"I shall, be certain," the priest snapped. "Why do you bring her here?"
"I shall speak to that." Alisande rode forward, and the peasants cleared from her path.
Father Brunel looked up, frowning, then bobbed his head in salute. "Milady. Whom do I address?"
"A lady of high birth, and that is all you need know. As to the witch, she has repented and travels under my protection."
The priest stared, scandalized.
"She is shriven, Father," Alisande explained, "and travels to the convent of Saint Cynestria in the West."
Brunel's mouth tightened with some strong emotion; he swallowed heavily and turned pensive. "A fair tale, Milady-but hard to credit."
"So think your flock, and so have we come-to show that she may walk into God's church without shrinking, that she may gaze upon the blessed Sacrament, and that she may receive it in peace. Then will your villagers be content that she is indeed shriven and under God's wing again."
The priest lifted his head, unbelieving. Then he nodded slowly, turning away. "Come, then. The house of God is for those who seek Him: if she is in our Savior's favor, 'tis hers as much as any man's." He disappeared into the church, walking fast.
The peasants murmured to one another in surprise, almost outrage. Alisande turned to them, crying, "Come! This is what you wished, is it not?"
The crowd fell silent, staring up at her. Then Arvide spoke up reluctantly: "Aye. Bring the witch."
Dozens of hands reached for Sayeesa. She shrugged them off and walked into the church under no one's compulsion.
Alisande leaned down from her horse, caught the nearest peasant by the shoulder, and handed him her reins. "Tether this mare ere you enter." She dismounted and strode toward the church. Sir Guy followed suit, and Matt muttered to Stegoman, "Be ready for trouble. We might have to leave town a little suddenly."
"Have no fear," the dragon rumbled, and Matt swung down to follow Sir Guy into the chapel. The peasants pressed in after him.
Sayeesa was pacing slowly toward the altar, head bowed over clasped hands. The crowd fell silent, holding its collective breath, as she reached the communion rail and knelt, gazing at the tabernacle. After a few minutes, she bowed her head in prayer.
The crowd began to murmur, scandalized; but it cut off as Father Brunel stepped out of the sacristy. He'd taken the time for a quick shave and wore his stole. He walked slowly and, somehow, with dignity; and he gazed at Sayeesa with a pensive frown before he turned to the tabernacle and genuflected. If there was any emotion in him, it was saddened sympathy.
He knelt before the tabernacle in prayer, and the peasants began to mutter again. Arvide demanded, "Come, Father! The Sacrament!"
Father Brunel turned his head, frowning back over his shoulder; then he sighed and came to his feet. He stepped up to the altar, unlocked the tabernacle, and lifted out a ciborium. He removed the cover and turned to face the crowd, holding up the cup.
The peasants dropped to their knees, suddenly becoming a congregation, totally silent, every eye glued to the tiny white wafer as he lifted it from the ciborium; and there was only a warmth, an imploring earnestness, in his eyes as he held the Host out to his flock, murmuring, "Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce Qui tollis pecatta mundi." Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who taketh away the sins of the world.
"Domine," the people answered in a murmuring whisper, "non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum meam, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea." Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come under my roof, but only say the word, and my soul shall be healed.
"Domine, non sum dignus," Sayeesa repeated in a whisper, raising her head; and Matt saw with a shock that her cheeks sheened with tears. Lord, these people really took this rule-and-rote seriously!
Father Brunel's face was gentle, almost tender, as he stepped down, lowering the Host to place it on Sayeesa's tongue. Her mouth closed around it, and she bowed her head, shoulders trembling.
The peasants stared, wide-eyed, unbelieving.
Father Brunel closed his eyes, bowing his head over the ciborium for a minute. Then he turned, to place the cup back in the tabernacle-
And the peasants erupted.
"'Tis a trick!"
"The Host was not consecrated!"
"Nay, nor is this church!"
"Aye! Father Brunel has defiled our chapel with his sinning!"
Anger gathered on Brunel's face. "Who dares say this of me?" he bellowed, and the noise of the crowd slackened to an angry muttering.
Arvide called out, "Can you deny it, Father?"
