The Branding Needle, or The Monastery of Charolles Part 14

"Are you of King Clotaire's suite?"

"Yes, holy man."

"Is he still at the village of Ryonne?"

"Yes; he will be there till this evening.--I am to ride ahead and prepare his lodgings on the route."

"Is Duke Roccon among the seigneurs who accompany the King?"

"Yes, monk; Duke Roccon is with the King."

"Is it true, as I hear, that Queen Brunhild has been taken prisoner and carried to King Clotaire, who has also captured her grandchildren?"

"That is all old news. Where do you come from that you do not know what has happened?"

"I come from Chalon.--What did the King do with his prisoner and her grandchildren?"

"The steep ascent has taken the wind out of my horse and he needs a little rest. So I shall tell you what has happened--all the more willingly, seeing that it is a good augury to meet a priest, especially a monk, at the start of a journey."

"Do let me know, I beg you; what has been done with Brunhild and her grandchildren?"

"There were only three of the children captured on the banks of the Saone. The fourth, Childebert, could be found nowhere.--Was he killed in the melee?--Did he escape?--No one can tell.--"

"And the other three?"

"The eldest and the second one were killed."

"In the battle?"

"No--no.--They were killed in the village--yonder. The King had them killed under his own eyes, in order to be certain of their death; he wanted to obviate having them turn up some day, and demand their kingdom back from him. But it is said that the King granted his life to the third.--I think he was wrong in that.--But what ails you, holy father; you seem to shiver. To be sure, the morning is rather chilly."

"And what became of Queen Brunhild?"

"She arrived at the village with a magnificent escort! A veritable triumphal march! Dung for incense, and hootings for acclamation!"

"I suppose the King ordered her to be put to death immediately upon her arrival?"

"No; she is still alive."

"Did Clotaire have mercy upon her?"

"Clotaire--have mercy upon Brunhild!--Holy man, you must come from far away to talk as you do! Brunhild was taken three days ago to that village that you see yonder; she was taken to the house where her grandchildren were killed. Two expert executioners and four a.s.sistants, equipped with all manner of instruments, were locked up with the old Queen; that was three days ago, and she is not yet dead. I must add that she was not tortured at night; the nights were left to her to recover strength. Moreover, seeing that she undertook to starve herself, food was forced down her throat--spiced wines and flour soaked in milk. That has kept her sufficiently alive.--But what makes you shiver so? It is not so chilly!"

"Yes; the morning is chilly.--And did Clotaire witness the tortures that were inflicted upon the Queen during those three days?"

"The door of the house was locked and guarded by sentinels. But there is a little window through which one can look inside. Through that opening, the King, the dukes, the leudes, the Bishop of Troyes and a few other preferred personages went from time to time to contemplate the victim in her agony. Being a connoisseur, Clotaire never took a look inside when Brunhild was screaming; at times the woman screamed loud enough to be heard clean across the village; he never went to see her at such times; but the moment she began to moan, he walked to the window and peeped in; it is said the sufferings of victims in the torture are intenser when they moan than when they scream out aloud. It was a protracted holiday for the whole village. Like the generous King that he is, Clotaire allowed a large number of people, who followed Brunhild to the village, to remain to the end of the tortures, and had provisions distributed among them. Oh, holy man, you should have heard how they kept time with their hootings to the screams of the Queen.--But I see my horse has regained his wind--adieu, holy man. If you wish to witness a spectacle that you never saw and never will see again you would better hurry. They say there are yet to be some extraordinary incidents to wind up the torture. The King has sent for one of the camels that carry his baggage. What he purposes to do with the camel is still a secret. Adieu, give me your blessing."

"I wish you a happy journey."

"Thank you, holy man; but you had better hurry, because as I was leaving the village they went for the camel and took him out of his stable."

p.r.i.c.king his horse with his spurs, the rider rode off at a brisk pace.

Shortly afterwards, Loysik arrived at the entrance of the village of Ryonne. The aged monk alighted from his mule and asked the young brother to wait for him. A leude, from whom Loysik inquired after Duke Roccon, took him to the tent of the Frankish seigneur, contiguous to that of the King. Almost immediately afterwards the monk was taken to the duke, who said to him in a tone of respectful deference:

"You here, my good father in Christ?"

