Crown Of Stars - Child Of Flame Part 20

As the King's Eagle, Hanna had to stand in attendance on the entire dreary proceeding so that she could report in detail to the king about the sins of his son and the righteous inquiry made by the biscop, Henry's elder and b.a.s.t.a.r.d half sister.

Ekkehard was given a chair facing his accusers. The rest of the accused heretics had to stand behind him, according to their rank, while witnesses were brought forward and, after several tedious hours of testimony, Alberada laid out her judgment: A prince of the realm had used his rank and influence to infect hapless innocents with the plague of heresy. And while some of his victims, faced with the wrath of a royal biscop, recanted quickly, others remained stubbornly loyal to his impious teachings.

Ekkehard sat through it all swollen with the most magnificent indignation that a youth not yet sixteen years of age could muster out of his own terror, uncertainty, and fanatic resolve. Perhaps he was too young and self-important to be truly afraid. Six of his intimate companions had survived the battle at the ancient tumulus. Biscop Alberada showed her respect for the loyalty necessary between a n.o.ble and his retinue by making no attempt to force them to repudiate their lord. For them to abandon him, as it were, in the heat of battle would have been a worse offense even than their spiritual error. Let them be punished along with him. That was fitting.

The intransigence of Lord Dietrich, his retainers, and about twenty a.s.sorted folk of various stations and purpose troubled her more.

"What minion of the Enemy has fastened its claws inside you?" she demanded after Lord Dietrich refused for the third time to disavow the doctrine of the sacrifice and redemption." The Mother and Father of Life, who are G.o.d in Unity, brought forth the universe. Into this creation they placed the four pure elements, light, wind, fire, and water. Above creation rests the Chamber of Light, and below lies the Enemy, which we also call darkness. Yet as the elements drifted in harmony, they came into contact with the darkness, which had risen out of the depths. Together, they mingled. The universe cried out in distress at this pollution, and G.o.d therefore sent the Word of Thought, which we also call Logos, to be its salvation. G.o.d made this world through the Word of Thought, yet there remains darkness in it. That is why there is evil and confusion in the world."

"The blessed Daisan redeemed us," said Ekkehard stubbornly, interrupting her. Lord Dietrich had the sense to remain silent.

"Of course he did! The blessed Daisan brought the Word of Thought to us all. He prayed for seven days and seven nights seeking redemption for all who would follow the faith of the Unities and be brought into the Light. And at the end of that time, angels conveyed him to heaven in a light so blinding that St. Thecla herself, who witnessed his Ekstasis, could not see for seven times seven days afterward."

"He was sacrificed! He was flayed by the order of the Empress Thaissania, but his blood became roses, and he lived again! He rose from the dead."

"Silence!" Alberada struck the floor with the b.u.t.t of her crosier. The sharp knock silenced him as well as all those whispering excitedly in the hall at his outspoken words. Even the cleric whispering a translation into Duke Boleslas' ear clamped his mouth shut." You are guilty of heresy, Prince Ekkehard. The penalty for heresy is excommunication and exile, or death."

"I am willing to die," said Lord Dietrich calmly, not without triumph. He coughed, and blew his nose into a handful of straw.

"You can't punish me," exclaimed Ekkehard manfully." I'm the king's son, born out of legitimate marriage!"

"I am the church, here in Handelburg," replied Alberada, ignoring the reference to her own illegitimate birth." I do not punish you, Prince Ekkehard. It is the church which punishes you and all those who follow your heretical teachings. But it is true that you represent a special case. You will have to be sent to the king's court."

"To my father?" Ekkehard abruptly looked much younger, a boy caught in mischief who has just realized he'll get in trouble for it.

Bayan let out an explosive grunt of anger." How many soldiers must I send in escort to him? How fewer many then will stand on the walls, when Quman attack us?"

"Can't you just put Ekkehard in the monastery until the Quman are defeated?" Sapientia placed a hand on Bayan's arm as though to soothe the savage beast." He's abbot of St. Perpetua's in Gent, after all."

"And expose the holy monks to this plague of heresy? Bad enough that I receive reports every week of this pollution spreading in the countryside! Nay, he must go to the king, or remain here in prison, without recourse to the sacraments, until the Quman are defeated and he can travel safely and with a large escort. A guard will be placed in the tower to a.s.sure that he does not communicate with any sympathizers- "Ach!" Bayan threw up his hands in exasperation. With a foul glare at a dog which had draped itself over his feet, he kicked it free, grabbed his cup, and downed a full goblet of wine. A servant hurried to refill it, "I need guards to walls, to sentry. To fight the Quman. Not to sit on our own countryfolk."