"I can and do! I've never been guilty of sacrilege in this church, as God is my witness!"
The muttering became uncertain.
Father Brunel lowered his voice. The anger was gone, but steely conviction remained. "I have sinned, aye, mightily and often, God forgive me! I'm a man of weak will and strong cravings." His eyes flicked toward Sayeesa-then past her, seeking out individual faces in the throng. "But when I've sinned, I've not set foot in this church till I've walked barefoot to another priest and been shriven! I? Desecrate this church? Never!" His voice cracked like thunder over the heads of his parishioners, and many of them winced.
But Arvide stepped forward doggedly. "So you say, Father, so you say! But we cannot be sure; nor can we be sure this witch does not deserve death at the stake!"
"Nay, there may be truth in it!" One peasant woman thrust her way forward. "For often have I seen him trudge out of town barefoot, fear on his face, as though hell's outriders pursued him!"
"But he was often gone longer than confession requires," another cried. "Where was he, neighbors? And why would he not join us in hunting the witch?"
The crowd caught the direction of her thoughts, and a very ugly murmur started up.
"Aye!" Arvide's eyes lit. "He was one of her visitors!"
Brunel swallowed heavily, fighting for composure. "I'll not deny it. In truth, I sought the witch's castle-but directly after I'd left her, I sought out another priest and confessed it. He shrove me; I still say my penance."
"Yet how did you escape her power?" a granny shrieked, her arm outstretched and pointing at the priest. "Nay, speak truly! Are you not a witch also? Why else were you not turned to stone, like my son?"
"Why, because I had small enough power over him!" Sayeesa snapped. "This is a good man, beneath his weakness and lust, one who gives hurt to none and seeks to help all! He is dedicated to God and therefore I could not hold him. Remorse overcame him, despite the strongest of spells!"
"Yet how could a man be a priest and still visit a witch of foul lust?" the granny shrieked. "Nay! He's defiled our church-and the test of this witch was no test!"
"Hold on!" Matt called out, before the crowd could react. "You admit he's always going to confession-so he couldn't have defiled the church!"
The crowd hooted derision, and the ugly mutter built up toward a roar.
"Nay, hold, good people!" Sir Guy shouted, and the crowd quieted, puzzled.
"How could he have defiled this church," Sir Guy asked reasonably, "if he was ever a-going to be shriven?"
The villagers turned to one another, murmuring uncertainly.
Matt felt the injustice of it burning his belly. He stepped over to Sir Guy. "Hey! You just said the same thing I did!"
"Aye, and I thank you for the words," Sir Guy said, sotto voce. "I'd never have thought of it, myself."
"But..." Matt fought down a surge of temper. "How come they didn't pay any attention when I said it?"
"Why, Lord Matthew," Sir Guy said, amazed, "you are not a knight,"
Matt turned away, fuming. If he ever found the guy who designed the rules for this universe, he decided, he'd send him back to his drawing board.
Father Brunel was nodding heavily with relief. "It is even as the knight says-you've yourselves admitted my remorse. Therefore your church is not defiled, and the test of the witch was a sound test! She has come to this House of God and received the consecrated Host under your eyes!
I declare her no witch, but a woman of God, though a sinner - "His voice sank. "-like myself."
Then his head rose again. "And like everyone of you here! Aye, she's sinned far more heavily than most-but is there a one of you who can claim truthfully that he's not sinned every week of his life? Yet you're not damned for it, for you've confessed and been shriven, through the grace of our Lord! So has she!" He glared about him slowly, fairly daring them to contradict him.
There were some uneasy mutters and a lot of sidelong glances, but nobody spoke.
"Well enough, then!" Arvide glared, red-faced and furious. "She's shriven and in Grace again! But she caused many deaths and seduced many by foul enchantments! Should she not be punished for this?"
"Aye!" cried the granny. "Now burn her!"
"Aye, burn her!" The crowd took up the cry.
"Now I say nay!" Father Brunei roared. He glowered down at the congregation. "Death by burning is for witches and heretics. She is neither, now. If you wish the King's Law to judge her for what she has done, give her over to the king's men. But you shall not burn her for offenses of faith while I am priest here!"
