Arvide sighed, deflating. Then one of the villagers muttered something into his ear, nodding towards the princess, and Arvide's eyes widened to the size of dollars. He stared at Alisande as if he were seeing her for the first time. Slowly, he nodded, muttering, "Aye, she is! She is indeed!"
Matt fought down a surge of exasperation. There went security.
Arvide yanked off his cap and came forward, almost shyly, dropping to one knee in front of her. "My Lady and my..."
" 'Milady' will do for the moment," Alisande said, with gentle firmness. She held out her hand.
Arvide kissed her ring and looked up at her, his face filled with devotion. He heaved himself to his feet, bowed, and turned away, striding back through the crowd. An avenue opened for him; then, one by one, the other villagers followed him, with reverent, almost frightened, glances back over their shoulders at the princess.
They filed on down the single village street; finally, the common ground in front of the church was empty. Matt turned slowly to Alisande. "I forget the kind of magic you can work in your own right, your Highness."
Alisande smiled, amused. "Be of good cheer, Lord Wizard; you shall yet learn our ways. Still, I find no fault in your conduct this day. I ... must own, there are few men I would liefer have riding by my side in such broils."
Matt stared at her in-shock. It seemed like an awfully abrupt turnaround. Then he realized it was a peace offering and he smiled back at her before he turned to Father Brunel. "Well, Father, the crisis is past."
"Aye, though he scarcely calmed them." Sayeesa turned on the friar. "I had small need of your aid. With any other priest, there'd not have been such a coil."
"True enough." The priest took it without flinching. "Yet `twas not to protect you that I acted, but to protect my poor people from your armored knights."
"Aye, verily! You did it so well that you all but bred that verb combat!"
"I did not ask the lords there to speak," Brunel growled. "If they'd stood by, I would have outfaced all my people."
"Well, it came out okay, didn't it?" Matt had to head them off, or they'd spend the entire day scrapping. "Sayeesa's unsinged, and your flock is safe."
"Aye." The priest frowned. "Though 'tis not done yet. While your Graces are here, there's no longer danger; yet there are hotheads amongst 'em who are swayed by the Devil and the vile forces unleashed in this kingdom. They will brood over not gaining their way in this matter. Then they'll start speaking aloud; and as the talk grows, so will their anger. By nightfall, they'll be worked up to rage, and they'll come to take her and burn her. None, even then, will move 'gainst your command, Lady, but 'twould be needless to see the coil bred. If you will take my good counsel - be on your way, and that quickly."
Alisande smiled sourly. "I assure you, Father, we had not meant to tarry even so long as this." She turned to the rest of the company. "Come, let us ride!"
She went toward her horse; so did Sir Guy and Sayeesa. But Matt reached out and caught Sir Guy's shoulder. The knight looked back, with raised eyebrows.
Matt turned to Father Brunel. "How about you, Father? If they're going to go witch hunting in the middle of the night and can't find a witch, they might take you as second choice."
The priest hesitated; then he nodded reluctantly. "There's truth in your words; they may seek to slay me. Yet if they do, there is justice in it."
Matt nearly blew his stack. Was everybody in this crazy country a walking death-wish? "You'll pardon me, Father, but you don't quite strike me as a hopeless case."
"Even so." Alisande had turned back. "Yet if penance you seek, we have a worthy endeavor that requires much hardship and sacrifice."
The priest frowned dubiously. "I have great need of such penance."
"Aye, even so," Sayeesa breathed. Brunel looked up at her, startled. For a moment, their eyes met, and the priest's face washed bleak with the naked craving of his hunger, while Sayeesa had suddenly become a magnet for male eyes.
Brunel tore his gaze away with a shudder. "Nay. If they come to hang or even burn me, 'tis for the best. I've shamed my cloth long enough."
"I will not hear of it," Alisande declared. "I think you to be a good man, in spite of your vices; and there are few such in this kingdom, in these dark days. You shall come with us."
The priest's face began to settle into obstinacy.
Alisande's tone warmed amazingly. "I will not leave a good man to a fate he warrants not."
Brunel caved in with a sigh. "I am not a good man, Majesty-"
"Highness, for this time," Alisande murmured.
Matt noticed how politely they both ignored the lack of a formal introduction.
"Highness," the priest amended. "And it is told that royal eyes, always see clearly; so what you command cannot be in error. If you command it, I will come with you."
CHAPTER 10
"With all due respect, your Highness, you're out of your mind," Matt said.
They had been riding across the open plain for several hours.
"Out of my senses?" There was nothing he could pin down in her tone and expression, but somehow her horse seemed a few inches higher. "Indeed! Pray I am not, Lord Wizard, or we are all doomed to death."
"Princess, I'm sure Father Brunel is basically a very good man, and Sayeesa's a very sincere penitent - but haven't you noticed the way they look at each other? I mean, that's a built-in weakness in our party right there - just the kind of gap Malingo would love to have handy to inject a little trouble through."
"The sorcerer?" Alisande frowned. "What place has he here?"
Matt gazed at her for a moment. "Do you think those peasants back there came up with ideas about priest-burning all on their own? These are humble folk conditioned to obey a black robe, Lady! They'd have obeyed Father Brunel when he told them to let Sayeesa alone, if something wasn't egging them on! Or do your peasants usually go witch hunting all on their own?"
Alisande turned thoughtfully. "I did wonder at their marching out against even a broken witch, without priest or noble..."
Matt frowned. "Malingo keeps trying to get us, Princess. He tried to sabotage us with that witch Molestam; then he tried to get me with Sayeesa; now he tried to stir up trouble with a peasant mob, And you're willing to give him an opening by letting the priest stay along, in spite of the effect he and Sayeesa have on each other?"
"I am." The steel was back in her now. "Yet your advice is sound; we'll watch them closely."
Matt sighed. "Well, I suppose I should feel good about getting that much of a reaction, at least. But what I want to know is, why does Malingo keep trying these little penny-ante harassments? Why doesn't he just bring out an army and squash us?"
"Because, praise Heaven, I have loyal barons and abbots in the West who would sally out to re-conquer the land, if Astaulf called even a small army away from them." Alisande sounded a little relieved at having the conversation back in her territory again. "Then, too, the sorcerer fears to risk a battle in the presence of the rightful queen of the land. Though I am yet uncrowned and hence unproven, he's reluctant to risk battle, so long as I have even a few loyal men about me."
Matt did a double take. "How could he be afraid to take on five of us with a thousand or so backing him up?"
"Because a rightfully crowned monarch cannot be beaten." Alisande smiled proudly. "When my forefather Kaprin fought for his crown, his forces lost only when he was not with them. So it has gone for all my line, down through the years. And while Malingo cannot be sure that power is mine, he hesitates to chance it."
"Divine Right again." Matt couldn't keep a trace of sarcasm out of his tone. "The crown automatically gives a monarch a sure instinct for tactics, eh?"