R. Salvatore - The Bear

"He doesn't believe in you, my great king," Olym remarked, but Yeslnik hushed her with an upraised hand.

"Your assault will not begin within a year, and I fear it may be several more before you finally break through those walls and expel the traitors."

Again Olym tried to protest and again Yeslnik silenced her by putting the back of his palm before her face.

"You do not have several years," said De Guilbe. "The peasants will need reassurance. They need to believe that their eternal-"

"Laird Panlamaris has already told me of your wishes to be instilled as an alternative father of the order," King Yeslnik interrupted.

"His wishes, as well. He understands the need."

"And I do not?"

"I would never hint at such a thing, my king. I am well-known among the brothers of Abelle. When I was selected to travel to Alpinador those years ago, every brother in the order heard my name, and they knew it even before that time, during the years when I was a leading master at Chapel Abelle. More than a few of my brethren understand, as do I, that Father Artolivan's decision to walk a neutral line in the greatest war Honce has ever known was a fool's errand. Wars have winners and losers, and it has been clear from the beginning that Delaval City would become the center of Honce, and her laird the new king of the land. I argued for such as soon as I returned from my adventures in the north. I told Artolivan to follow your edict to its fullest extent with great hope that the war would then soon end and you could assume leadership over the unified kingdom."

"Perhaps you were not as influential as you believed, eh?" Yeslnik said cleverly.

"Not with Artolivan's minions at Chapel Abelle and certainly not with Dame Gwydre and her followers," De Guilbe admitted. "If ever there was an argument against allowing a woman to preside over a holding, Dame Gwydre is it!"

The two men laughed at that declaration, but Olym didn't follow suit. Yeslnik, then De Guilbe, cut the laughter short with an uncomfortable cough or two.

"You need to give the brothers of the many chapels a choice apart from Father Artolivan," De Guilbe explained. "There will be debate in every chapel regarding the edicts of Father Artolivan, and it will oft be contested. If you present an alternative to Artolivan-Father De Guilbe of the Chapel of Precious Memories here in Palmaristown-then those arguments will be less conclusive. More and more brothers will cease to resist you as you sweep the land of all resistance to your inevitable rule." Artolivan paused thoughtfully before adding, "Besides, my king, your ascent is obviously not without the sanction of God."

Yeslnik's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Absent God's graces, no man may ever claim such a title," De Guilbe explained. "Thus, you are not merely King Yeslnik but Blessed King Yeslnik."

Yeslnik paused and looked to Olym, but she could only offer a shrug in response. "You really believe that?" Yeslnik asked.

"It matters not," said De Guilbe. "All that matters for your security and the strength of your kingdom is that the peasants believe it."

"Can I trust you, Father De Guilbe? I do not even know you."

"You can trust the judgment of Laird Panlamaris. You can know for certain that I left Chapel Abelle in disgust over Father Artolivan's refusal to admit the obvious: that Yeslnik is King of Honce and that we, his servants, are duty bound to abide by his edicts. That much, my king, you can verify and trust."

"Loyal to me?" the king asked. He held out his hand, a large jeweled ring sparkling in the room's torchlight. De Guilbe immediately fell to one knee, took up the slight hand, and kissed the ring.

"I may decide to move you to Chapel Delaval," Yeslnik said. "It would do well and wise for the seat of the church and state to be near each other, for we would need to converse often."

"I go where you command," De Guilbe said with a deeper bow of his head.

"For now that would be the Chapel of Precious Memories. Better that you are here, where the common folk are both weary and wary. I'll not return to Delaval City until the autumn at least, so I'll not need you there until then. My subjects of Delaval are very loyal."

"I am to claim myself as Father De Guilbe of the Chapel of Precious Memories?"

"I will make that claim for you, of course, and will also declare that the Chapel of Precious Memories serves as temporary seat of power for the Order of Abelle."

"Your faith in me is greatly appreciated," De Guilbe said.

"Faith?" Yeslnik snickered at him. "I will watch you in your new role. If I am pleased, I will formally appoint you the head of the Order of Abelle…" He paused and considered the sound of that for a few moments. "Your first command from the throne, Father De Guilbe," he prompted. "Find a new name for your church."

De Guilbe looked at him curiously.

"It should have a reference to me in it somewhere," said Yeslnik.

De Guilbe's eyes widened, but he withered under the cold stare of Queen Olym and held silent.

"Yes, to the king," Yeslnik said, obviously thinking out loud. "The divine king." With a wide grin, a wicked grin, he looked at the stunned father. "Surely my ascent is more than accident," he reasoned. "You just said as much."

"I said that the peasants needed to believe in such-"

"You do not agree?"

"I… I, there is a difference between the secular and the spiritual, I believe-"

"The Brothers of Abelle have long claimed a beneficent god, have they not? A shepherd overseeing the flock of man who blesses many with magical healing and other divine gifts if they believe that he is the way to eternity?"

"Yes, but-"

"But? Father, if such a god exists-and you believe he does-then surely his will is involved in settling the outcome of this greatest of conflicts. Honce is unified for the first time-or soon will be. A king will rule Honce for the first time, and that king will be me. If divine providence would play no role in that, then how are we to believe your claims of a god who cares about the plight of his flock?"

Father De Guilbe made no move to answer for, indeed, he had no retort against the outlandish claim.

"I am not merely a secular king, then," said Yeslnik. "I am a divine king. A divine king who deems your order misguided and nullified and who, by his graces, restores that order under the watchful eye of Father De Guilbe." He paused for a heartbeat before adding, "Perhaps."

The unambiguous qualifier stole any forthcoming debate from De Guilbe. Yeslnik made it clear with his tone and posture that De Guilbe was in a trial period here and that the impetuous king would think it no large matter to simply replace him.

"The Church of Divine Yeslnik!" Queen Olym blurted, clapping her hands together.

Yeslnik smiled at her but patted his hands in the air to tamper her sudden enthusiasm. "Father De Guilbe will find the right notes," he assured her and warned De Guilbe at the same time.

"Indeed, my king," De Guilbe replied and bowed again, and he started backing out of the room before he even stood up straight again, for Yeslnik was absently waving him away. As he stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him, he heard Olym say to her husband, "Brilliant play!"

The father sighed and stood upright, considering. He could do this, he supposed. What mattered the name, anyway? Still, for all his reassurances he found himself muttering curses at Father Artolivan as he headed for the castle exit. If only Artolivan had gone along with Yeslnik's demands! The Laird of Delaval had won the war, after all! Of that there could be no doubt.

Now to restore the church to any semblance of prominence De Guilbe would have no choice other than to give in to King Yeslnik's every self-glorifying demand.

"So be it," the man said, focusing his anger on the brothers he had left at Chapel Abelle and not on the rather pathetic King Yeslnik. He muttered a few possibilities before nodding as he said, "The Church of the Divine King."