Chapter One   I was once a young man riding the long train of my uncle, Pope Calixtus III. I began a career within the Roman Catholic Church. I was full of energy, passion, and a certain amount of intelligence. This led to lucrative appointments– a Cardinal-Deacon at the age of twenty-five, then Vice-Chancellor. With ...

Monochromatic color splayed like a smudge on the horizon.  A cardinal flits across my view. A bright red fleck in snow.