the folk to go about their daily routines much as they had done through the last ten years.
Furthermore, there would be no formal declaration of De'Unnero as bishop, or even as abbot of St. Precious. As far as the folk of Palmaris were concerned, he was just an abbot from another abbey, serving as Aydrian's representative advisor to Bishop Braumin Herde.
Of course, Marcalo De'Unnero was much more than that. With Aydrian gone and Kalas involved in the control and complete subjugation of the southland, the monk was, in effect, the absolute ruler of Palmaris.
Bishop Braumin was a name, and nothing more; with Aydrian gone, De'Unnero had no intention of even letting the bishop out of his dungeon cell.
De'Unnero would use one of the converted masters of St. Precious to speak the edicts - proclamations said to have come from Bishop Braumin - but those speeches would be written by none other than Marcalo De'Unnero.
His charge was an easy one. He was to sit out the winter in peace and in control, to rest and be ready for the greater battles that would surely come in the spring.
Well, that was almost Marcalo De'Unnero's edict. He had forced one concession from Aydrian, something that he and Father Abbot Markwart had tried before, to results that proved rather disastrous to De'Unnero. His policy of reclaiming all magic gemstones had angered the Palmaris populace greatly against him, though Markwart and then Bishop Francis had used his fall from grace to further their cause of collection and to further the popularity of Francis. Many of the stones had been retrieved, and were still in Church coffers, but getting the rest of them was something that Marcalo De'Unnero believed to be the most important task he would ever undertake.
For the stones were the province of the Abellican Church, as far as De'Unnero was concerned, and the thought that so many were outside the Church, sold by the former abbots of St.-Mere-Abelle and often converted into easily used magical items by heretical craftsmen and alchemists, made him tremble with rage.
This time, De'Unnero meant to go about collecting the stones in a more diplomatic manner, though, much as Francis had used after De'Unnero's removal from Palmaris. Instead of threats, the monk would use payment to regain sacred and magical items. He had brought bags and bags of unenchanted, though valuable, gemstones with him for just that purpose.
Yes, De'Unnero meant to become a friend to the people of Palmaris, and of all the towns along the Masur Delaval all the way back to Ursal. Or at least, he would become the friend of the important and powerful people.
Wealth could buy back many of the gemstones, or could buy information concerning which merchants and noblemen might be holding a stone or an enchanted item. Once he identified each criminal, De'Unnero would approach the man personally and offer payment.
If that was refused, De'Unnero would quietly return the same night and take the Church's rightful property.
The monk had consciously to remind himself to smile, standing there in the open at the northern gate. He knew that many eyes were upon him and so he fought his more instinctual urges to scowl and tried very hard to soften his visage.
It was not an easy thing for Marcalo De'Unnero to do.
Roger couldn't help but feel a few pangs of guilt as he nodded back to Brother Hoyet, the first in the line of nearly a dozen young monks set in place to escort Bishop Braumin through dark paths all across the city to the river, and then across the river to a waiting coach fast bound for St.-Mere -Abelle. It encouraged Roger to find that so many of the brothers of St. Precious would rally to help Bishop Braumin, knowing full well that, in doing so, they were putting their lives at a great risk.
Marcalo De'Unnero was not a forgiving man! But Roger had prompted them, had coerced them, had met secretly with Hoyet and Destou on many occasions, egging them on. He recounted to them Braumin's own humble beginnings as a revolutionary, along with Viscenti and Brother Castinagis and others who had secretly gathered with Master Jojonah those years ago, in the very bowels of St.-Mere-Abelle - then Father Abbot Markwart's stronghold - to keep alive the flame of hope that was Avelyn Desbris. Those brothers had faced similar penalties, but had followed their hearts and held true to their precepts. Some like Jojonah, who had been burned at the stake,