The Second Meeting with Cagliostro

Sitting at a table on the back porch of Laszlo's home, Tyler thought about the night he'd had. Sleep had come to him, but it had been a restless sleep, tossing and turning with the most horrible incubus he ever had rather than a nice and peaceful fantasy. He had dreamt of Assyria, that long dead civilization with legions of successors. He had dreamt he had been tied to an altar with Cagliostro, clad in the robes of a clergyman, prepared to bring a knife down into his heart, loomed over while the faceless statue of that monarch Ashurbanipal loomed over them.

When the knife did come down, one would have thought that would have been the moment Tyler awoke. He wished he had, for the dream continued, but in a different place. Gone was Assyria and then did he find himself in a place more like the Labyrinth of Hellenic myth, following after a woman whose face he never saw, always obscured by a veil. Was this meant to be Rosie, whom he had yet to meet? Perhaps it was.

And then yet another figure appeared in the dream, that old man he had seen emerging from Laszlo's office, saying to him: "I bid you luck in what is to come."

What was to come? Did it mean anything? No, of course not. This was real life dreams did not mean anything. He'd had a bad first meeting with the Ashurbanipal-loving Cagliostro, was eager to meet Rosie, whose appearance he knew nothing of, and merely remembered how the old man had wished him luck. Those all influenced his dream it didn't mean anything was in store for him in his near future. He would be seeing Rosie, but he would never see that old man again and he would definitely never again see…

Tyler's eyes widened in horror as Cagliostro walked onto the back porch with Laslzo following him, the latter saying: "I must say, I wasn't expecting you, Cagliostro, though I always enjoy company. Would you like some tea?"

"No thank you, Laszlo, I am quite alright." Noticing Tyler, Cagliostro then said: "Ah, the barking dog."

Tyler, with his eyes glazed over, replied: "I heard no dog bark until you got here."

Narrowing his eyes, Cagliostro took a seat at the table and said: "So, you are an O'Donnell, a descendant of one of the royal houses of Ireland. I suppose I should have been more respectful, after all, we are, in a manner of speaking, brothers, you and I, not like him."

Cagliostro glanced at Laszlo, as the latter took a seat and asked: "Now wait a moment, Cagliostro, what do you mean by that?"

"Your surname is not actually a surname." Replied Cagliostro. "It is a given name."

"It was an error made when my family immigrated." Explained Laszlo.

"Then why haven't you returned to your original surname?"

"I see no reason to and besides, I had not been born yet, therefore it is not my original surname."

Tyler had always wondered about Laszlo's name. He had met people with the given name of "Dimitri", but people with the surname of "Dimitri" were practically non-existent, at least in his experience. Besides Laszlo and his family, he knew no others with Dimitri as a surname.

"And what of you, Cagliostro?" inquired Tyler. "I have heard of a few royal houses, past and present, from across the world and I have never once heard of the House of Cagliostro or the Cagliostro dynasty."

"No, of course, not, but I can trace my ancestry to Shamshi-Adad II, King of Assyria." Stated Cagliostro.

"Incredible, if what you say is true." Commented Tyler, scratching the back of his neck. Shamshi-Adad II was an ancestor of Ashurbanipal, that monarch whom Cagliostro so loved. Perhaps his love for Ashurbanipal was a case of putting a long dead relation on a pedestal.

"Difficult to believe, I understand, but I maintain than I am."

"I believe my father was the illegitimate son of Franz Joseph I of Austria." Said Laszlo, taking a turn to speak. "The only person who would know is my grandmother and she is dead now, so I can't ask."

"Have you tried a DNA test?" asked Tyler.

"No, no… I fear my belief might be squashed."

"I see no resemblance between you and that great emperor." Commented Cagliostro.

"How do you know what Franz Joseph looked like?" asked Laszlo, his tone more than a little defensive.

"Laszlo, Franz Joseph I of Austria's pictures are in many a history book." Stated Tyler. "If your father was his illegitimate son, don't you think either you or him would resemble Franz Joseph?" Laszlo gave a small nod. He had never taken that into account. "Besides, now that I think about it, who would you even go to for having such a DNA test? To the Hungarian government?"

"An excellent point, Tyler, an excellent point indeed." Agreed Laszlo, as he proceeded to fidget with his mustache. "I dreamed I was the grandson of a monarch, but at the end of the day, how can it be proven? Who do I go to in order to prove it? Dreams are strange."

Tyler nodded in agreement. That was indeed the truth. He wasn't even sure where the Labyrinth of Crete had come from in his dream last night. Obviously, the Assyrian setting came from yesterday's meeting with Cagliostro, but where had the Labyrinth come from? He had neither read Mary Renault's "The King Must Die" or watched "Minotaur, the Wild Beast of Crete" in a while, nor had he seen "The Storyteller: Greek Myths" or read Roger Lancelyn Greene's "Tales of the Greek Heroes. He had not even read Edith Hamilton's "Mythology" in a while, so where exactly did the Labyrinth come from? It truly was a mystery. Logic dictated that a discussion of the myth of the Minotaur, recently reading the original story or even just reading or seeing an adaptation would have influenced his dream, but the fact was he had done none of those things and thus, the Labyrinth came from nowhere.

"There is another charity gala at the museum this evening, Laszlo. Will you be in attendance with Young Tyler here?" asked Cagliostro, not sounding particularly curious.

"Well, yes, there is someone else going to the gala this evening that I intend to introduce Tyler to." Answered Laszlo.

A black-tie event? Tyler felt a feeling of panic wash over him like molten lead. He had never felt molten lead wash over him, yet he imagined it would not feel much different from how panic felt. He didn't have a tuxedo or a suit or anything like that what was he going to do?

"Who?" asked Cagliostro.

"A young lawyer in my employ named Rosie Dorrington."

"A woman!" Cagliostro laughed. "Now this I must see! Tyler, women are a treacherous lot, who will betray men the first chance we get. The only people safe from their treachery are men without passion, homosexual men and, of course, lesbians."

Tyler stared for a moment. How did Laszlo consider Cagliostro a friend? How horrible a judge of character was he to consider this monster a friend? He was taking his swearing off of female companionship too far! He could only hope that Cagliostro would not be arrive until long after Laszlo had introduced him to Rosie, otherwise he felt Cagliostro might make some comments that were beyond venomous.