Chapter 12
«There is an evil which I have seen under the sun».[13]
The rest of their journey was much subdued. The men rode tight-jawed and silent, for what they had seen was a flagrant usurpation of the king’s law, whatever personal feelings one might entertain concerning Deryni. For the Lendour men, who served a Deryni lady, the incident hit far too close to home. They gave Hallowdale a wide berth, cutting far to the south, and camped that night in a field, where the reek of burnt flesh did not befoul the air.
No one had much appetite that night. The men muttered among themselves around their campfires, even the most hardened of them shaken by what they had seen. The women had wept most of the way to the campsite, and many cried themselves to sleep that night. Alaric and Duncan were yet too young to understand what had happened, though Alaric had caught some of the emotions; but both were aware of the distress of the adults around them — so much so, that Alyce put both children to sleep in the arms of their knightly protectors, and that night blurred their memories of the experience. But her own memories she could not blur.
The next day was better, but something of the shock lingered as they set out again. Kenneth refused to discuss what had happened, and for a while considered taking Alaric back to Rhemuth with him instead of letting Alyce take him on to Arc-en-Ciel.
«I’m not even certain I should let you go, Alyce», he told her, the last night before they were to head in opposite directions, she toward the abbey school with Alazais and the other women and he on to Rhemuth. «And I don’t know that I can bear to risk Alaric as well. He is my only son, the son I thought I never should have. If you and he were to meet something like what happened in Hallowdale on the road…»
She looked away, troubled. «I didn’t tell you, at the time, how very near I came to riding back to join you, after you’d sent the men to take us to safety. But if I had, I honestly do not know what I might have done».
They were in the privacy of a tiny room at an inn on the road approaching Rhemuth from the east, and she opened one hand to a brightly glowing ball of greenish light, which hovered just above her palm. She lifted it slightly and watched it flare higher, to a fiercely burning column of fire that cast a greenish glow on both their faces.
«I was so angry, Kenneth. It would have been so very easy to unleash this on those people — and it would have felt so good, because they surely deserved to die for what they did, and allowed to be done».
She sighed deeply and closed her eyes, the column of fire dying down to a mere sphere of handfire that she quickly quenched in a closed fist.
«That would have been wrong, of course. It would have made me no better than they, except that I would have had more strength, a power they could not hope to understand or endure. Might does not make right. And it would have reinforced what they say about Deryni in the first place: that we have these terrible powers that we long to unleash against innocent humans — though those certainly were not innocent». She shook her head and lowered her fist, made it relax, open and empty, in her lap. «Do you really think that the king will be able to exact justice for the innocents of Hallowdale?»
Kenneth shook his head doubtfully. «I don’t know. If the incident was stirred up by itinerant preachers, it would be asking him to take on the religious hierarchy. He did that before for us — for you — and he ended up having to back down. This time — I don’t know. But I’m very glad that you didn’t do what you wanted to do».
She sighed. «You’re right — and I suppose I am glad as well. It only would have made matters worse for my people». She glanced at him sidelong. «I still should like to take Alaric with me to Arc-en-Ciel. It’s only less than a day’s ride outside Rhemuth; we would join you in three days. You can send as many men with us as you like — and we would have Jared’s men as well».
«You would only have them on the way to Arc-en-Ciel», Kenneth pointed out sourly. «You’d still have to return to Rhemuth».
«But it’s the major route north», Alyce countered, «and it’s well traveled at this time of year. I do so want Mother Judiana to meet Alaric. And for Zaizie’s sake, I cannot not go. She would be so disappointed».
She paused, then laid a hand gently on his wrist. «Darling, if you truly fear for our safety, that close to Rhemuth, you could send more soldiers to meet us at Arc-en-Ciel and escort us back to you. You could even come yourself, after you’ve reported to the king».
He chuckled aloud at that, aware that he was probably over-reacting, and enfolded her in his arms, pressing his lips to her forehead. But in the end, he agreed to let her go.
He took only Xander with him when they reached the northward road the following day, he to continue south into the city and the women to make their way to Arc-en-Ciel. Alazais wept as she parted from her father, finally understanding the tension under which he and Alyce had lived for all their marriage, and Alyce for most of her life. Alyce rode close beside her, with Llion and Alaric to her other side and Trevor at her back, all of them embedded within the Kierney party. In light of her previous night’s conversation with Kenneth, she found herself worried anew for the safety of her son, and was half surprised that Kenneth had even allowed them to come.
But the spirits of everyone in the party began to lift as they headed north toward Arc-en-Ciel, skirting along the river, spirits cheered by Sisters Iris Cerys and Iris Jessilde, who were determined that Alazais’ welcome should not be marred. By the time they caught their first glimpse of the abbey walls, they were riding far less fearfully. Alyce, in particular, put on a cheerful face for the benefit of her youngest stepdaughter.
«It looked very different when my sister and I first came here», she told Alazais, as the rainbow arch of the abbey’s gatehouse came into sight. «For one thing, it was winter — and we didn’t want to come. Our father had remarried a few weeks before, and our new stepmama did not care for the competition of two nubile stepdaughters. She wasn’t particularly happy that our father already had a son and heir, either, but she was certainly determined to remedy that, if she could. Meanwhile, the two of us were to be packed off to a convent.
«Fortunately, the sisters and the other students immediately made us feel welcome. It was far more of a home than we would have had at our father’s court, under Rosmerta’s gimlet eye».
Alazais smiled for the first time since Hallowdale. «I remember Zoë’s first letters back to Morganhall, after she met you», she said. «I was only seven or eight, but it was clear, even then, that she’d found a kindred spirit. Who would have dreamed where it would all lead?»
«Who, indeed?» Alyce agreed.
The approach to Arc-en-Ciel was much the same as Alyce remembered, other than the time of year. Sisters Iris Cerys and Iris Jessilde and two of Jared’s knights had ridden on ahead half an hour before to alert the inhabitants of their approach. The gate beneath the rainbow arch was thrown wide open, and the sister waiting just inside was Iris Rose, a novice when Alyce first had come to Arc-en-Ciel with her sister. Now she wore the rainbow-edged blue veil of a fully vowed sister, and was fairly jumping up and down with excitement as Iris Cerys joined her from within. Iris Jessilde was nowhere to be seen.
«Lady Alyce!» Iris Rose cried. «Welcome back to Arc-en-Ciel! Is it true that you have brought us a new student? Oh, enter in Our Lady’s grace!» she added, suddenly remembering the formal words of welcome. «Mother Abbess will be with you shortly».