Chapter Ten
St. Blitha
“Gracious Mother, I am very sorry about what happened in the kitchen yard.” Andressa was speaking quickly and her voice was quivering with fear. “I did not mean to knock Sister Blanche down, but I did not want her to hit me again. I am very sorry for creating such a scene. Please forgive me.”
In the lavish solar that belonged to the Mother Abbess, Andressa stood just inside the door, speaking to the Mother Abbess and three other nuns, women she’d known in her four years of servitude at St. Blitha.
They were the Mother Abbess’ personal servants, nuns who shadowed the Mother Abbess, catered to her, and fulfilled her every whim.
Andressa had seen more than one of those women take victims to The Chaos, so she feared them as much as she feared the Mother Abbess.
To have all four of those deadly women looking at her, she was feeling cornered and terrified.
But the Mother Abbess, oddly enough, didn’t seem too angry. In fact, there was no hint of rage on her face as she stood over by the elaborate oriel windows of the chamber, the same windows that Andressa assumed provided the woman a clear view of what had happened with Sister Blanche.
She knew why she was here.
It must be bad, indeed. After the fight, she had been escorted back to the dormitory by two nuns when Sister Dymphna and Sister Petronilla came to take her to the Mother Abbess.
That told Andressa that the situation was dire, indeed, so as she stood just inside the entry door and awaited her punishment, her knees were knocking so badly that it surely must have been clear in her manner.
She was certain that the Mother Abbess’ rather calm expression was only a ruse, for she was in arm’s length of the Staff of Truth as it leaned up against the stone wall.
Andressa was certain that The Chaos awaited her.
God help me!
“You needn’t be frightened, Andressa,” the Mother Abbess said in her heavy Italian accent. “We saw the entire happening from here. We saw Sister Blanche strike you first. Why did she strike you, child?”
It was not the reaction Andressa had expected, which threw her off-balance.
More than that, it was a question she didn’t want to answer.
She knew it would only make things worse and she wasn’t a liar by nature, so the truth of the matter would come out.
That was her problem; she had never been able to deliver a bold-faced lie and make it believable, not even to save her own neck.
But perhaps she could soften it a bit with some half-truths.
Those were a little easier. Swallowing hard, she prayed her explanation wouldn’t turn the Mother Abbess’ manner from calm to furious.
Please, God!
“She was angry because she saw me speaking with a man outside of the postern gate when I was collecting water, Gracious Mother,” she said nervously.
“He… he saw me from the road and came to ask if he could draw water for me. I told him to go away, but he insisted on staying. He said that he had gone on the Crusade with King Richard and he spoke of a beastly animal called a camel. He would not leave so I took my water and entered the gate, and that is where Sister Blanche confronted me. She told me I was wicked for speaking to him and slapped me.”
That was as close to a lie as Andressa could come and she prayed it sounded believable. She honestly didn’t know. She watched the Mother Abbess’ face as the woman digested the information. Her only outward reaction was a slight lift of the eyebrows.
“I see,” the woman said. “Thank you for telling me the truth. And you do not know this man, Andressa?”
She shook her head. “Nay, Gracious Mother.”
“Did he give his name?”
“Maxton, Gracious Mother.”
“That is all he gave?”
Andressa nodded. “Aye, Gracious Mother.”
The woman’s dark gaze lingered on her for a moment before turning to glance at her minions, standing behind her.
They were all looking at the Mother Abbess to see what her reaction would be to the situation so that they could react in kind.
If she was angry, they would be angry. But if she wasn’t angry, then they wouldn’t be, either.
In this case, the Mother Abbess seemed strangely thoughtful about the situation.
“It is true that the world outside our walls is exposed,” she said to the sisters as well as to Andressa. “And the road from the city is not far off. Clearly, our stream and postern gate can be seen from the road. You did nothing to encourage this man, Andressa?”
Andressa shook her head firmly. “Nay, Gracious Mother. I begged him to leave me alone.”
That was the truth, for the most part, but she’d only asked him to leave when she was afraid they would be seen.
But the Mother Abbess couldn’t know that.
