"There are two things. First, during our travels, we have visited a number of different antiquities, and it has seemed to me that some of them are similar, perhaps even related. Yet they were constructed at different times by completely different peoples. I was hoping you could explain the puzzle." From my reticule, I took the list of places where we suspected that magical rituals had been performed and handed it to him. Cavalier Coducci glanced at it and smiled. "You are perceptive, Signora Tarleton. But then, I would expect no less of the daughter of the Signor Rushton. These are all places where royal rituals took place." "Royal rituals?" James asked in a bored tone that belied his interest. "The rituals that made a man of royal blood truly the ruler of his people," Cavalier Coducci replied. "Among ancient tribes, it was not enough merely to be the son of the ruler. Rituals were required to confirm the authority of the chieftain or king." "Like a coronation?" Kate said.
