Chapter Eleven #4
Estevan shook his head. “Where tae start?” he said. “This place may have a religious name on it, and be referred to as an abbey, but these women aren’t nuns. Not all of them, anyway. And the women eat and live in packs, like wolves. The packs dunna mix.”
Titan looked at him, brow furrowed. “Is that so? Odd.”
Estevan cast him a knowing look. “Indeed, it is,” he said. “I suspect there’s even more oddities than we know of.”
Titan opened his mouth to reply, but Estevan caught sight of Anaxandra emerging from the chapel. She was waving them over.
That had the men moving for the door.
“Mother Michael is inside,” Anaxandra said when they drew close. “She will receive you.”
The men nodded politely. As Titan headed into the chapel, Estevan smiled at Anaxandra, who blushed and smiled in return.
But he dutifully followed Titan a moment later, entering a low-ceilinged chamber that smelled of something strange.
It was simply a chamber, with no hearth, but what looked like a makeshift altar at one end.
On the altar were bowls of something that was smoldering, hence the smell.
Mother Michael, dressed in her dirty tunic and breeches, was standing by the altar.
“My lords,” she said. “How may I be of service?”
Now they were going to get down to business. Thoughts of Anaxandra forgotten for the moment, Estevan replied.
“I’m afraid I bring gloomy tidings, mother,” he said. “We’ve seen signs of the Ormsfolk. They have reached the shores of the mouth of the River Nith and they know of Leonore’s boat. Titan has seen the footprints.”
Mother Michael’s attention turned to Titan as he nodded.
“Aye,” he said. “There were five boats and each boat can carry ten or twelve men. They were on the rocky shore and they made no attempt to conceal them, which means they do not care if we know they have arrived. I suspect they want us to know.”
Estevan nodded too, cutting in on the conversation. “The point is that if they arrive here, looking for her, ye must tell them she’s not here.”
“But she is here,” Mother Michael said.
Estevan nodded patiently. “I know, but ye mustn’t tell them that,” he said.
“Mother, I realize ye dunna feel the need tae lie simply because ye’re the Templar nuns and ye feel that ye can defend yerself adequately, but let me assure ye that the Ormsfolk dunna care who ye are.
They’ll not leave until they have her, until yer women are dead.
They’ll be relentless in ways ye’ve not seen before. Do ye understand me?”
Mother Michael seemed peeved. “I have told you before that we can defend ourselves,” she said. “We have been here for many years, young lord. Clans call upon us for assistance when their armies are insufficient. I assure you that we can fight off a few dozen men.”
“But these are not ordinary men, mother,” Titan said, appalled at the woman’s lack of understanding. “They fight like animals. They carry poisoned weapons. They will not stop until they have the woman they came for, but meanwhile, they will kill anyone who has resisted them simply for sport.”
“They will not get inside these walls.”
“And if they do?” Estevan said, having much the same reaction to her stubbornness as Titan was. “They’ll kill anything that moves.”
“You do not seem to understand,” Mother Michael said, her patience wearing thin. “We can protect ourselves. Our order was founded on that premise, to protect women and children. We will not fail.”
“And if ye do?” Estevan asked. “What about all of those children I saw harvesting vegetables? What of them? Are they expected tae fight for their lives, too? Because I can tell ye that the Ormsfolk will take them back tae Mann and either eat them, sell them, or treat them like slaves. Is that the life ye want for those children?”
Mother Michael looked at him with some horror. “Eat them?”
Estevan nodded. “They’ve been known tae eat children, so I’ve heard,” he said. “And I’ll remind ye that they tend tae hack up their enemies and feed the body parts tae the blood-eating eels they raise. I canna stress enough that this is not a normal enemy.”
Mother Michael finally seemed to lose her smugness as the gravity of the situation was setting in. “That is not true,” she said. “They do not eat children.”
“I’m afraid that is the rumor.”
“You are saying that simply to frighten me.”