Andressa watched the woman pace over to the oriel windows, looking out over the cloister with its vast garden, and feeling a great deal of angst.
Was she angry?
Was she not?
“Did… did I do wrong, Gracious Mother?” Andressa asked, unable to keep silent. “I did not mean to. I was drawing my water and he came upon me.”
The Mother Abbess shook her head. “You did not do wrong,” she said. “But next time, do not linger on a conversation. Simply come into the cloister and close the gate. It is best not to speak to a man who was bold enough to approach you from the road. He could have meant you harm.”
Andressa nodded quickly. “He did not seem threatening, Gracious Mother, but next time, I will not speak. I will simply come back to the cloister.”
The Mother Abbess looked at her. “Did he say there would be a next time?”
“He did not say, Mother Abbess.”
The Mother Abbess drew in a long, thoughtful breath. “I hope he will not,” she said. “If he does, you will send for me. I will tell him to stay away.”
Andressa nodded again, firmly. “I will, Gracious Mother,” she said. “Thank you for your protection.”
The Mother Abbess turned away from the window, giving Andressa her full attention. “I am here to protect you, child,” she said. “In fact, I wish for you to know that you are special to me. You work hard at your task and your work has fine results. I am pleased.”
Andressa smiled timidly. “Thank you, Gracious Mother.”
A flicker of a smile crossed the Mother Abbess’ lips.
“You have proven yourself an intelligent, hard-working, and obedient girl, Andressa,” she said.
“So much so, in fact, that I would very much like for you to truly become one of us at St. Blitha. I wish for you to become one of my personal attendants. Would you like that, child?”
Andressa was deeply surprised by her question.
The Mother Abbess didn’t pay much attention to her other than her laundry duties, so she thought, so the woman’s desire that she should become a nun at St. Blitha was something of a great surprise.
It had never even been discussed. But as she thought on it, she knew there was only one answer she could give.
Refusal might find her in The Chaos because she was quite certain the Mother Abbess wouldn’t take kindly to it.
What the Mother Abbess wanted, the Mother Abbess received.
“I… I would, Gracious Mother,” she said. “I suppose I always thought I would take the veil at some point. My aunt has given me over to St. Blitha so I assume she wishes for me to remain here and serve God.”
The Mother Abbess came away from the window.
“And you shall,” she said. “You shall serve him as I serve him. I shall not ask you to do anything I have not done or would not do when it comes to fulfilling God’s Will.
That is what Sister Dymphna and Sister Agnes and Sister Petronilla and I have been doing, lo, these many years.
We have dedicated our lives to serving the Will of God through our Holy Father.
Our Holy Father has a very special need for St. Blitha. ”
Andressa cocked her head curiously. “I did not realize that, Gracious Mother.”
The Mother Abbess came nearer, pulling out one of the elaborate chairs from the elaborate table she dined upon.
It was a table bought with ill-gotten gains, with food and supplies stolen from the nuns, but it was a source of pride for the Mother Abbess.
She didn’t see the sorrow on that table, only the luxury of it.
The woman sat down, wearily, but her focus remained on Andressa.
“There is more you may not realize,” she said.
“My brother, Celestine, was the pope before our current Holy Father came into power. As I was the servant to my brother, I am also the servant to Innocente. His name, long ago, was Lothario, or Lothar. But now he is the Holy Father known as Innocente, a very great and powerful man. He is also a man that the King of England hates and disputes. Are you aware of this?”
Andressa nodded. “When I fostered at Okehampton Castle, Lady de Courtney, my patroness, demanded that her ladies kept up with current events,” she said. “As of four years ago, I know that King John had disputes with our Holy Father but, since then, I have not kept up with their relationship.”
The Mother Abbess nodded faintly. “It has not improved,” she said.
“The king continues to mock and dispute a man who represents God upon this earth. I fear it is a travesty that the king continues to perpetuate. Surely his subjects see his lack of respect for our Holy Father and that diminishes their faith in him and in the church. That diminishes their respect and faith in us, here at St. Blitha. Mayhap, that was even why that man approached you today – because he has little respect for the church you represent.”