«They flogged him then: thirty strokes, as he had meted out to Septimus de Nore, five strokes each from six different monks. Thank God it was not the flagellum, as was used on de Nore. The weals glistened with royal blood — and it is red, not blue or purple, as some would have it — but he uttered not a sound.
«When it was done, he took back his shirt, kissed the hand of each of the six monks who had flogged him, then knelt before Archbishop William to receive absolution and Holy Communion. He spoke not at all as we rode with him back to the castle. Lady Alyce came to bathe his stripes and anoint them with soothing salves. I do not think he spoke with her, either, though it was clear how he had incurred them.
«I left him sleeping peacefully — on his stomach, to be sure. I think there will be no scarring, but he will not soon forget this night, or the cost of his momentary defiance. At least he is restored to grace».
The others were shaking their heads by the time he finished.
«This is bad business, with the bishops», Barrett said. «I like it not, that the king yielded to their pressure».
«He had little choice», Khoren retorted. «Your bishops in Gwynedd are not like ours in Andelon. Headstrong they are, and blind in the matter of anything Deryni. There will be more trouble, mark my words».
Chapter 29
«Marry thy daughter, and so shalt thou have performed a weighty matter; but give her to a man of understanding».[30]
Headstrong the bishops of Gwynedd might be, but there was at least one man prepared to beard them in their den — though in the subtle way only possible for a Deryni. Despite a flurry of letters from Alyce de Corwyn, none finally reached Father Paschal Didier until mid-April. It was early May before he was able to present himself in Rhemuth.
«This should never have happened», he told her, when she had given her rendition of the events of the Twelfth Night previous. «You have done nothing wrong. It cannot be considered a sin to discern the truth — and the truth, in this instance, enabled true evil-doers to be brought to light».
«Nonetheless, I am excommunicate», she replied. «Nor have I been able to ascertain what would satisfy the archbishop. And until the ban is lifted, I am barred from reception of the sacraments. Including marriage».
«Quite so», Paschal said. «And I am of the distinct impression that you favor the prospect of marriage with Sir Kenneth Morgan, and may even be eager for it». He smiled and shrugged at her look of surprise. «A good confessor can sense a change of heart, dear child. I have known since your childhood that the dynastic expectations of your eventual marriage were a cause of concern to you. But Sir Kenneth is not what you feared, is he?»
She shook her head. «Not at all. He is a good man, Father», she said shyly, «tender and kind. To have come to care for him is nothing that I ever could have anticipated, but it… happened. And to know that marriage with him would also serve the king's needs is both happy coincidence and an answer to my prayers. With the king's blessing, I would marry him even without the Church's blessing — but I should rather have both. It was Sir Kenneth who suggested that I approach you about blessing our union, since he knows of the affection that has bound you to my house for many years. But I cannot ask you to intervene if it would leave you in the ill graces of the archbishop».
«I have been obliged to tread a narrow line with your Gwynedd clergy», he admitted, «but in this, it may be possible to… adjust the archbishop's attitude».
She looked at him sharply. «You don't mean to tamper with his mind? His absolution must be honest, else it is nothing worth».
«Since the 'sin' to be absolved was no sin at all, it little matters whether the absolution is honest», Paschal replied. «But you need not fear. I shall appeal to a reasoning he cannot resist. Perhaps you would be so good as to ask Sir Kenneth to accompany us to the cathedral tomorrow morning. I feel certain that he will wish to be at the side of his betrothed when she humbles herself before the archbishop and offers her contrition, so that she may be married before God».
«Father, I am not contrite over what I did!» she reminded him.
«No, but as a good daughter of the Church, you will tell the archbishop that you wish to purge yourself of any guilt over having done what the king required of you, in confirming the truth of statements made by those involved with the murder of an innocent child.
«The archbishop, in turn, will assign you a period of penitential contemplation at — say — the convent of Notre Dame d'Arc-en-Ciel, which shall also serve as a retreat in preparation for your marriage from that house. This will also remove your marriage from the glare of possibly negative reaction if it were to occur here at court. Does that — satisfy the scruples of your conscience?»
She was grinning by the time he finished, and threw her arms around him in an exuberant hug.
«Father, I do love you! But, will the archbishop truly agree?»
«He will», he assured her. «Your offense was not great — and would have occasioned little comment, had it not been Bishop de Nore's brother involved; Sir Morian does what you did on a regular basis, though that is in Meara. And it would not surprise me if the Lady Jessamy has done it for the king, on more than one occasion.
«Nonetheless, because a bishop's brother was involved, and because the bishops must save face, you must be seen to show contrition and make amends for your part in it, victim though you were of the king's expediency — for which he has already been forgiven. My part in the affair must be subtle — to… persuade the archbishop that this is a just resolution — but on a one-time basis, it will be safe enough. Just mind that you do not affront him again, if at all possible».
«It was never my intention to affront him at all», she replied.
«Then, we are agreed», he said, smiling.
The meeting with the archbishop took place not the next day, but the day following, due to his previous engagements. But other than that, all went according to plan. Gowned and veiled in penitential black, Alyce de Corwyn presented herself before Archbishop William in the company of her childhood confessor and her betrothed, kneeling to beg his forgiveness and praying to be received back into the ranks of the faithful, that she might be free to marry according to the wishes of the king.
The archbishop listened dutifully enough — somewhat stiff at first, in the presence of a priest unknown to him and not under his jurisdiction — but he was won over when Paschal casually drew him aside to clarify a point of Alyce's statement… and found himself unaccountably moved to pity.
«It does seem that the king placed you in a somewhat untenable position, obliged to use your powers in his service», the archbishop allowed, when he and Paschal returned to where Alyce and Kenneth still knelt, and Paschal again knelt beside her. «And Father Paschal assures me that your betrothed is an honorable and God-fearing man, who will do his utmost to see that you stray not again into the dangerous proclivities to which your race is prone. Sir Kenneth, do you pledge to do so, that your wife-to-be come not before me again in mortal peril of her soul?»
Alyce could sense the resentment coursing through Kenneth's body as he knelt beside her, but he humbly bowed his head.
«I do pledge it, Excellency».
«Then, I absolve you of your sins, Alyce de Corwyn», the archbishop made the sign of the cross above her bowed head, «and I lift the excommunication imposed in another place, receiving you back into the company of the faithful. For penance, I direct you to present yourself forthwith at the convent of Notre Dame d'Arc-en-Ciel, where I believe you were once a student, and there to make a month's retreat preparatory to your marriage from that place. Father Paschal, I give you license to perform the blessing of such marriage — and hope never again to see any of the three of you before me in any matter of disobedience to Holy Mother Church. Do I make myself clear?»