"Aye, while you are priest!" Arvide shouted. "That can be changed, Father!"
"Aye!" a female voice cried from the back. "Burn them, burn them both! Let them die united by their sins, while the flames burn them clean!"
Father Brunel roared again. He tore off his stole, laid it on the altar, and charged into the midst of the crowd. They broke and fled from his path. He caught Sayeesa's arm as he passed, pulling her along behind him, and bulled his way through like a cannon ball, to the back of the church and out the door. The crowd stood a moment, galvanized; then, with a howl, they charged out the door after him.
Matt plunged into the back of the crowd. Sir Guy jumped in just ahead of him, ploughing his way through the mob by dint of steel elbows. Matt followed on his heels, with Alisande behind.
They broke through the front rank in time to see the priest turn at bay in the middle of the common, thrusting Sayeesa behind him. "Now," he bellowed, "we are out of the Lord's house! He who thinks he can take the witch, let him come and seize her!"
The mob jarred to a halt and milled about, yammering. Arvide glanced at the men to either side of him. They nodded, and he stepped grimly forward, with his two henchmen following a step behind.
Father Brunel seemed to set like concrete, waiting.
Matt tried to remember how the policemen on the cop shows sounded, and barked, "Awright, hold it right there!"
The trio jerked to a halt, staring up at him in amazement.
Matt strolled up toward them, his hand on his sword. "If you're coming in multiples, I'm stepping in on the priest's side."
"I, too!" Sir Guy stepped up brightly, his sword whisking out. "What's it to be? Our two swords 'gainst a mob? Well and good! An even fight, Lord Matthew, an even fight!"
Alisande had had enough. "Hold!" she strode into the center of the action. "Stand aside, Sir Guy! 'Tis not the office of a knight to strike peasants, but to defend them! And you!" She rounded on the mob. "The priest does naught but his office in protecting this woman-for she is a penitent and stands in God's grace again!"
Arvide's eyes widened. "Do you say this, too, Lady?"
"I do," Alisande answered, "and I am of noble blood. Here is my judgment in the matter: She is no longer a witch and goes free!"
Arvide, Matt thought, knew damn well that's what the lady thought; but it was a nice way out of the impasse, letting both sides back down without loss of face. Noble blood had said it; de facto, it was true. Maybe aristocracy had some uses, after all.
Arvide sighed, deflating. Then one of the villagers muttered something into his ear, nodding towards the princess, and Arvide's eyes widened to the size of dollars. He stared at Alisande as if he were seeing her for the first time. Slowly, he nodded, muttering, "Aye, she is! She is indeed!"
Matt fought down a surge of exasperation. There went security.
Arvide yanked off his cap and came forward, almost shyly, dropping to one knee in front of her. "My Lady and my..."
"`Milady' will do for the moment," Alisande said, with gentle firmness. She held out her hand.
Arvide kissed her ring and looked up at her, his face filled with devotion. He heaved himself to his feet, bowed, and turned away, striding back through the crowd. An avenue opened for him; then, one by one, the other villagers followed him, with reverent, almost frightened, glances back over their shoulders at the princess.
They filed on down the single village street; finally, the common ground in front of the church was empty. Matt turned slowly to Alisande. "I forget the kind of magic you can work in your own right, your Highness."
Alisande smiled, amused. "Be of good cheer, Lord Wizard; you shall yet learn our ways. Still, I find no fault in your conduct this day. I ... must own, there are few men I would liefer have riding by my side in such broils."
Matt stared at her in-shock. It seemed like an awfully abrupt turnaround. Then he realized it was a peace offering and he smiled back at her before he turned to Father Brunel. "Well, Father, the crisis is past."
"Aye, though he scarcely calmed them." Sayeesa turned on the friar. "I had small need of your aid. With any other priest, there'd not have been such a coil."
"True enough." The priest took it without flinching. "Yet `twas not to protect you that I acted, but to protect my poor people from your armored knights."
"Aye, verily! You did it so well that you all but bred that verb combat!"
