“Like Igor.”
She sighed, and her smile dimmed, darkening her face.
Jason kicked himself for bringing up her brother. He tried his best to recover. “Did you pick Anna... or was it selected for you?”
“I chose it. After Anna of Kashin.”
He looked toward her.
She explained, “She was a Russian princess of Tver, who was twice canonized, after losing her family to Mongol hordes. She’s considered the holy protectress of women who have lost their loved ones.” She glanced down as they continued into the next chamber. “I picked her because Igor and I had lost our parents following an auto accident. We were only fourteen. Afterward, we were all we had, following in each other’s footsteps, pursuing the same academic careers—until I was drawn to the church, pulled by my faith.”
“Was there a moment when you knew about your calling?” Jason whispered, though the labyrinth’s acoustic amplified his words.
“I had no heavenly visitation, if that’s what you’re asking.” She looked at him, as if testing if he were mocking her.
“Not at all. I’m sorry for prying. I was truly curious.”
She relaxed. “I’ve always found comfort in prayer. And later, during my studies to be an archivist, my interests slowly diverged from my brother’s. He was drawn toward old scientific texts and treatises, where I was fascinated by ancient scriptures, lost gospels, even religious debates among Greek and Roman writers. It was in those yellowed, fragile pages that I felt myself called to a more meditative, worshipful life.”
He nodded. “I think we can all use a little more introspection.”
She smiled at him. “I’m sure there’s a monastery that would love to have a resident computer expert. I heard many of them have websites now.”
He held up a palm. “No thanks. Considering my work hours, I’m already living the life of a monk.”
She lifted a brow. “That’s too bad.”
He glanced to see if there was any extra meaning there, but he reminded himself...
She’s a nun—or, at least, a novice.
Flustered, he tripped on a loose tile and sent it skittering away. He caught himself, his cheeks warming with embarrassment. He followed the tumbling tile with his flashlight.
Anna gasped next to him.
He spotted it, too.
They both rushed over.
Jason picked up the tile. Like all the others, it was octagon in shape and had been kilned to an azure blue, though age had mottled it. Only this tile also had a sigil engraved in silver atop it, a single symbol. It was so tarnished that it was nearly indiscernible at first glance.
Still, he recognized the glyph. He had seen it before, scrawled along the edge of the astrolabe’s sketch.
He turned to Anna.
“It’s Glagolitic,” she confirmed.
They shared an amazed look.
This must be significant.
With his heart pounding, Jason tried to radio his teammates, but the warren of rock defied his efforts. He gave up and cuffed his hands around his mouth.
“Over here!” he hollered, trusting the acoustics of the place to carry his message to the others. “We found something!”
Before his yell could echo away, Anna waved to him. “Look at this.”
She had crossed deeper into the cavern chamber and swept her flashlight across the floor.