"You do not appreciate the gravity of our situation, Prince Bayan, which I fear I must attribute to some deficiency in your understanding as a recent convert. I cannot allow the Enemy to triumph. I cannot allow the Arethousan pollution to defile the kingdom and the holy church. I cannot turn aside and look the other way when Prince Ekkehard's errors threaten us all."

"To my thinking," said Bayan, "it is the Quman who threaten us all."

"Better we be dead than heretics!"

Bayan twisted the ends of his mustaches irritably, but he did not reply. As at the ancient tumulus, he recognized the point where one chose a strategic retreat over wholesale disaster.

"I choose death," said Lord Dietrich." Let my martyrdom prove who speaks the truth."

Alberada looked surprised and discomfited." I am not accustomed to presiding over executions, Lord Dietrich."

"If you fear to do so, Your Grace, you must acknowledge that I am right. I do not fear death because the blessed Daisan embraced it in order to redeem humankind from our sins."

"Neither do I!" exclaimed Ekkehard, not wanting to look less courageous than a mere lord. Since he had not been afflicted by the grippe, his voice had a clear and robust ring, free of doubts or phlegmatic listlessness." I will embrace martyrdom, too!"

"I think an execution would be bad for morale," said Sapientia wisely. Oddly, she looked not at all nervous at the thought of her younger brother's potential demise. After two days in the biscop's palace, she had a sleek satisfaction clinging to her in the same way a sour smell clings to a dying person. It was almost as if she hoped to be rid of him.

"King Henry must be told," began Alberada, temporizing." A prince of the royal line, who wears the gold torque, cannot be treated as though he were a common-born troublemaker."

"Then send my Eagle," replied Sapientia, with a wickedly complacent smile." She has made the journey twice before from the east. She'll take the news to the king."

Was this the blow that Hanna had feared for days, landing at last? Did Sapientia mean to rid herself of her supposed rival by any means necessary?

Bayan said nothing. Brother Breschius, standing behind his chair, leaned down to whisper in his ear, but the Ungrian prince merely shook his head impatiently as if, after his last outburst, he had resolved to stay out of the fray no matter what.

Abandoned on every side, Hanna waited for doom to fall. Thunder clapped in the distance. She heard rain clearly, and then it subsided again, as though a door had been opened and closed. Reprieve came from an unlikely source.

"Send an Eagle alone through the marchlands while the Quman ride where they will and we hide here behind our walls?" Alberada surveyed her heretics with distaste." That is in itself a death sentence, Sapientia."

"Make way!" A messenger hurried in, sopping wet. Her dripping cloak left a drunken line of water drops the length of the hall, and her feet, wrapped only in sodden leather shoes laced up with a cord, made a trail of mud on the carpets. Servants scurried forward to wipe the dirt away while it was still moist.

"Your Grace!" The messenger dropped to her knees. She looked relieved to be kneeling rather than walking or riding, secure in a safe haven." Is this Princess Sapientia and Prince Bayan? Thank G.o.d, Your Highness. I bring terrible news. Machteburg is besieged by the Quman. The town of Dirden is burned, and those who weren't killed have been dragged away into slavery."

Bayan rose, looking grim." We are answered." He raised a fist as though it were a club." Bulkezu mocks me." His good nature had vanished, and Hanna thought she saw the ghost of his dead son in his expression, ceaselessly goading him toward vengeance. She shivered, remembering how he had chopped off the fingers of a Quman prisoner. It was hard to reconcile a man so often pragmatic and cheerful with the harsh, merciless soldier who sometimes took his place." Your Grace, this is not time to prison good soldiers. Every person who can fight, must fight."

"The Quman are not our only enemies, Prince Bayan. Once we let the minions of the Enemy into our hearts, they will destroy us. What they will bring is worse than death."

She would not be moved. She called her stewards to her and spoke to them in an urgent undertone. As soon as they had hurried away to make whatever preparations she had ordered, her palace guards led Ekkehard, Dietrich, their retinues, and the dozen or so other heretics to the church. At Alberada's command, the rest of the a.s.sembly followed.

Like the great hall and the palace rooms, the biscop's cathedral-if one could dignify it with that word-had a raw newness about it. There were still artisans working on the ornamentation inside and out. Here in the marchlands, wood was easier tox;ome by than stone, and even a biscop's cathedral might appear humble compared to the old imperial structures still standing in the west.