"I did not ask the lords there to speak," Brunel growled. "If they'd stood by, I would have outfaced all my people."
"Well, it came out okay, didn't it?" Matt had to head them off, or they'd spend the entire day scrapping. "Sayeesa's unsinged, and your flock is safe."
"Aye." The priest frowned. "Though 'tis not done yet. While your Graces are here, there's no longer danger; yet there are hotheads amongst 'em who are swayed by the Devil and the vile forces unleashed in this kingdom. They will brood over not gaining their way in this matter. Then they'll start speaking aloud; and as the talk grows, so will their anger. By nightfall, they'll be worked up to rage, and they'll come to take her and burn her. None, even then, will move 'gainst your command, Lady, but 'twould be needless to see the coil bred. If you will take my good counsel-be on your way, and that quickly."
Alisande smiled sourly. "I assure you, Father, we had not meant to tarry even so long as this." She turned to the rest of the company. "Come, let us ride!"
She went toward her horse; so did Sir Guy and Sayeesa. But Matt reached out and caught Sir Guy's shoulder. The knight looked back, with raised eyebrows.
Matt turned to Father Brunel. "How about you, Father? If they're going to go witch hunting in the middle of the night and can't find a witch, they might take you as second choice."
The priest hesitated; then he nodded reluctantly. "There's truth in your words; they may seek to slay me. Yet if they do, there is justice in it."
Matt nearly blew his stack. Was everybody in this crazy country a walking death-wish? "You'll pardon me, Father, but you don't quite strike me as a hopeless case."
"Even so." Alisande had turned back. "Yet if penance you seek, we have a worthy endeavor that requires much hardship and sacrifice."
The priest frowned dubiously. "I have great need of such penance."
"Aye, even so," Sayeesa breathed. Brunel looked up at her, startled. For a moment, their eyes met, and the priest's face washed bleak with the naked craving of his hunger, while Sayeesa had suddenly become a magnet for male eyes.
Brunel tore his gaze away with a shudder. "Nay. If they come to hang or even burn me, 'tis for the best. I've shamed my cloth long enough."
"I will not hear of it," Alisande declared. "I think you to be a good man, in spite of your vices; and there are few such in this kingdom, in these dark days. You shall come with us."
The priest's face began to settle into obstinacy.
Alisande's t
one warmed amazingly. "I will not leave a good man to a fate he warrants not."
Brunel caved in with a sigh. "I am not a good man, Majesty-"
"Highness, for this time," Alisande murmured.
Matt noticed how politely they both ignored the lack of a formal introduction.
"Highness," the priest amended. "And it is told that royal eyes, always see clearly; so what you command cannot be in error. If you command it, I will come with you."
CHAPTER 10
"With all due respect, your Highness, you're out of your mind," Matt said.
They had been riding across the open plain for several hours.
"Out of my senses?" There was nothing he could pin down in her tone and expression, but somehow her horse seemed a few inches higher. "Indeed! Pray I am not, Lord Wizard, or we are all doomed to death."
"Princess, I'm sure Father Brunel is basically a very good man, and Sayeesa's a very sincere penitent-but haven't you noticed the way they look at each other? I mean, that's a built-in weakness in our party right there-just the kind of gap Malingo would love to have handy to inject a little trouble through."
"The sorcerer?" Alisande frowned. "What place has he here?"
Matt gazed at her for a moment. "Do you think those peasants back there came up with ideas about priest-burning all on their own? These are humble folk conditioned to obey a black robe, Lady! They'd have obeyed Father Brunel when he told them to let Sayeesa alone, if something wasn't egging them on! Or do your peasants usually go witch hunting all on their own?"
Alisande turned thoughtfully. "I did wonder at their marching out against even a broken witch, without priest or noble..."
Matt frowned. "Malingo keeps trying to get us, Princess. He tried to sabotage us with that witch Molestam; then he tried to get me with Sayeesa; now he tried to stir up trouble with a peasant mob, And you're willing to give him an opening by letting the priest stay along, in spite of the effect he and Sayeesa have on each other?"
"I am." The steel was back in her now. "Yet your advice is sound; we'll watch them closely."
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