The Secret of Kralitz
By HENRY KUTTNER
[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Weird Tales October1936. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the U.S.copyright on this publication was renewed.]
I awoke from profound sleep to find two black-swathed forms standingsilently beside me, their faces pale blurs in the gloom. As I blinked toclear my sleep-dimmed eyes, one of them beckoned impatiently, andsuddenly I realized the purpose of this midnight summons. For years Ihad been expecting it, ever since my father, the Baron Kralitz, hadrevealed to me the secret and the curse that hung over our ancienthouse. And so, without a word, I rose and followed my guides as they ledme along the gloomy corridors of the castle that had been my home sincebirth.
As I proceeded there rose up in my mind the stern face of my father, andin my ears rang his solemn words as he told me of the legendary curse ofthe House of Kralitz, the unknown secret that was imparted to the eldestson of each generation—at a certain time.
"When?" I had asked my father as he lay on his death-bed, fighting backthe approach of dissolution.
"When you are able to understand," he had told me, watching my faceintently from beneath his tufted white brows. "Some are told the secretsooner than others. Since the first Baron Kralitz the secret has beenhanded down——"
He clutched at his breast and paused. It was fully five minutes beforehe had gathered his strength to speak again in his rolling, powerfulvoice. No gasping, death-bed confessions for the Baron Kralitz!
He said at last, "You have seen the ruins of the old monastery near thevillage, Franz. The first Baron burnt it and put the monks to the sword.The Abbot interfered too often with the Baron's whims. A girl soughtshelter and the Abbot refused to give her up at the Baron's demand. Hispatience was at an end—you know the tales they still tell about him.
"He slew the Abbot, burned the monastery, and took the girl. Before hedied the Abbot cursed his slayer, and cursed his sons for unborngenerations. And it is the nature of this curse that is the secret ofour house.
"I may not tell you what the curse is. Do not seek to discover it beforeit is revealed to you. Wait patiently, and in due time you will be takenby the warders of the secret down the stairway to the undergroundcavern. And then you will learn the secret of Kralitz."
As the last word passed my father's lips he died, his stern face stillset in its harsh lines.
Deep in my memories, I had not noticed our path, but now the dark formsof my guides paused beside a gap in the stone flagging, where a stairwaywhich I had never seen during my wanderings about the castle led intosubterranean depths. Down this stairway I was conducted, and presently Icame to realize that there was light of a sort—a dim, phosphorescentradiance that came from no recognizable source, and seemed to be lessactual light than the accustoming of my eyes to the near-darkness.
I went down for a long time. The stairway turned and twisted in therock, and the bobbing forms ahead were my only relief from the monotonyof the interminable descent. And at last, deep underground, the longstairway ended, and I gazed over the shoulders of my guides at the greatdoor that barred my path. It was roughly chiseled from the solid stone,and upon it were curious and strangely disquieting carvings, symbolswhich I did not recognize. It swung open, and I passe