Here, too, dour saints surveyed the mult.i.tude-some hundred souls-who crowded uneasily into the nave. These statues carved of oak and walnut looked so remarkably displeased that Hanna expected them to begin scolding the sinners gathering below them. Four remained unfinished, all angle and suggestion, a hand emerging from wood, the curve of a forehead half hewn from dark wood, a frowning mouth in an eyeless face.

Tapestries relieved the monotony of the oak walls, but they had been woven in such dark colors that Hanna couldn't make out their subject because so few windows cut the gloom. The largest win dow, behind the altar, faced east. Segments of old Dariyan gla.s.s had been pieced together to formed a mosaic, an image of the Cir- ; cle of Unity, but because it was afternoon, most of the light filtered into the nave through the open doors. Cold air licked in from out- side, stirring cloaks. From her station in the front, Hanna felt the ; merest breath of it on her lips, cool and soothing. A hot, oppressive atmosphere weighted down the crowded chamber, a scent of fear, antic.i.p.ation, and righteous wrath as thick as curdled cheese.

Every n.o.ble in Bayan's army attended, because not to attend might place them under suspicion. From her position close to the altar, Hanna scanned the crowd, but she hadn't enough height to see anyone except the top of Captain Thiadbold's head, recognizable because of his red hair, far to the back. The biscop had commanded the highest ranking Lions to witness as well, so they could report the proceedings to the soldiers under their command. No spiritual charge was graver than heresy. It was, truly, akin to treason against the regnant.

But all Hanna could think about was losing her head to a Quman patrol. Maybe she would have been better off letting magic carry her east. Maybe she'd been meant to choose Sorgatani over that glimpse of Liath. Yet hadn't that been only a dream? Couldn't she j be excommunicated if Biscop Alberada knew the extent of her involvement with sorcery? Sometimes it was better to keep quiet. In a way, that puzzled her most about Ekkehard, Lord Dietrich, and lost Ivar. Why did they have to be so obstreperous about their be- j liefs? Why did they have to keep rattling the chain?

But that was her mother, Mistress Birta, talking." Why make a date to meet trouble," she would say, "when trouble won't go out of its way to avoid you should you happen on it in the road?" Like Prince Bayan, Mistress Birta saw the world in practical terms. Probably that was one reason Hanna respected Bayan, despite his annoying admiration of her-scarcely possible to call it a flirtation, given the chasm between their stations-that might well send her to her death. Of course, Birta had never cut off anyone's fingers, but there was no saying she wouldn't do so, if she thought it necessary.

A morose hymn came to its close. Hanna used her elbow to get room, nudging aside one of Sapientia's stewards so she could see better. Clerics walked forward in ranks. Each carried a lit candle to signify the Circle of Unity, the Light of Truth. These they set in a circle around Ekkehard, Dietrich, and the others, who had been herded into a clump at the front of the nave. Their light burned hotly, making Hanna blink. The bright light threw the expressions on the carved saints into relief, a lip drawn down in pity, a hand lifted with two fingers extended to show justice, a glowering frown under heavy-cut eyebrows, twin to that emerging on its unfinished companion. They watched, and they judged.

Biscop Alberada mounted steps to the biscop's platform. She raised her hands for silence.

"Let unsweetened vinegar be brought forward, so that the accused may taste the bitterness of heresy."

Her servants brought cups forward, each distinguished according to the rank of its recipient: for Ekkehard a gold cup, and a silver one for his n.o.ble companions; for Lord Dietrich a silver cup as well, and one of bra.s.s for his stubborn retinue. The common-born heretics had to make do with a wooden cup pa.s.sed between them. One man refused to drink and was whipped, three times, until he did so. All of them choked and gasped, coughing, from the bite, all but Lord Dietrich, who drained his cup as though it were honey mead and did not flinch as his defiant gaze remained fixed on the biscop.

"Let any who wear the Circle be stripped of it, for they no longer rest within the protecting ring of its light and truth. Let their hair be cut, to be a badge of their shame."

One of Ekkehard's youths was vain of his blond hair, and he began to weep while Ekkehard stood at a loss to aid him as clerics moved among them with knives, chopping off their hair in ragged bunches. Only when Lord Dietrich moved to comfort the lad and speak to him softly did the young man stiffen, clench his hands, and lift his chin with tremulous pride as a sour-faced cleric hacked off his beautiful hair.

"Let them see in truth that the light of truth no longer burns in their hearts." Descending from her pulpit, she paced the circle, extinguishing the candles one by one by capping them. Smoke drifted up in wispy ribbons." Thus are you severed from the church. Thus are you become excommunicate. Thus are you forbidden the holy sacraments. Thus are you cut off forever from the society of all Daisanites."