Estevan sighed heavily. “I dunna think anything frightens ye,” he said. “I swear tae ye that this is all true. And if ye willna deny that the woman they’re looking for us under yer roof, then ye must prepare yer women. They must be ready tae fight.”
He’d rattled Mother Michael a little, and she looked away, pacing slowly across the chapel floor, which was stone.
Dusty, old stone that had been walked upon by abbesses before her.
They were in a private chapel, a chamber that had never changed in usage since the abbey was a castle.
There were bodies under the stone of those who had originally built the castle.
Mother Michael paced over their bones, thinking.
“If you think this threat is so serious, then what do you suggest?” she finally asked.
Estevan was feeling hopeful that she might actually be listening. “I’m sending my brother tae summon the army of our older brother, who lives near Carlisle,” he said. “We can have two hundred men here in three days or less. That should deter the Ormsfolk and keep them away from St. Margaret’s.”
“And if it does not?”
“If ye dunna tell them that the lady they seek is within these walls, then there shouldna be any worry.”
He was essentially telling her not to answer any questions about the lady truthfully should the Serpent People come sniffing around. God, he hoped she listened to him. The woman didn’t seem to understand that the world she didn’t know about could be very cruel, indeed.
Brutal, even.
“Mother Michael,” he said, lowering this voice, “ye’ve lived yer entire life here, taught by women who have also lived their entire lives here.
Ye’ve built yerself a world that exists only within these walls.
Believe me when I tell ye that the Outworld is a cruel place, with cruel people, and we are trying very hard tae keep ye safe.
But we need yer cooperation. Ye must listen tae us when we tell ye that if the Serpent People discover the woman they seek is within these walls, yer lives are all in danger. ”
She regarded him from across the chamber, her dark eyes glittering. “Who told you about the Outworld?” she asked. “Anaxandra?”
He didn’t deny it. “She was a good escort,” he said. “She explained that she’d never been tae Dumfries and that everything outside of the walls is called the Outworld.”
Mother Michael considered that for a moment. “I see,” she said, though she didn’t sound pleased. “What else did she tell you?”
“Nothing much more,” he said, not wanting to get Anaxandra in trouble. “She said that she had come tae the abbey as an infant and that ye had raised her. She’s very grateful.”
Mother Michael snorted softly. “Did she also tell you that I mean for her to succeed me?” she said, watching him shake his head as if surprised by the question.
“I do, you know, but I also know that she does not want to. She has a wanderer’s soul, that one.
I do not know what she thinks she will find beyond the walls, but it can only do her harm.
She is better off with us, here. The world will not accept her kind. ”
“What do ye mean?” he asked. “What kind is she?”
Mother Michael sighed faintly, moving over to the oriel windows that overlooked the garden and part of the stable yard.
“A bastard,” she said quietly, catching sight of Anaxandra over by the wagon once more, helping with the vegetables.
“She does not know the circumstances of her birth and I do not intend to tell her, but I will tell you because I have a feeling that your presence here has awoken that wandering spirit in her once again. She is not satisfied with life here and wants to leave us, but it will only come to tragedy for her.”
Estevan’s brow was furrowed. “Why?”
Mother Michael turned to look at him. “Anaxandra’s full name is Anaxandra Tweed,” she said.
“That is her registered name. I was with Mother Gabriel, the woman who held this position before me, when Anaxandra was given over to us by a very nervous servant, who proceeded to tell us everything. She had just come from the House of de Longley, you see. They are the Earls of Teviot, of Northwood Castle, and it seems that the earl, James de Longley, had fathered Anaxandra with one of his wife’s ladies-in-waiting.
The servant proceeded to tell us that the wife tried to kill the infant, so the earl sent her to us, where she would always be protected.
That is what we do here, young lord. We protect women and children.
But Anaxandra knows nothing of the Outworld, or how to survive, and she would only come to harm. I know you do not wish to see that.”
Estevan was stunned at the story. He knew the House of de Longley, as it was allied with his father.
