Eighth Circle

'What do you know about him?'

'He had a round table, Thomas. I told the guardians and that gave them the idea for that monstrosity of a big wheel they call the high table. I also told them about King Arthur. I said he was a once-and-ever king.'

'You mean a king who never dies?'

'Yes, Thomas, and that is probably why they consigned me to this jar rather than killing me as they had planned. I used my tongue to stay alive just like you did. You told them about the Sixth Realm and took them to Stonehenge.'

A silence followed. Tom thought carefully. The conversation was going well and he wanted to keep it that way. The old man was testing him. He was providing clues to see how he would react. A leading question seemed appropriate.

'When did you leave the Sixth Realm?'

It received the sort of response Tom expected.

'What makes you think I was ever there?'

'All these hints you've been giving me.' Tom leant towards the jar. 'No one else has used my full name. There is no reason why they should.'

'Why is that, Thomas?'

'They don't know that Tom is a shortened form of Thomas. The saint of that name came on the scene four thousand years after our two realms split apart.'

'That is an interesting point,' The head in the jar seemed to nod. 'But it is hardly enough to prove that I have ever been in any other realm apart from this one. What else causes you to think otherwise?'

'People in this realm no nothing about King Arthur. He didn't gain recognition until Mallory wrote about him.'

'So. You really are from the Sixth Realm.'

'Did you ever doubt it?'

'The evidence you uncovered at Stonehenge could have been planted. I saw that archaeological excavation on my screen. It was so badly done it didn't prove anything.'

'You are the first to make that point.'

'So it might seem, Thomas.'

'You have still not answered my question, your majesty.'

'Please, Thomas. Call me Father. Everyone else does.'

'When did you leave the Sixth Realm, Father?'

'In the Year of Our Lord 1672. I had been living in London but six years earlier I lost my house and business. Why do you think that was, Thomas?'

'You still want to make sure about me, don't you Father?'

'Answer my question, Thomas.'

'They were burnt in the famous Fire of London.'

'No. They were blown up to clear a firebreak.'