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The face of the late Abbot Jarad loomed large in his mind, and Jarad’s voice spoke to him as before, saying, “All right, Brother St. George, now think—think of the thousands of wild young Nomads, or ex-Nomads, just like you were then. Your relatives, your friends. Now, I want to know: what could possibly be more fulfilling to you than to pass along to your people some of the religion, the civilization, the culture, that you’ve found for yourself here at San Leibowitz Abbey?”

“Why are you crying, Nyinden?” asked Black Eyes. “Is it the wrong book for Nomads?”

CHAPTER 25

If a pilgrim monk coming from a distant region

wants to live as a guest of the monastery,

let him be received for as long a time as he desires,

provided he is content with the customs of the place

as he finds them and does not disturb the monastery

by superfluous demands, but is simply content

with what he finds.

Saint Benedict’s Rule, Chapter 61

DURING THE TWO MONTHS MOTHER IRIDIA Silentia spent at the court of Pope Amen II in New Jerusalem, one of the Pope’s informants called it to his attention that this Princess of the Church and Bride of Christ visited Shard’s Ædrea in her house of arrest three times a week, every week. He hesitated to inquire into this, for it was assumed by anybody who noticed or cared that Mother Iridia was either practicing spiritual therapy or teaching the girl the latest edition of the catechism as rewritten and promoted by Pope Amen I—the edition already condemned as heretical by several eastern bishops. Soon it became clear to her jailer that the girl wished to join Iridia’s religious community. This caused no alarm, and only Brownpony stirred and became restless. Prisoners often converted to religion in jail.

Mayor Dion, as commander in chief of the insurgent forces in the Province, was gone most of the time, and Slojon’s only interest in religion was as a tool to be used in the governance of men. When Ædrea took her simple vows as a nun of the Order of Our Lady of the Desert on Saturday the 12th of August, Mother Iridia visited the Pope and complained that the secular government of New Jerusalem was keeping one of her nuns in prison. Brownpony smiled and sent for Slojon.

“You are holding Sister Clare-of-Assisi in detention for unspecified offenses,” said Amen II. “Messér, must I tell you that you have no jurisdiction over religious?”

“I don’t even know a Sister Clare-of-Assisi, Holy Father!”

“You know her as Shard’s Ædrea,” said Brownpony. “She became a nun on the Feast of Saint Clare last week, and so Mother Iridia named her Clare, which is what she will be called in her cloister.”

Slojon sputtered. “Her offenses are not unspecified. She violated the law by leaving the community without a permit from the Mayor’s office. And she is suspected of espionage.”

“She is innocent of espionage against this realm, to my certain knowledge,” Brownpony growled. “As for your other complaint against her, the Church does teach obedience to legitimately constituted government, such as yours. Since she admits her guilt in disobeying the law while it was in force, I promise you she will be appropriately sentenced for that offense by me. I must take note, however, that you are no longer enforcing the law that she broke. That is your affair. Sister Clare is our affair. You shall release her immediately to an ecclesiastical court. You well know the sanctions incurred for usurping Church jurisdiction. My predecessor of beloved memory excommunicated the Emperor of Texark himself for jailing me and my secretary.”

“So that’s the trick! Well, it won’t work with me.” Slojon turned and walked away from the papal audience with minimum courtesy.

Brownpony immediately drafted a letter to all clergy throughout the Suckamints commanding that the sacraments be withheld from the Mayor’s son until he obeyed the order to release Sister Ædrea St. Clare into the custody of the Curia. The Pope knew that Slojon would not give any weight to such a sanction, except for the humiliating effect of the bad publicity when the letter was prominently posted for all to read in every Church in the mountains.

Still, Slojon would not budge until his father returned from battle a week later. Dion conferred with the Pope. First they discussed the war in the Province, which had stalled around the 98th meridian. Then they discussed Ædrea. Whatever he might believe privately, Dion was a public Catholic. After the conference, he released Sister Clare into the custody of Mother Iridia Silentia, O.D.D., who became her defense counsel. The sanctions against the Mayor’s son were lifted. In an unusual move, the Pope permitted Slojon to assist the schoolteacher Abraha Cardinal Linkono as inquisitor and prosecutor.

The outcome was inevitable, and the only point in dispute became the sentence to be imposed upon the nun by the Supreme Pontiff.

Brownpony noticed that the beauty of the barefoot Sister who stood before him had not been diminished by motherhood, or completely obscured by her coarse habit. She was radiant, smiling at him faintly, and her eyes were attentive and unafraid. That was bad. It implied that there was a conspiracy, and it had worked. Slojon already knew he had been duped, but—he noticed the faint smile.

Thus spoke Amen II, with some attempt at sternness: “Sister Ædrea St. Clare-of-Assisi, you are remanded into the permanent custody of Cardinal Silentia. For your offense against the laws of New Jerusalem, a legitimate secular authority, we sentence you to cross the Brave River and spend the rest of your life in exile there, or until your sentence is commuted by the Holy See. Should you cross the river again from south to north, you incur excommunication by the very act of doing so.”

Ædrea’s smile did not change. The sentence imposed was not different from that which her vows imposed. She came slowly forward and knelt to kiss her judge’s ring. “Where is Blacktooth?” she whispered.

Brownpony suppressed a chuckle at her audacity, and whispered back, “I have no idea.”

Thus it came to pass that the lady cardinal departed from New Jerusalem with Sister Ædrea St. Clare and the three nuns who had been her conclavists in Valana. A coach was provided, and four mounted soldiers were appointed to escort them all the way to the Brave River. At the last minute, Iridia paid the Pope another visit and sweetly asked his permission to make a rest stop at Leibowitz Abbey, a detour which would add no more than a few days to their journey.

Brownpony gazedat her in surprise. Cardinal Silentia was almost his own age, still gauntly beautiful and full of charm if not grace, but now he saw that she was being charmed by Ædrea.

“She wants to know if Blacktooth has gone back to the abbey,” the Pontiff sighed.

“That had occurred to me, Holy Father. But the guesthouse there is adequate and secure. The Brothers and my Sisters will see each other only in Church, if at all.”

“Very well, but if you lose her, you are both in trouble,” he told her. His permission was based on his belief that neither Blacktooth nor Abbot Olshuen wanted to see the other ever again. “However, if you meet Brother St. George anywhere, tell him I require his presence here immediately.”

Iridia knelt and withdrew. That was three weeks before Nimmy’s letter came to him from a battleground on the eastern Plains. Brownpony found the letter irritating, and said to the messenger, “Tell him to honor the butchering festival, and then deliver me his butt.”