Warlock and Son (13 page)

"Nay, sister! I-1 but glanced at him!"

"And he glanced at thee, and thou didst set up a whole dialogue of grimaces and leers! 'Tis as bad as whispering, or worse, since thou dost seek to make others laugh and ignore the Word of God! Thou shalt stay when all others have gone, and scrub the boards of the schoolhouse floor!" She turned back to the blackboard, visibly striving to calm herself. "Now-let us discuss the ways of charity." She took the rod and pointed to the larger circle. "Let this stand for God the Father." She drew rays coming out of the larger circle, making it look like the sun. "And this is the Holy Ghost, which is the emanation of God's feelings toward us."

She whirled around. "Theobald! Why dost thou frown?" The boy's look of puzzlement was instantly replaced by one of fright. "Why ... Why, sister-is not the Holy Ghost a separate being from God?"

"Nay, silly fool! How could God's Spirit be separate from God? The Holy Ghost is to God as my love for thee is to me!" The boy couldn't quite prevent the skeptical look that crossed his features, but you could tell he was trying, so the nun ignored it and turned back to the blackboard. Magnus nodded; these people's beliefs were like their church service-whatever kind of Christians they thought they were, they weren't Catholic. Roman Catholics believed that the Holy Trinity consisted of one God in three separate persons, as separate from one another as the leaves of a shamrock, but even more unified than the plant as a whole. This nun, though, was saying that the Holy Spirit didn't really exist. And her next words made it even more clear.

"This Holy Ghost, as God's yearning for a son, did embrace the Virgin Mary, and enkindled in her the babe, born at Christmas, and named Jesus, the Christ. He was therefore the son of God-but do not commit the error of mistaking Jesus for God! He was a man, and only a man-a saint, and more than a
Page 57

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

saint; a perfect man, to be sure-but only a man withal."

The children sat attentively, as though they were listening closely-but several eyes had glazed over. They had heard this before.

So had Magnus-it was called the Arian heresy.

"So God filled Mary with His Love, which we call the Holy Spirit," the nun summarized, "and Christ was born.... Hermann! Keep thine hands to thyself!" She descended on the luckless boy, whose hand had twitched toward the pigtails of the girl in front of him, and whacked him sharply over the knuckles with her ruler. As he squalled, she turned toward the elder nun with a sigh. "What ails these children this day?

Have we been lax in our vigilance? Hath the Devil crept amongst them whiles we taught? Wherefore?

And by what means?"

"Not the Devil." The older nun gazed across the heads of the class toward Magnus. "Yet there is a stranger present, who doth watch. 'Tis thy presence, young man, that doth encourage these children to disruption!"

Magnus turned very thoughtful. She might be right, he realized, though not for the reason she thought.

"I must ask thee to leave," the elder nun said, striding toward Magnus. "An thou dost wish to discuss the Faith with us, we will welcome thy questions-but after the school day is done." Her steps faltered as she came closer to Magnus, for he had turned a hard, brittle smile on her, and his eyes were glittering in a way that caused her to come to a halt ten feet from him. As soon as she had stopped, he bowed politely.

"I would not be a burden on thee, Sister. Assuredly, I shall leave." He turned and stepped into the forest-with relief, if the truth must be known; even gladly.

After a dozen steps through the underbrush, Magnus turned to the side and broke through to the track. He looked back toward the schoolroom, expecting to see Rod standing there shadowing him. Instead, he saw only the class and the teachers. He frowned, puzzled, then glanced back into the forest-but no, his father wasn't following him there, either. Well ... Maybe he had trusted the young man not to get himself into trouble. Magnus smiled, and turned back toward the village.

He found his father in the village common, handing a skillet back to a housewife and chatting. Magnus remembered that Rod had disguised himself as a tinker before, and smiled at the old-well, older-man's slyness. He waited till the conversation was done and Rod had gathered
up
his tools and was turning away, then stepped up to him. "Ingratiating thyself with the housewives again, my father?"

"Huh?" Rod looked up, startled, then smiled. "Oh. Yes, son. How else am I going to learn anything?

How about you?"

