, when we're so close?"
Honour took the book from him.
"What are you doing?" he demanded.
"Putting a fresh pair of eyes on the problem. You go over there somewhere to stomp and rant, I'll see what I can figure out."
Jack shook his head in frustration and gave her the space she asked for. He could not believe the horrible turn things had taken. How could he come all this way, just to fail?

[Captain Jack Wolfe]

"The ink's all smudged," said Honour.
"What? Yeah, why? The cat knocked over my cup one night and the pages got soaked."
She brought the book to him and pointed at one particular sentence. "Look here. Right here, where it says 'Placez la' - I'm guessing that's 'poitrine' - something 'l'autel'."
"Yes, what about it?"
"Did you read this before or after Puddin' spilt rum all over it?"
"After."
"What if you've got it wrong, then? What if instead of  "Placez la poitrine sur l'autel", it's really "Placez la poitrine dans l'autel"? In, rather than on?"
"But you see the altar, Honour. There's no place to put the chest in. On is our only option."
"What if this isn't the altar? What if there's another altar, one purpose built for this chest?"
Understanding dawned on Jack's face. "We haven't investigated any of the rooms yet."
"We'd best get to nosing about, don't you think?"
"Oh, yes!! Honour, you are positively brilliant!"
"I know," she said with a wink.

Jack plucked the keys from the chest and put them back into the box on his belt. Then he gave Honour the small torch they had brought into the temple with them, and he took the large torch for lighting the lamps for himself. The pair split up, each taking the three rooms on their respective side of the grand chamber.

The first room Honour entered was sparsely arranged. Just a few chairs, but an incredible amount of detailed carvings on the walls. Unlike the interlaced vine things depicted in the main chamber, these carvings depicted people. Honour assumed they must be the Ancients, as they bore a strong resemblance to the sleeping faces that seemed to be scattered all through the temple. As she followed the carvings around the room, she slowly realised what was going on in the mural. She put her hand to her mouth and giggled. That one looked an awful lot like page 38, and this other one... she had to stop and count arms and legs to try and figure out how many people were involved.
"Have you found anything yet?" called Jack.
"Uh, no, nothing important!"
"Me neither. Just farming scenes, lots of planting and harvesting. What about yours?"
"Oh... lots of planting. Lots and lots of planting."
"Boring stuff, isn't it? I'm heading to the next room."
"So will I then."
"But don't be surprised when--"
Honour yelped in surprise when she turned towards the door.
"-- when you see the stone face over the door. I'm guessing they're in every room."
"Thanks for the warning! A little earlier next time, please?"

Jack chuckled as he entered the next room. But his mirth was quickly replaced by wonder at what he saw.
It was not the altar he was seeking, but something uniquely spectacular.
Displayed before him was a gigantic model, some twelve feet long and ten feet wide, of a fantastic city. Everything was represented, down to the smallest detail. What appeared to be housing for the general populace ringed the outer portion. There was a massive market square, with buildings for permanent shops, areas for food vendors, even stalls for animals. A complex of  what looked to be ornate governmental buildings filled a large portion of the map. And at the centre of it all a stood colossal temple, complete with a huge courtyard flanked with stone seating that resembled a Roman amphitheatre. If this model represented an actual city, quite possibly the capital city of the Ancient's civilisation, Jack Wolfe may well have stumbled upon the greatest find since the discovery of the Ican and Mayan empires.
"Honour! Honour, come quickly! You have to see this!" he cried.
"No, Jack, you had better come here. And fast."
"Did you find the altar?"
"No. Something I wish I hadn't found at all."

There was something about Honour's tone of voice that told him something was seriously wrong. He hurried back to the main chamber to find her standing there, grim faced and tense. She was looking in the direction of the big stone altar where they had left the chest. He turned to see what had her attention, and nearly dropped his torch when he saw what it was.

"You!" he gasped.