A knock on the door sounded close in the small room. Matthias stood, his knees almost buckling beneath him. He had been sitting a long time.
The knock sounded again, and then the door opened. Elder Reece leaned in. Reece was thin to the point of gauntness. He was also small, and preferred his Danite's robe to his Elder's robe. Matthias had to threaten him with a special decree to get Reece to wear the proper robe during the day.
Reece was wearing his Elder's robe now. The sash was belted loosely, making the robe hang off him like a sack. He still went barefoot within the Tabernacle, and his feet were filthy.
"Forgive me, Holy Sir," he said, "but the Elders have been looking for you everywhere."
"This is a worship room," Matthias said. He was glad they had sent Reece. Reece was easy to manipulate.
Reece bobbed his head, but did not let go of the door. "I know, Holy Sir, but we have been looking for you since dawn. I-I-I thought one last try —"
"I will appear when I am ready," Matthias said. He wasn't ready yet. He was still unsettled by the suddenness of Jewel's reaction to the holy water.
And by Nicholas's anger.
In all of the history of the Tabernacle, there had never been a split with the palace.
"Forgive me, Holy Sir, but Porciluna, he said …" Reece paused and bobbed again. The light from the window fell on his sallow features, and they were drawn with fear.
"Yes?" Matthias said. They had sent the timid one because he would deliver the message. Sometimes in his absorption in Tabernacle matters great and small, he forgot that none of the Elders approved of his appointment to Rocaan. And why would they? They had been in the running for the position as well.
"Porciluna said that they would start without you." Reece ducked his head as if he expected to get hit. "Forgive me, Holy Sir."
"Start what?" Matthias said.
"The Elders' evaluation. They — Porciluna — ah — they all wonder — forgive me, Holy Sir, but they wonder if you've gone crazy."
"Crazy?" Matthias asked. "And on what do they base this idea?"
"The Queen's death, Holy Sir. One of the Officiates says you planned it."
"Really?" Matthias felt cold. He should have expected this. A distant part of his mind wondered why he had not. "You were present, Reece. Do you think I acted like a crazed man?"
"You — ah, please, Holy Sir. I only deliver the message."
"Do you?"
Reece let go of the door and looked down at his hands. "Holy Sir, you did not let the Fey leader out with his daughter. You tried to prevent his leaving."
"And that's a sign of craziness?"
"It — seemed odd, Holy Sir."
Matthias took a deep breath. He had expected trouble from the palace, but not from the Tabernacle. None from the Tabernacle at all. "Tell them I'll be at the meeting shortly."
Reece did not move.
"Tell them," Matthias said.
"Forgive me, Holy Sir," Reece said. "They've been waiting all morning. They said if I were to find you, I was to take you there."
Like a prisoner. Matthias would not allow himself to be treated like a prisoner. "I will show up there when I am ready. I assume they're in the audience room?"
"Yes, Holy Sir." Again, Reece did not move. Matthias was getting irritated.
"Reece, I am capable of finding the room on my own."
"Yes, Holy Sir." Reece stepped out of the room, and pulled the door closed.
Matthias leaned back against the wall. Its chill seeped through his robe. Crazy. An excuse. They were making up an excuse to get rid of him. They didn't want him to be Rocaan. No one had, except the 50th Rocaan, and even he did not believe he would die anytime soon on the day he appointed Matthias.
The only power Matthias had was in being Rocaan. The Rocaan was the Keeper of the Secrets. Unlike his predecessor, Matthias had not shared even one secret with anyone else. He also had not appointed Elders to fill the vacancies left when he went into the Rocaan's chair, and when Elder Andre disappeared. Under canonical law, Elders could only act against the Rocaan when all Elders agreed. All ten Elders.
He took a deep breath. He had planned for this moment in some ways. He had always known they would challenge him. He just hadn't expected it over the Fey. For some reason, he thought they were all agreed on the Fey.
Matthias let himself out of the chamber and took the stairs to the main level. He walked slowly — any appearance of haste might be mistaken for panic — and made his way to the audience chamber.
The double doors were open, waiting for him. All the Elders were inside, including Reece. His slender hands were gesturing as he spoke, apparently telling the others that Matthias would be along soon.
The Audience Room was so large that eight men disappeared in it. The chairs were pushed against the walls. The chandelier was lit, but whoever had done so had failed to pull it back to the ceiling. The carefully crafted glass baubles hung at the height of Matthias's head, and candle wax dripped from one bauble onto the floor.
Porciluna stood in the center. His robe was plush velvet, the small swords hanging off his sash made of polished silver. Even after the Invasion, Porciluna managed to have the best of everything in his rooms --the best food, the most comfortable bed, the finest jewelry. Like Matthias, Porciluna had been a second son forced in the religion. Unlike Matthias, Porciluna had decided to make himself as comfortable, if not more comfortable, than the family that had forced him to this place. Porciluna had never hidden his ambitions, or his lack of faith.