"I took a more direct path to the knowledge I sought. I went to school."

"Yeah, I followed you and watched for about five minutes. That was about all I could take." Magnus nodded. "Thou hast ever had an aversion to child brutality."

"Yes, except when I lose my temper." A shadow darkened Rod's face, and the glance he gave Magnus was furtive. "I'm not too keen on psychological abuse, either."

"I ken the feeling, my father. For myself, though, I had a bit more trouble with the hypocrisy."
Page 58

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"Well, yes, there is that." Rod fell into step beside his son, noting that Magnus had changed direction to accompany him. "But I'm old and jaded, Magnus. I almost expect hypocrisy, these days." Magnus frowned. "I would not say there is any great deal of it in yourself, or Mother-or the Elven King, Brom O'Berin, or Their Majesties."

Rod shrugged. "All that means is that you associate with good people-who keep their hypocrisy down to a minimum. But some of it is unavoidable, son. Anyone who believes in two conflicting values is going to be
a
hypocrite, and there's nothing he can do about it. You caught me in it once-remember?" Magnus lifted his head, gazing off into space, searching his memory. After a few minutes, he nodded. "I noted that thou didst denounce those who try to force their own system of government onto others, the whiles thou dost labor lifelong to woo the folk of Gramarye toward democracy." Rod nodded. "And I could only reply that I'm wooing, but they're forcing. Of course, I'm not sure that distinction would hold up terribly well."

Magnus quirked a smile. "Less well than it might, when I consider that thou hast spoke of self-determination with religious fervor."

"Right. But I'm just helping them determine the form that I know they'll choose anyway-aren't I?"

"Yet it would seem that thine enemies, the future anarchists, know that the people, left to themselves, would choose to carve up Gramarye into separate, warring villages. Thine other enemies, the future totalitarians, know that they would choose a dictatorship."

"Not quite. They know those are the forms of government they could bludegeon the people into accepting."

"Whereas thou dost know the people of Gramarye truly choose democracy?" Rod lifted an eyebrow. "Do I detect a note of skepticism there?" Magnus broke into a grin. "Thou hast it; I have accused thee of hypocrisy."

"Rightly, too. But if I honestly believe in selfdetermination, but also honestly believe democracy is best for them, what choice do I have?"

"Why, only to manipulate them into growing a democracy of their own." Magnus nodded. "Yes, I see-the hypocrisy is unavoidable. For if thou wert to withold thine action for democracy in the name of self-determination, thou wouldst be equally a hypocrite, wouldst thou not? Yes, I see." He turned to Rod with a sudden frown. "What hypocrisy do I enact, then?"

Rod shook his head. "Too soon to say. Whatever your life's work is, I can't tell-you may not even have begun it yet. And you haven't exactly been outspoken about your personal beliefs."

"I would not kindle anger betwixt us," Magnus murmured.

Rod nodded, chagrined. "Probably right, too. Well, catch me in a good mood and tell me what you're thinking. Okay, son? I'd really like to know."

Page 59

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

Magnus smiled with warm amusement. "Canst thou truly say thou wilt regard it as the confidence of a friend, and not seek to correct thy son in the error of his ways?" Rod was silent for a few steps.

Then, finally, he nodded. "Yes. If that's what it will take to find out what my son really believes-yes. If you'll remember that my silence doesn't mean I approve or agree, I promise I'll just listen, and not try to talk you into seeing the truth."

"And show no sign of the hurt thou wilt feel?" Magnus shook his head. "Nay, my sire. I know not if I can find the willingness to wound thee."

Rod sighed. "Okay, let's try. Tell me your honest opinion of the governmental setup in this village."

"I cannot, for I have none yet-or rather, none that I trust. I have seen a raging priest, and cruel-hearted nuns, and a lass who chafes at the bonds of authority-but do not all, of her age?"

"Not . . ." Rod caught himself, and bit his tongue.

Magnus smiled. "Not all, thou wouldst say? Well, mayhap not. Yet, past that, I know not how the folk of the village feel about their spurious bishop."

