Suddenly the scene below froze in place. All song ceased. From the right chapel, two shadowy figures appeared and unfurled a banner that stretched behind the king’s chair. On it were embroidered the words: Mane, Thechel, Phares.
Avelina gasped.
Recovering from the fright herself, Eleanor was delighted. She would congratulate Brother John on that chilling touch.
After the magi failed to interpret the meaning, the moment came that the prioress had been eager to see: the queen’s processional and her speech to the king.
Accompanied by the choir, the tinkling of hand cymbals, and the softness of a harp, a young novice, his amice unfolded and draped over his head to represent a woman’s veil, approached the king and began to sing in such sweet tones that Eleanor almost wept. Even if Queen Eleanor did not find favor in this, she knew God would.
Avelina leaned toward Eleanor. “Belshazzar’s queen is finely portrayed! Our own noble lady should be delighted. Is it not a wife’s duty, when her lord husband strays from virtue, to bring him back to the path of righteous acts?” Then she sat back, her hands folded prayerfully.
Overjoyed herself with the singing, Eleanor was pleased that the play had so far met with Avelina’s approval. Even though she worried about Father Eliduc’s final judgement, the performance seemed to be gaining strong support from this lady-in-waiting.
Two youths began to beat drums with an ominous cadence, then stopped. From the shadows, a harpist began to play as he led another king, Darius, to the king’s chair. The choir began to sing the new king’s praises, and when the monk playing Darius reached the chair, the two young men with drums chased Belshazzar into a side chapel. Hidden from view, Brother John loudly announced that he had been killed.
Avelina whispered, “And so all wives must learn to turn their lords from evil before it is too late.”
As Eleanor bent to reply, the lady now clapped her hands together with delight. “Oh, how beautifully Daniel sings! Methinks he has the finest voice of all.”
The prioress nodded and looked down at the man, now standing before the king. This was the one who had come here for healing and then stayed to offer his skills as repayment for the miracle of renewed health. Brother John had heard him singing in the fields as he tilled the earth with the lay brothers. Although the man had not taken vows, the novice master chose him as the perfect Daniel, liege man of God, because he could reach notes of unusual purity. If only Brother Thomas returned before Daniel was performed again. She knew how much joy he would receive from this man’s voice.
“He must sing well for he is God’s voice on earth,” Eleanor quickly replied.
Once he was raised to high position, all knew that envy would bring Daniel and his grateful king down. The mood darkened as two monks, acting as the evil counselors, sang in high-pitched, nasal tones, of their plot to dupe the king and send Daniel to the lions.
Avelina slid back into her chair and groaned.
For just a moment, Eleanor feared the lady had become ill. She looked back at Sister Anne, but the nun shook her head. When the prioress leaned closer to Avelina, she realized the woman was so engrossed by the tale that she believed what she was watching was true. The sound of pain was nothing more. The performance was a success.
Only when Darius was fooled into signing a law that could be used against his beloved counselor, did Avelina frown and gesture for Eleanor to lend an ear. “I fear the queen might find that troubling,” she said to the prioress. “Does it not suggest that an anointed king can err when he creates laws?”
“All mortals do err, but God knows the difference between honest mistakes and evil hearts,” Eleanor whispered back. “This king is well-intentioned, and so God saves both Darius and Daniel as you will see. I doubt the queen would find offence in that.”
And it was then that the lions roared from the left chapel.
Avelina muffled a scream.
Eleanor touched her gently on the arm. “We have no such beasts here, and Brother John did warn me that the boys especially love this part. They roar like lions with all their might.”
Avelina gave her a very grateful smile.
The prioress hoped Brother John had offered the same reassurance to those below, although she had heard more than one man’s voice express horror at the sound. With a brief prick of hope, she wondered if one of those voices belonged to Father Eliduc. Then she caught herself asking if the man even owned a mortal heart. She prayed she be forgiven that unkind thought, even though she also knew she had meant it.
“As you will hear,” Eleanor whispered, “the lions turn quite meek when the door is slammed shut on Daniel in their den. Do be prepared for the time they next do roar. When they are given the wicked counselors, the boys have their finest moment as lions.”
Daniel was led to a side chapel. A monk appeared behind him, in the white robe of God’s angel, and raised his sword when the door was closed. The lions produced a fine imitation of loudly mewing kittens.
In the nave, Ralf and the man with the poultice applauded.
The moment Daniel was released and the malicious counselors were finally taken to the den, Avelina and Eleanor braced for the roar of delight from the eager lions.
When one of them screamed, however, Eleanor knew something had gone horribly wrong.
Chapter Thirty
The body of Kenard lay curled in a patch of shade outside the chapel door. An eager complement of flies circled and buzzed over the vomit, urine, and feces pooled around his corpse. As if taunting the dead man, an empty wineskin rested only a finger’s breadth beyond the reach of his outstretched hand.
Eleanor ordered two lay brothers to move the horrified onlookers back. “Do not come near. No one may touch him except on my command.”
Although the stench should have been enough to drive anyone away, the small crowd retreated with a collective sigh as if grateful she had thought to demand it.
Even Eliduc edged backward until checked by the stones of the chapel wall, his face revealing no less shock than other bystanders.
Ralf stood beside the prioress, his expression a mix of hope and anger as he stared at the priest.
The prioress searched the faces of those surrounding her. “Brother John?”
“I am here, my lady.” The choir master was close to the chapel door, kneeling next to a chalk-faced novice. Keeping a hand on the boy’s shoulder, he rose.
This lad must have discovered the corpse, she thought, and grieved that he had. Since her own mother died when Eleanor was six, she knew how soon children became acquainted with death and wished the knowledge came later. “Will you examine the body, Crowner? Although I would ask Brother John to help you, I think that boy needs the care of his novice master.”
Nodding, Ralf bent closer to her ear. “I may have many reasons to respect your monk, my lady, but Sister Anne was the better apothecary when they had their shop as husband and wife in the world. Might you call on her to examine…?”
Eleanor whispered, “I had left her with Lady Avelina in the nun’s gallery. The moment I recognized this man as the lady’s servant, I sent for them both. If you will begin the inspection of the corpse, Sister Anne will be here shortly. Meanwhile, I must talk to the boy who discovered the dead man.”
“Then I should be with you.” Ralf glanced at the child clutching a hand bell to his chest as if it were a talisman that would banish the horror of what he had seen. “The lad is terrified,” he said and shook his head with sadness.
“He must recover from the cruel shock of such a discovery. I will question him gently and report to you what he says. If further information is needed, might you speak with him later?”