Unlike the man standing next to him. Ilim was squat and older than many of the Elders. He wore a plain robe and kept his hair uncut, preferring to tie it into a ponytail down his back. He supervised the spiritual guidance of the servants and rarely involved himself in Tabernacle business.
The six remaining Elders were scattered around the audience hall, conferring in groups. Only Timothy didn't seem to be paying attention. Timothy, whose hair had touches of gray in it, but who moved with the quickness of youth, had a naïveté about him that the others mistook as a lack of intelligence. Timothy was staring at the wall panels which depicted the reign of the first Rocaan as he converted the countryside, and subdued his brother, the King.
"It has been one hundred and sixty-five years since the Elders last summoned the Rocaan," Matthias said. "I trust this matter is important."
"If you consider murder important," Porciluna said.
"Murder!" Linus whirled from his place near the wall. He walked beside Porciluna. Linus hated trouble. He always went out of his way to avoid it . "You condemn a man before giving him a chance to speak."
"Close the door, Vaughn," Matthias said to the Elder nearest him. Vaughn closed the doors as Matthias walked into the room. He looked at his former companions. "Elder Reece said you all thought I was crazy."
"One needs to be crazy to kill the Queen at the King's coronation," Porciluna said.
"Porciluna!" Linus took his arm. "This was not how the meeting was planned."
Planned. Matthias looked at Linus. Linus and Ilim resembled each other enough to be brothers, but Ilim appeared embarrassed by this meeting and Linus did not.
Porciluna shook Linus off. "Let me explain this to you, Holy Sir. We all know that you never believed in the Roca or in God. The Rocaan told us that the day he appointed you. He said your faith was tainted."
"He also said a man cannot become an Elder without faith." Timothy spoke from his place near the wall. "Do you believe that, Porciluna?"
Matthias suppressed a smile. Perhaps the group was not as unified as Porciluna thought it was.
"Just because the 50th Rocaan said it doesn't make it true," Porciluna said.
"Obviously," Matthias said with a pointed glance to Porciluna.
"Don't change this," Porciluna said. "The fact is you committed murder."
"That's a heady charge," Matthias said. "On what do you base it?"
"On the ceremony yesterday. She died, Matthias."
"Sh
e did," Matthias said. "And it is regrettable. But it happened."
"You make it sound as if it were out of your control." Eirman had been standing in the shadows. He came forward, under the light of one of the torches. "You knew that holy water would kill her."
"I didn't use holy water on her," Matthias said. "I kept my agreement with the King. I had told him I would place a cloth on her head before touching her or allowing anything to touch her, and that is exactly what I did."
"Officiate Danesfen says you instructed him to keep the cloth in his pouch with the holy water."
"I instructed him to keep it in his pouch. I do not know what else he kept there," Matthias said.
"At the stables, you asked for the cloth. I was there when he pulled out the holy water then the cloth," Linus said.
"The vial for the water should have been sealed. The cloth seemed dry. It looked fine to me." Matthias shrugged. "The cloth was dry when I spread it on the Sacrificial table. I kept it away from the vials. How do we know that the cloth killed her? How do we know it wasn't her husband's touch? He had been near the holy water. You are quick to assume I did it."
"She didn't change until you put the crown on her head," Porciluna said.
"Yes, but the transformation was a slow one. Most Fey melt quickly." Matthias looked at them all. "Or am I the only one who remembers that?"
"You didn't want to let her out of the Hall," Porciluna said.
"We don't know what caused her change. I believe that God and the Roca were signaling their displeasure. I thought she should remain so that we could understand what was happening."
"The Fey thought they could save her."
"They were obviously mistaken," Matthias said. "It is clear that her death was God's will."
"Just as the use of holy water as a weapon is God's will?" Timothy asked from the corner.
"If God did not want it used that way, he would not have revealed its properties to us," Matthias said. He walked farther into the room, until he was standing in front of Porciluna. "How many of us can say that we did not deliberately use holy water to kill a Fey? Hmmm? Timothy, perhaps. Andre before he disappeared. Any of the rest of you?"
He looked at Eirman. Eirman dropped his gaze. So did the rest of the Elders as Matthias turned to them. Only Porciluna continued staring at him. "You were the one who discovered how to kill. You were the one who convinced the Rocaan to use holy water in that way. And you are the one who used it to kill the woman that our King had taken to wife. You cannot pass blame so easily."
"I am not passing blame," Matthias said. "I am merely pointing out that the standard cannot change from case to case. Murder implies a deliberate act. If you want to put this in human terms, what happened to her was an accident. If you prefer it in religious terms, it was an Act of God."
"God does not commit murder," Porciluna said.
"Of course not," Matthias said. "He acts in the best interest of his people. He gave us holy water. He allowed us to be the only people in the world with the power to defeat the Fey. You cannot believe that he would allow our blood to mingle with Fey blood and call it good. Look at the child Nicholas created with that woman. Look at what happened to the Roca's blood. Jewel carried another child. God ended her life before another abomination could appear."