"Well, I do-not a complete survey, you understand, just a brief sampling of public opinion, as heard by a tinker. But from what I can tell, most of them are quite happy with this arrangement. I'm sure there must be a few malcontents, such as that suicide who was buried yesterday morning and, probably, his father. .

. ." A shadow crossed his face; he forced it past, and continued. "But most of them seem quite content to take orders from the priests and live their lives according to their version of the Bible. They don't even mind the priest yelling insults at them from the pulpit-they all want to know how unworthy they are, because that increases their chances of getting into Heaven."

Magnus shuddered. "Why, what a perverted catechism is this, that doth preach heresies as Holy Writ and perceiveth not its own hypocrisies!"

"Most people don't-that's why the real Church teaches that you have to be constantly examining your conscience."

" 'The unexamined life is not worth living'? " Magnus smiled. "The early Church fathers had been reading their Plato, had they not?"

"You disagree with the sentiments?"

Magnus shook his head. "At the least, the Church doth admire sound logic. This `bishop' careth only for that which hath a good feel inside him."

"Glad you said 'inside'-that poor teenager who got lambasted for being jealous about his girlfriend this morning sure didn't think the outside felt too good." Magnus gave him a sharp look, but he plowed ahead. "That kind of hypocrisy, I can't stand-preaching charity and love, then turning around and humiliating someone in public."

Magnus hated it, too, but hearing it from his father some how made him bridle and come to the nuns'

Page 60

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

defense, even though he thought very little of them. "There must be discipline in any social group, my father."

"Discipline, yes-but it can be administered without hatred, or pleasure in the victim's suffering. I don't have too much respect for someone who preaches love and understanding, and nurses a grudge at the same time. Needless to say, I'm sure that young man is one of the malcontents."

"I should think that he is," Magnus admitted. "Yet the bulk of them seem to see no conflict betwixt the preaching and the practice."

"None at all. It's as though they have two compartments in their minds-the one for `religion' and the other for 'practical necessities'-and they never see any conflict in living by both precepts. The `Church is fine, but business is business' mentality."

"Did not Christ speak to that? Summat about not letting the left hand know what the right hand doeth?"

"Which may come naturally to most people, but it's one hell of a way to play the piano. Yes, but you see-you're cheating. You've read the Book."

"Which these people have not," Magnus mused. "They have but heard as much of it as their priests do wish to tell them."

"There is that problem, yes. In addition to which, I'm not at all sure the local copy of the Bible is the same one the Church is using."

Magnus looked up, frowning. "Do not these people believe themselves to be Catholic?"

"Good question-and I asked it. The answer is, no, they think they're just generic Christians. Of course, that doesn't mean anything-anyone in Europe would have said the same thing, before the Reformation. But when I asked them if the Pope is infallible, they all said `Yes, and the Bishop speaks for the Pope.' "

"I wonder an His Holiness doth know of it," Magnus murmured.

"I have my doubts. In fact, when we get out of this forest, I'm half a mind to hunt up the Abbot of the Order of St. Vidicon and rat on them."

"To tell the Abbot, so that he may send a score of monks to convince this audacious prelate of the error of his ways?" Magnus looked up, scandalized. "Surely thou wouldst not, my father!" Now it was Rod's turn to be confounded. "Why not?"

"For that thou hast said thyself that the bulk of these people are content with this form of government, and the monks would surely unseat this bishop. Worse!" His eyes widened at a sudden, horrible thought.

"When they sought to, the bishop would claim that he is the Abbot's peer, and would set his people to warring 'gainst the monks!"

"Then they would leave, and come back with soldiers." Rod nodded, face grim. "Yes, there is that little problem. But I can't let him go on tyrannizing these people, can I?"

"Dost thou not truly believe the self-determination thou dost preach?"
Page 61

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv
erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"Not as thoroughly as you do, apparently-but, yes, I still think I do. On the other hand, there's the little matter of his brutalizing the ones who don't agree with him."

"Like that poor wreck of a father we saw yestermorn?"

"Well, yes, I was kind of thinking of him. But there was that boy at the school, and that girl Hester from the tavern, whom he's obviously in love with."