Light died. Afternoon dwindled to twilight. Colors faded into grays.

"Let any woman or man who aids them be also excommunicated. They no longer stand in the Circle of Light. G.o.d no longer see them."

Ekkehard staggered as if he'd been struck. One of his companions fainted. Others sobbed.

"I do not fear," said Lord Dietrich." Let G.o.d make Her will known. I am only Her willing vessel."

There was silence. Alberada seemed to be waiting for a sign. Back in the crowd, a man coughed.

Lord Dietrich gave a sudden violent jerk that spun him out of the circle. Three candles went rolling as he fell hard to the floor. He twitched once, twice, and thrashed wildly, struck by a fit of apoplexy.

"So you see," cried Alberada triumphantly." The Enemy reveals its presence. An evil spirit has taken control of this man. This is the fate that awaits those who profess heresy."

The bravest of Lord Dietrich's n.o.ble companions knelt beside the afflicted man and got hold of his limbs, holding him down until he went unaccountably still. Foamy spittle dribbled from his lips. A single bubble of blood beaded at one nostril, popped, and ran down his lax cheek. He shuddered once, and then the floor darkened and a stink rose where he had voided his bowels.

"He's dead," said Ekkehard in a choked voice, shrinking away from the distorted corpse.

In the shocked silence, Biscop Alberada's voice rang as clearly as a call to battle." Take the excommunicates to their prison. None shall speak to them, for any who do so will be excommunicated in their turn. The Enemy dwells deep within. Tomorrow we will scourge those who remain, so that we may drive the Enemy out of their bodies."

No one objected. They had just seen the Enemy at work.

The church cleared quickly. Alberada left with a phalanx of clerics at her back. Guards carried away the corpse, and servants stayed behind to clean up the mess. Hanna waited, because Sapi-entia did not move away immediately. The princess waited because Bayan knelt at the altar, as if praying. Somehow, Brother Breschius had gotten hold of one of the silver cups, and when the church was empty except for Bayan, Sapientia, and several of their most loyal servants, he offered it to Bayan.

Bayan wiped his finger along the lip of the cup, touched it to his tongue, and spat, making a face." Poison," he said softly.

There was a long silence while Hanna willed herself invisible, hoping they would not notice she had witnessed this horrible revelation. If it were even true.

"Will she poison Ekkehard?" asked Sapientia." Should we try to stop her if we think she might?"

They had their backs to Hanna still, examining the silver cup and the sooty smudge left on the floor by the overturned candles. She edged sideways into the shadows.

"Ekkehard is not threat to us," said Bayan heavily.

"Not now. He's still young. But he might become a threat. And what of the church? Surely my aunt knows what she is doing if this heresy is so terrible. We must support her."

Bayan shook his head just as Hanna touched the border of one of the tapestries." If we not defeat Bulkezu, then are we dead or slave. This war must we finish first. Let the church argue heresy after. Eagle."

They all leaped, all but Breschius, looking as surprised and anxious as conspirators as they turned round to see her. The tapestry could not hide her now. Bayan had known she was there all along.

"Eagle," he repeated, now that he had her attention." At dawn you ride to King Henry."

"Yes, Your Highness," she said, barely able to get the words out. She had a sickly vision of her shrunken, blackened head dangling from the belt of a Quman warrior. Was Bayan sacrificing her because of what she'd heard? Or was this only a sop to his wife's jealousy while they hatched their plans for the succession?

"Wife." He rose to take Sapientia's hand. The princess hadn't moved. One of her stewards held a ceramic lamp, a rooster crowing a lick of flame, and the light softened her expression and made her black hair glisten like fine silk." To you, this task. Ekkehard must ride at dawn with the Eagle."

"Is this wise?" demanded Sapientia.

"He and other prisoners must ride. We need no-what is this, Breschius, nothing to make our minds fall away from the war."

"No distractions, Your Highness."

"Yes, none of this thing which I cannot p.r.o.nounce. Consider, how matters are desperate. The biscop is a G.o.dly woman, I know this. But she believes G.o.d come before war. Bulkezu waits not for G.o.d." He indicated the altar and the wreath of candles burning there, the light of the Unities.

"But where do we send Ekkehard?"

"Let him go to the march of the Villams. There he can fight. There he will die or live, as G.o.d will it. He and his retinue can escort the Eagle so far, out of danger. She must to Henry go, and speak our trouble. But Ekkehard will I not have in-Handelburg. That he is prisoner here makes strife in our camp. We have very bad of a situation. If King Henry send no reinforcements, if he not march east himself, then Bulkezu will burn all these lands. This is a hard truth. Maybe we can hold here for a while. // we have no strife in our army. If we have no dis-ah! No distraction."

