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Fulham, south east London
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Rose Black made the most of her Sunday morning, enjoying a lie in and then a lazy breakfast. As she made a second coffee and felt awake enough to converse with strangers, she gathered her notes together and sat on the couch with her phone. A photo of herself and Lily on the mantlepiece caught her eye. She looked away. No point in spoiling an otherwise pleasant Sunday with thoughts of her sister right now.
She dialed the number Elizabeth Morgan had given her. It rang a few times, then, “Hello, this is Elizabeth Morgan.”
“Hi, it’s Rose Black. From the museum?”
“Yes, hi. How are you?” She sounded surprised that Rose had called her back.
“I’m well, and I’ve got some interesting stuff to tell you.”
“That’s great, but hold on just a second.”
Rose heard a muffled sound as Elizabeth seemed to cover the phone and then move from one place to another. There was a moment of background noise, lots of voices, as if Morgan was passing through a crowded room, then the clunk of a heavy door closing and silence.
“That’s better,” Morgan said over the line. “A bit of peace and quiet so I can concentrate.”
“Busy there even on a Sunday morning?” Rose asked.
“Most of our students are boarders, and the majority tend to stay most weekends too. It’s always busy here. Thankfully there’s an office or two where the kids aren’t allowed, and that’s a sanctuary of sorts. A moment to hear yourself think. So, what have you learned?”
Rose pursed her lips, wondered how much she needed to warn Morgan. She decided full disclosure was her best option and let the woman, and the school, make their own decisions on how they moved forward. “I was up pretty late last night,” she said. “I did some preliminary research, then managed to talk to an expert.” She shuddered at the memory of Mark Doncaster. “That led me into a rabbit hole of research that turned up some fascinating details. First off, though, I think I should warn you.”
“Warn me?” Morgan said. “Sounds ominous.”
“Well, it’s just that what you’ve uncovered there, if it’s authentic, could be incredibly rare and really quite an archeological gem. I think you’ll have all sorts of people wanting to get in on it if the details get out.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll be sure to pass that on. Hopefully we can keep most of it under our hats at least for the time being.”
Rose turned to her notes. “Okay, here’s what I’ve learned. You seem to have uncovered a Taurobolium. I’ll explain more about that in a second. But the chamber itself, with the trench through the middle, is a ritual chamber of Mithraism.” Rose gave a cursory account of the general tenets and shape of the known history of the Cult of Mithras. “I’m sure you can easily look up more about that on your own,” she said. “But this is where it gets interesting. The mosaic you sent me photos of, and the other descriptions you gave me, led me to learn that what you seem to have there isn’t simply a Mithraeum, but a more specific and secretive sect even within the secret sect of Mithraism itself. Your chamber is a Mithraeum of Tauro Solis.” She spelled it out and heard Morgan’s pen scratching on notepaper. “Now, the Tauro Solis sect were particularly violent and bloodthirsty. In most Mithraeum, the worshippers would stand in the trench and bathe in the blood of a sacrificial bull. Your trench seems to have been filled in, either by accident or on purpose, maybe we can never know. But, your sect, the Tauro Solis, not only bathed in the blood of sacrificial bulls, they were into human sacrifice as well.”
“My God, really?” Morgan’s pen seemed to have stopped moving.
Rose hoped the woman wouldn’t forget to take notes. She pressed on regardless. “Yes, I’m afraid so. The Tauro Solis, while worshipping Mithras and sacrificing bulls, also centered their faith strongly around gladiatorial combat, animal sacrifice, and human sacrifice. So while they may have stood in the trench to receive a bull’s blood, they may also have bathed in human blood. Many of their decisions were made through combat, almost always to the death but with that whole Caesar thing with the thumb up or thumb down, you know that?”
“Yes.”
“Well, that was part of it too, apparently. Some sect members might lose in combat and be spared, others might be sacrificed. But on their most holy days, they would sacrifice a young man. Often an important one.”
“This is really quite disturbing,” Morgan said. “Do you know what days were the most holy to them?”
Rose smiled, turning the page on the couch cushion beside her knee. “Actually, I do. And it’s quite timely to be discussing this now. The crazy thing is, tonight would be one of their most sacred nights. It’s the autumnal equinox today. The equinoxes are the two days of the year when Tauro Solis celebrates the Sacrifice of the Son, their most powerful rite.”
“So today is like their Easter,” Morgan said, a nervous smile evident in her voice.
Rose laughed. “Not really, I’m afraid. In this ritual, they always sacrificed a young man, and the more noble the person sacrificed, the greater the honor. For both the one on the altar and the sect as a whole. But here’s the really awful thing. If a father sacrificed his first-born son on this night, he was guaranteed eternal life. Now, I know these old school religions could be harsh and vicious, but that’s really messed up, don’t you think? What kind of man would sacrifice his own son for such selfish reasons?”
The humor in Morgan’s voice drained away. “Let’s not pretend there aren’t some truly awful people out there, Miss Black. Husbands and fathers throughout history have done far worse.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Rose frowned at the sudden decline in Morgan’s mood. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, thank you.” Morgan was forcing a better demeanor now, but she sounded troubled. “I can’t thank you enough for your help with this. I’ll be sure to pass it all on.”
“You’re welcome. And please keep us in the loop? I have a colleague who would be desperate to see your site and learn more if he can.”
“Of course, I won’t forget your assistance. Thanks again.”
Without waiting for an answer, the woman hung up. Rose stared at the phone for a moment. She wasn’t offended by Morgan’s curt farewell, but it bothered her that the woman seemed a little upset by it all. Maybe it was as simple as the gruesome practices of Tauro Solis. She shrugged it off, then caught sight of the photo of herself and Lily again. Morgan and her school would have to deal with it and be all right. Rose had problems of her own.