R. Salvatore - The Education of Brother Thaddius and other tales of DemonWars

Abbot Dusibol held up his hands in surrender and gave a slight shake of his head. He would not oppose the nomination, were it now or the next day, Braumin knew. None would. But to promote Arri before the decisions were brought upon the wayward sister would afford the man tremendous influence in that trial.

And so a fourth Abbot joined the ranks of Braumin Herde, Haney, and Dusibol soon after, and a fifth followed closely, when, to Braumin’s dismay, the contingent from St. Honce selected Ohwan, a man who had been the choice of Marcalo De’Unnero! Father Abbot Braumin would have fought that choice, except that the large contingent from St. Honce had been united on the choice, and were not without allies from the other abbeys and chapels, particularly the myriad chapels from southern Honce-the-Bear, all closely connected to the great city of Ursal.

Braumin Herde wasn’t surprised, but the easy ascent of Ohwan served as a poignant reminder to the Father Abbot that those who believed in the vision of De’Unnero had not all died that fateful day in the fight at St.-Mere-Abelle. Now the Father Abbot would have a man who had been loyal to De’Unnero serving as Abbot of the second most important abbey of the Church, just down the lane from the palace of King Midalis in the largest and most important city, Ursal.

“So what of my abbey, Father Abbot?” Abbot Arri asked a short while later. “Will you grant me a force to go and reclaim it?”

“The group is on the way,” Braumin replied. “The three sisters you witnessed in battle last night, along with one of our most promising brothers. They will return to us the information we need to properly reclaim St. Gwendolyn.”

“I would begin rebuilding my abbey now, from this place, if I may,” said Arri, and Braumin nodded.

He looked to Mars, who held his breath. He had renounced De’Unnero to the Father Abbot, though Braumin wasn’t convinced. Still, considering what had just happened regarding St. Honce…

“I would bring my brother back to St. Gwendolyn,” Arri suggested. “Master Mars.”

Father Abbot Braumin looked around, and the most disconcerted look he saw coming back at him was from his dear friend Viscenti (who, like Braumin, was far from convinced of Mars’s loyalty to this current incarnation of the Church).

“I ask, too, that we four Abbots retire to private quarters to determine the disposition of Sister Mary Ann,” said Arri.

“No!” someone called from the back. “It is a matter for all of us!”

Many arguments erupted immediately at that, but above them came the demand of Abbot Arri, “This would be a matter for my abbey alone, were it properly staffed. As it is not, I would ask for a quiet place of reason and justice, among the Abbots alone. It is my right.”

More shouts came back, but Father Abbot Braumin slammed his gavel to silence them. “It is Abbot Arri’s right.”

He adjourned the meeting immediately and the five retired to a smaller room, where Braumin bade Sister Mary Ann to speak on her own behalf.

He loved the fire the woman showed! She would not back down and would not deny the truth: that she was in love with a Samhaist priest.

“And where does this love place your loyalties with regard to our Church?” asked Abbot Dusibol pointedly. “Surely you are demanding excommunication!”

“Or perhaps she is choosing the man, and not his ways,” Abbot Arri offered to soften that blow.

“Are they not one and the same?” Dusibol pressed.

“Sister?” Father Abbot Braumin prompted.

“It is hard to know what I believe,” Mary Ann admitted. “I believed in my Church and my brethren, and yet they came against me, to kill me. This man, who I am told I must despise, saved my life, and almost at the price of his own.” She reached into her belt pouch and produced a soul stone. “I called upon God, my God, our God, and he granted me the powers of the Ring Stone, and through it, I returned the act and saved Elliot’s life. Does that matter not at all?”

“He is a Samhaist,” Ohwan said with open disgust. “Need I list to you the atrocities of that foul religion?”

“Need I recount for you the image of the skin curling from the bones of goodly and godly Master Jojonah?” Father Abbot Braumin countered.

The hateful look Abbot Ohwan flashed him at that served as a warning of things to come, Braumin knew.

“What would you have, Abbot Arri?” Braumin asked.

“I would take Sister Mary Ann back to St. Gwendolyn with me, if she will,” he answered. “Her reputation is without blemish.”

“Until this,” Abbot Ohwan said with a sneer.

“I will not denounce Elliot,” Mary Ann insisted. “Nor will I pretend that my love for him is no more.”

“But you wish to remain an Abellican?” Braumin asked.

Mary Ann hesitated and looked to Arri. “Yes,” she then answered.

“Are you sure?”

“I am sure of nothing anymore, Father Abbot,” she answered honestly. “I thought my life settled and complete, but Marcalo De’Unnero and his followers showed me differently.”

Braumin nodded, and bade her to go into the anteroom that they might discuss their decision, and when it came to that moment of truth, Father Abbot Braumin was greatly surprised and greatly relieved to discover that he would not have to exercise his greater rank to break the tie, for Abbot Dusibol voted Sister Mary Ann innocent along with Arri and Braumin, and Abbot Ohwan, frustrated as he was, had no recourse and so agreed to accept the decision.

“All that we ask of you,” Braumin explained to Mary Ann later on, “is that if ever you learn something of the Samhaists that is important to our Church, to your Church, that you not be silent.”

“You would have me be your spy?”

“I would have you be honest,” Braumin replied immediately. “To us and to your love. Should you come to see the Samhaist way as suited to your heart, then you must renounce your position in the Abellican Church. Until you have done so, you must never forget your responsibilities to St. Gwendolyn-by-the-Sea and to the other abbeys and chapels. If the Samhaists plan to return in large numbers and vie with us for the hearts of Honce, then we will know of it, Sister Mary Ann.”

She started to argue, but Braumin cut her short in no uncertain terms.

“When we go back out among the others, there will be calls for you to be executed, sister,” he said harshly, and Mary Ann stiffened her jaw and did not blink. “Do you understand what Abbot Arri and I, and even Abbot Dusibol, have offered to you? In any normal time, you would be found guilty of heresy and burned alive. Or even if mercy were to be shown, you would have you head shaven and would be stripped of your robes, outcast from the Order of St. Abelle forever. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, Father Abbot,” she said quietly, and humbly.

“But these are not normal times,” Braumin went on. “Abbot Arri trusts you, and needs you, as do I. You accept our offer to remain in the Church, so you cannot dismiss the responsibilities that comes with the white robe you wear.”

“Yes Father Abbot,” she said.

“Good then, it is settled. Be true to your heart, sister, in all matters.”

When they went back out among the others, and Sister Mary Ann took her place beside Arri and Mars, Braumin’s prediction came true, and indeed calls of “Burn her!” erupted in the hall, and so began another great argument, like all the others before it.

Except this time, Father Abbot Braumin would not hear it. He slammed down the gavel repeatedly, demanding quiet, and when finally it came, he spoke with the voice of Avelyn, and Jojonah, and Jilseponie, and Mullahy, and Francis even, he spoke with the voice of all who had stood up against the abomination that had festered in his beloved Abellican Church.