"It's a good plan," said Sapientia slowly as she considered his words. That was the great change Bayan had wrought in her; she had learned to think things over." Ekkehard might still die, fighting the Quman, but that would be a better death for him than being executed for heresy. As a prisoner, his presence can only make things more difficult for us. Some will surely sympathize with his plight. He may still whisper his wicked words to the guards, and maybe there are some in the army who still believe him but lied about it at the trial because they did not want to get punished."

Bayan nodded.

"But how will I free him from my aunt's tower? She will excommunicate me for aiding him."

Brother Breschius stepped forward." You are the heir, Your Highness. You have already proved your fitness to rule. Think of this as a test of your regnancy. Biscop Alberada would not contest King Henry, were he to tell her that Prince Ekkehard must be sent to the Villam fortress for safekeeping, with or without a large escort, for surely in such times of trouble we cannot afford to lose a large number of men to guard duty. Nor should she contest you, who are destined to rule after your father, may G.o.d will that he be blessed with a long life."

Sapientia twisted the fine embroidered border of her tunic in her hands, crushing roundels between her fingers. The gesture made her look a little like a goose girl about to scold her lover. Yet even a humble goose girl might develop the habit of command.

For an instant, Hanna remembered what Hathui used to say: G.o.d make the sun rise on n.o.blewoman and commoner alike, for all folk are equal before G.o.d. What truly separated Hanna from Sapientia?

Sapientia lowered her hands. She had a queen's bearing; in that moment, in the gloomy church with the silent saints staring down at them from on high, one could see the luck of the regnant in her face." I will speak to my aunt. Ekkehard will ride out at dawn, to escort the Eagle until it is safe for her to ride on alone."

Hanna laughed softly to herself. At herself. G.o.d had long since separated the lowborn from the high, no matter what Hathui said. A few words exchanged, and Hanna's fate was sealed.

"Eagle." Bayan rose. His gaze on her was steady, a little admiring still, but quite final, as though he knew he had said farewell to her for the last time." By no means turn south until you have come west of the Oder River. Even then, be cautious. The Quman range far."

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Ekkehard is young and foolish, snow woman," he added." Take care of him."

"Come, we should go," said Sapientia sharply. Bayan went obediently. He did not even glance back. His husky, authoritative figure faded into the gloom alongside that of the princess. Hanna heard them continue talking although she could not make out their words.

Breschius lingered. He took her hand and drew her forward to stand before the altar." Trust in G.o.d, friend Hanna." He made the sign of a blessing over her.

"I thank you, Brother. In truth, I feel afraid,"

He walked with her to the entry way, still holding her hand. His grasp felt comfortable, like a lifeline. Once they stood on the porch, beyond the most holy precincts, he bent his head to speak softly into her ear." Never forget that a Kerayit princess has marked you as her luck."

The silence, and the secrecy, and the strange tone in his voice, like doom, made her shudder. Death had brushed her with its cold, callous hand.

They left in the cold light of dawn, Hanna, Prince Ekkehard, his six n.o.ble companions, and the twenty other heretics, excommunicates all. Sixteen of them marched, since Bayan did not care to lose so many horses.

Frost made the ground icy, a thin crust that hooves and boots crushed easily. As they crossed the western bridge, Hanna looked back to see Lord Dietrich's head stuck on a pike above the gate. After that, she could not bring herself to look back again. Ivar was probably dead anyway. Looking back would not bring him to life. She kept her gaze fixed on Ekkehard's banner, fluttering weakly in a lazy wind. The rain that had followed them for so long had pa.s.sed. They rode out in cold, hard weather with the sun glaring down and not a feather's weight of warmth in it.

Hanna had not even been given leave to say farewell to her friends among the Lions. Ekkehard's escape had an unsavory air about it, tainted by Lord Dietrich's ghastly death and the threat of excommunication.

They saw no sign of Quman scouts.

It seemed an inauspicious way to ride out.

VIII ALAIN pushed through the crowd now arguing and lamenting in the council house. Once outside, he whistled the hounds to him and ran to the small house, marked by various charms, chimes, and wreaths, that belonged to Adica. She never went in, or out, without making certain gestures at the threshold, and certainly he had not seen a single person from the village enter this hut. But if their G.o.ds, or their council, meant to strike him down, they could do it later.