his indifference at that moment only strengthened his growing hold over her, only heightened her growing hunger for him.
"What are you going to do?"
The question was simple and straightforward enough, but it echoed con- fusingly around the thoughts of Bishop Braumin Herde.
What are you going to do? About the abbey? About the city? He was the appointed bishop, which meant that both were under his guidance. He knew in his heart that he could not welcome any change to the Abellican Church that included Marcalo De'Unnero. The man was a murderer. The man had brought nothing but chaos and misery with him whenever he had come through Palmaris. He had once been bishop here, and had executed one merchant horribly and publicly. As henchman to Father Abbot Markwart, he had imprisoned Elbryan and Jilseponie, Viscenti and Braumin, among others.
Braumin understood that he now had to keep these two tumultuous, shattering events in Ursal separate. On the secular level, Aydrian was now king of Honce-the-Bear, and whether that was a legitimate claim or not, the fact that he apparently had the armies of Ursal to back him up made it a claim that none could oppose without dire risk. On the spiritual level, the mere thought that Abbot Olin was in league with De'Unnero discredited the man wholly within the Abellican Church, the Church that had been moving steadily toward the vision of dear Avelyn Desbris, De'Unnero's avowed enemy.
Slowly, Bishop Braumin turned to face the questioner, Brother Viscenti, his dear friend who had been through so much beside him, all the way back across the decades to their mutual discovery of the truth of Avelyn under the tutelage of dead Master Jojonah in the catacombs of St.-Mere-Abelle.
"St. Precious will not open her doors for them," the bishop declared.
"Never that. Let De'Unnero and his newfound henchmen knock those doors down, if they will. Have them burn me at the stake, if they will. But I'll not surrender my principles to that man. I'll not encourage his misguided view of the world."
"Almost every brother here will stand firm with you," Viscenti replied.
Braumin Herde wasn't sure if that was welcome support or not, because he understood clearly what that might mean to his beloved companions. He almost said something to deny Viscenti's words, but he bit the retort back, reminding himself that he, as a younger man, had been more than ready to die for his beliefs. He had stood beside Elbryan and Avelyn when that surely put him in line for the gallows. Could he ask those beneath him now to surrender their own principles and beliefs for the sake of their corporeal bodies? "St. Precious will lock them out and keep them out!" Viscenti boldly declared.
"And if they overrun us, then our deaths will not be futile," Braumin assured him. "The Abellican Church must make a principled stand against De'Unnero, whatever the cost, because to do otherwise would be to abandon everything we hold dear."
"But what of the city?" Viscenti asked. "Can we demand as much from the common man? Should we bar the gate and man the walls and allow the folk of Palmaris to be slaughtered by this new king?"
That was the rub. How Braumin Herde wished at that moment that King Danube had never appointed him bishop of Palmaris! "I think you should deny him entrance, or at least, deny his army entrance," the surprising Viscenti remarked. "If this man who claims to be king wishes to parley, then allow him that, but in such a meeting, make it perfectly clear that Marcalo De'Unnero, curse his name, is not welcome here. Perhaps we can drive a wedge between them. Perhaps we can persuade Aydrian to speak more openly with his mother."
"You ask me to take quite a risk," said Braumin. "And if King Aydrian refuses to parley? If he demands the opening of the gate? Do we face war with Ursal, brother?"
Brother Viscenti leaned back and pondered the possibilities for a long while. "I would expect that the people of Palmaris, given the truth of their choices, would fight Aydrian to a man and a woman," he replied.
"These are the folk who witnessed the Miracle of Avelyn. These are the Behrenese welcomed as part of Palmaris when no one else would have them - forget not, for they certainly have not forgotten, that De'Unnero and his Brothers Repentant persecuted them most horribly in the days of the plague! These are the folk who saw the folly of Markwart,