"If that were true," Ilim said, "then the child wouldn't have been born."
Matthias felt as if someone had poured cold water down his back. "What?"
"The palace kitchen staff were present when the child was born. They say it is a demon."
The Elders gasped. Matthias felt the blood drain from his face. Another child to contend with. "I thought Jewel died."
"She did," Ilim said. "But the kitchen staff said that Nicholas and the Fey saved the child. Then when they saw what it was, they made the staff leave."
Still it continued. Matthias clenched his fists, then rubbed his fingers together, allowing none of the emotion he felt to show. Nicholas would have to throw these children over. But Matthias had time on this. He could eventually convince Nicholas to do so. And Nicholas would.
He would have to.
No monstrous child could rule Blue Isle. It would not be allowed.
"The child is a demon because the Fey are demons," Matthias said. "They have powers which should be reserved for God. My instinct was right. We should have forced the Fey to remain in the Hall until we were convinced Jewel had died."
"Why?" Timothy asked, his brow furrowed. "Doesn't the survival of the child argue against your position?"
"No," Matthias said. "The Fey have abilities only God can subvert. We allowed them the freedom to perform those abominations. We should have prevented it."
"You seem so certain," Linus said. "I don't understand how you can be so certain."
"There is nothing in the Words Written and Unwritten that mentions abomination," said Ilim.
Matthias was trending on very thin ground here. They would not listen to him if he didn't convince them properly. "The Words Written and Unwritten talk about the Soldiers of the Enemy and the threats they brought to Blue Isle. The Roca sacrificed himself to them to prevent them from taking over the Isle. In doing so, he was Absorbed to the Hand of God."
"We know this," Vaughn said.
"But you do not think about it," Matthias said. "The 50th Rocaan believed the Fey were the Soldiers of the Enemy. He went to meet with them hoping that God would be present at the ceremony, believing that he would become the Roca in the World, believing he would be Absorbed, believing that he would lead the Fey off the Isle."
"He died because of that belief," Reece said softly.
"He did," Matthias said. "But did he die because he was mistaken in his belief or because he was too arrogant? Or because he misunderstood an element of the Words."
"He would never misunderstand the Words," Vaughn said.
"Really?" Matthias asked. "Were you listening to the Coronation Ceremony? The Roca's representative in the World is the King. We are not part of the Roca's direct lineage. The King is. What if he made a mistake mating with the Soldiers of the Enemy? Wouldn't God show that by giving him deformed children? What if he were to face the Soldiers of the Enemy head on, be Absorbed, and the Fey would leave because of it?"
"Is that why you used a religious ceremony to commit murder?" Porciluna asked. "Because you heard those words and made a mistaken belief according to your inept scholarship?"
"I have already addressed your murder charge," Matthias said. "I have done nothing."
"Try convincing the palace of that," Porciluna said.
Matthias crossed his arms over his chest. "Do we run our religion according to what the palace thinks?"
"No," Porciluna said. "But the 50th Rocaan was an old, sick man when he died. His delusion about being the Roca proves that he was not thinking clearly. He appointed you believing he would come back. He did not. I think it is time for the Elders to choose a new Rocaan."
"This has not been done in the history of the Tabernacle," Timothy said.
"But it has been tried," Linus said. "The Rocaan who did not allow it nearly destroyed the church."
Matthias let a slow grin grow on his face. "So, Porciluna, you believe you should be the next Rocaan. Upset because the 50th Rocaan did not choose you and you could not go on plundering the church?"
"I have Rocaanism at heart. I believe more than you do, Matthias. I would never, ever murder to achieve my ends," Porciluna said.
Matthias let the lack of respect slide by. For the moment, he had a greater concern. "Well," he said. "I'm sure that Nicholas would approve of all of you choosing a new Rocaan. I suspect he is not pleased with me at the moment."
"It would help relations with the palace," Linus said, as if he were trying to convince Matthias.
"It would, wouldn't it?" Matthias smiled at Linus, then shrugged. "I think it would be fine if you all chose a new Rocaan."
Porciluna's small lips pursed, making him look as if he were waiting for a kiss. Linus grin
ned. Ilim frowned, and Timothy peered at the panels as if they had changed in the last few moments. Vaughn and Reece stared at Matthias as if he had lost his mind, and Eirman was shaking his head.
Then Matthias raised himself to his full height, almost a head taller than anyone else in the room. "But if you do, realize that you break canonical law. It takes ten Elders to choose a new Rocaan, after a ruling made by Officiates and Danites about the health of the current Rocaan. You will have to assemble those needed, and it will take time. Then when it comes to the choosing, you will have to do so with eight Elders, because I do not plan to appoint two more. I believe that right there takes you outside canonical law, although I could bow to my friend Elder Eirman. Am I correct, Eirman?"
Fey 02 - Changeling Page 27