It was also a longtime ally of the House of de Wolfe, and with the heir to the de Wolfe empire listening to every word, he was certain that Titan was shocked also.
He turned to Titan, in fact, to see how the man was handling the news.
The man was just as stunned as Estevan was.
“Her father is Jamie de Longley?” Titan said hesitantly.
Mother Michael nodded. “Aye,” she said. “I do not know much of the family, of course. Only what the servant told us. But it would be best if you do not tell Anaxandra what I have told you. She has never asked and I’ve never spoken of it.
It would be the best thing for all concerned if you do not mention it. ”
Estevan shook his head. “It is not of my affair,” he said.
But he looked at Titan before finally gesturing to the man.
“But ye should know that Titan is the heir tae the House of de Wolfe. His father is the current Earl of Warrenton. Titan bears the title Viscount Kilham. His family is very close tae the House of de Longley, so this is something of a surprise, I’m sure.
I’m confident he’ll never speak of it, either. ”
Titan looked at Estevan before emitting a long, heavy sigh.
“Nay, I would never speak of it,” he said.
“To anyone. Jamie de Longley has four sons and no daughters. The lads are all excellent knights and good men. Jamie is a good man, too. He is very much respected by all of his allies. His wife is from Aragon. It’s tradition in the House of de Longley that the heir to the earldom marry from one of the noble Aragon families they are allied with.
I think Jamie’s great-grandfather started the tradition.
Adam de Longley married an Aragon princess long ago.
So did Jamie. Now that I think on it, I believe I heard my father mention that when Jamie married, his wife had brought all of her ladies with her from Aragon.
The cathedral in Kelso was full of them when the marriage took place. ”
Mother Michael returned her attention to the window.
“That explains her name,” she said softly.
“When she was given over to us, we were told that her name was Ana Alexandra Carlota Crisanta. A very big name for a very little girl. It was Mother Gabriel who changed it to Anaxandra. The first two names together to produce one.”
“That makes sense,” Estevan said. “I told her she had an unusual name and she said it means ‘defender of the people.’”
Mother Michael nodded. “That is what we told her as she grew older,” she said. “When a child comes to us as a foundling, we must make them feel wanted and important. Ana is our defender. She is the best archer we have. I’m sure you must realize that.”
She meant when they first arrived and found a bolt driven between them and the abbey, and Estevan grinned weakly.
“She is quite skilled,” he agreed. But his smile soon faded.
“My brother is going for help, mother. All of the skilled archers ye have may not be able tae hold off what is coming if they discover their woman is here. Will ye please promise me that ye’ll not tell them that their woman is here? ”
Mother Michael lingered by the window a moment longer before moving toward Estevan. Her expression was surprisingly soft as she looked at him.
“I am touched that you would be so concerned for us,” she said.
“I’ve never met a man who has the heart that you do.
It is a pure heart, Estevan dun Tarh. I can see that in everything about you, and I appreciate it.
You did not bring this burden down upon us, as St. Margaret’s was established for just this purpose.
To protect women. God will protect us. Mayhap he has already done that by causing your friend to be ill so that you will stay here and fight alongside us in our hour of need.
If there is an hour of need. But I suppose we shall find out. ”
With that, she headed out of the chapel, out into the day beyond. Estevan and Titan stood there, watching her go, before turning to one another.
“What does that mean?” Estevan said, puzzled. “Will she do as I’ve asked? Or will she be truthful and suffer the consequences because she believes that St. Margaret’s is strong enough tae stand against anything?”
Titan shook his head. “I cannot tell you,” he said in exasperation. “I’ve got a very bad feeling that the woman’s arrogance will get us all killed.”
Estevan cocked his head. “But is it arrogance?” he said. “Or is it faith?”
“What do you mean?”
“She believes God will save St. Margaret’s.”
Titan shook his head again, heading for the door. “She believes we will save St. Margaret’s,” he muttered. “Come along, Es. We have a lot of planning to do.”
Estevan couldn’t argue with him because they surely did.
God help them, they did.