"I come with a just pet.i.tion to you."

"If it is at all in my power, the matter is granted."

"Are you a friend of King Clotaire? Have you any influence with him?"

"If you have any favor to prefer to him, you could hardly arrive at a better time."

"I come for no favors from the King--I come for justice. Here is a charter given by his grandfather Clotaire I. As a matter of law, it requires no confirmation, seeing that the concession is absolute. But the Bishop of Chalon is giving us trouble. He is laying claims upon the goods of the monastery, upon those of the inhabitants of the Valley, and, as a consequence, upon their freedom, notwithstanding both their goods and their freedom are guaranteed by this charter.--Would you be willing to request Clotaire, who is now the King of Burgundy, to attach his seal to the charter issued by his grandfather, in order to insure its enforcement?"

"Is that all you wish to ask of the King?--The King honors the memory of his glorious grandfather too highly to fail to confirm a charter issued by that great Prince. Clotaire must now be in his tent. Wait for me here, my father in Christ. I shall be back soon."

During the short absence of the Frankish seigneur, Loysik could hear the uproar of the impatient crowd and warriors calling aloud for Brunhild.

Duke Roccon returned quickly with the old charter of Clotaire I, to which Clotaire II had attached his seal under the following freshly written words:

"We will it, and we so order all our leudes, dukes, counts and bishops, that the above charter, signed by our glorious grandfather Clotaire, be upheld in force and respected in all its provisions in the present and in the future, and we do so in the belief that we thereby do honor to our glorious ancestor. And those who are to succeed me will uphold this donation inviolate, if they wish to share the life everlasting, and if they wish to be saved from the everlasting flames. Whoever in any manner does violence to this donation, may the gateman of heaven diminish his share of heaven; whoever may add to the donation, may the gateman of heaven add something unto him."

The aged monk inquired from the duke who it was that wrote the last words to the charter, and was not a little surprised to hear that it was the Bishop of Troyes.

"You must, then, have said nothing to the King concerning the pretensions of the Bishop of Chalon--"

"I did not consider that necessary. I said to Clotaire: 'I request you to confirm this charter, which your grandfather granted to a holy man of G.o.d.' 'I can refuse nothing to my loyal servitors,' he answered, and he charged the bishop to write what was proper. That being done, the King attached his royal seal under the writing."

"Roccon," said the venerable monk, "I thank you--adieu--"

But recollecting himself, Loysik added:

"You told me that the moment was favorable to obtain favors from the King--promise me that you will ask him to enfranchise a few slaves of the royal fisc, and to send them to me to the monastery of the Valley of Charolles."

"Ah, my father in Christ! I knew full well that our conversation would not be done without your making some demand of enfranchis.e.m.e.nt."

"Roccon, you have a wife and children--the accidents of war are changeable. Brunhild is now vanquished and a prisoner; but, if that implacable Queen, who has emerged so often victorious from the field of battle, had not been betrayed by her own army and her auxiliaries--had she, on the contrary, vanquished Clotaire, what would your lot have been, what the lot of all the seigneurs of Burgundy, who took the side of the King? What would have become of your wife, of your daughters?"

"Brunhild would have ordered my head cut off; she would have delivered my wife and daughters to the savage tribes of the other side of the Rhine as slaves!--Malediction! My two daughters Bathilde and Hermangarde, slaves!--The perspiration gathers on my temples at the bare thought of such a thing--let us not speak of it!"

"On the contrary, do let us speak of it! Who knows but that among those unknown slaves, whose freedom I am asking, there may be some with daughters whom they love as much as you love yours.--Judge of the joy that their deliverance would give them by the joy that you and your children would feel if, having become slaves, you were to be set free.

Roccon, it is in your power to afford such ineffable joy to some captives.--Keep your dear daughters in mind."

"Very well my dear father in Christ, I promise you ten slaves. Clotaire will not refuse them to me as my share of the booty of this war."

"Seigneur duke," said a servant who hurried into the tent, "the promenade of the camel is about to begin."

"Oh! Oh! It is to be one of the best spectacles of the feast.--Come, my father in Christ!"