Read Online Brothers of the Wild North Sea by Harper Fox - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Harper Fox
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meanwhile… “Oslaf,” he called softly, running up the stairs to catch up with him. “I’ll take Cedric now. Can you get back down to the chariot—take it down to the stables without our new friend noticing?”
“I’ll try.”
“Good. And if he stops you—well, for God’s sake don’t let him see the swords.”
To stay out of Aelfric’s way was the best. Over the next couple of days, Cai managed this well. John took fever from his enforced attendance in the church, and Cai stayed at his bedside, wrestling away the dark angel more by sheer force than medical skill. Half a dozen times he reached for Danan’s poppy vial, but held off, reading the lights in John’s eyes as a will to survive and praying he was right. Aelfric didn’t intrude into the infirmary, and Cai didn’t encounter him again until at last he could leave John for long enough to go in search of food.
His route took him past Theo’s office. That was how the brethren had referred to the bare little cell by the scriptorium, though Theo had dispensed most of his administrative wisdom directly, outdoors or looking over his charges’ shoulders while they worked. The room had been the storehouse for his curiosities and teaching aids—a row of skulls, some from beasts whose living forms Cai couldn’t begin to imagine, some human—and on the shelves below, the array of devices he had used to teach the brethren his wild, anticlerical science. The Gospel of Science , Cai thought, Theo’s last words resounding in his head again. Only a copy, dear Caius. Don’t worry.
A dark-robed form was moving round the room. This was such a familiar sight that at first Cai didn’t react to it. Tall and thin, bending over the shelves…
Glass shattered on the stone flags. The floor was already glimmering with shards. Theo’s bronze spyglass lay in a corner, crushed as if a great foot had landed on it. The device he had called a sextant, the copper arc on its complex wooden frame—the thing he used to tell the distances between the stars—was in pieces against the far wall. While Cai watched in the doorway, Aelfric turned and swept the last shelf clear of its skulls, a single contemptuous gesture.
When he was done, he planted his hands on Theo’s desk and glared at Cai as if he had expected to find him there. “You will understand this,” he growled. “God made all men—even you, physician—as the sublime peak of his creation. He did not set them adrift on some bare rock to float amongst the stars. He placed them at the centre. The sun…goes round…the Earth.”
Cai wanted to weep. He wanted to fall on his knees, scrape up as many pieces of his beloved abbot’s precious toys as he could, fold them into his robes and make them whole again. “You’re worse than the Vikings,” he got out, the words scalding in his throat. “Even they didn’t… Even they left these things alone.”
“Yes. The demons recognised the devil’s instruments.”
For once Aelfric was on his own. Every other time when Cai had encountered him, he had been surrounded by his retinue of grim-faced clerics. Cai too was alone. Aelfric was lean, but Cai sensed a strength in him. It would be no cowardice to take him on now—by the rules of Broc’s stronghold, not the cloister. Man to man, and the loser to repent the error of his ways as he dropped like a stone from the window.
Caius, don’t worry.
This time the voice was almost physical. Cai barely restrained himself from jerking around. He felt as if Theo had laid a warm hand on his shoulder. Don’t worry. Don’t let him destroy you or drive you away. Guard my flock.
Cai decided he was going mad. That was far from unlikely, given his last few days. He had seen better men than himself break down over less. That was fine. If he had to hear voices, Theo’s would be the one he chose, unless it had been Leof’s. But that sweet soul was resting in a peace beyond Cai’s understanding, his voice the sea-wind
“I’ll try.”
“Good. And if he stops you—well, for God’s sake don’t let him see the swords.”
To stay out of Aelfric’s way was the best. Over the next couple of days, Cai managed this well. John took fever from his enforced attendance in the church, and Cai stayed at his bedside, wrestling away the dark angel more by sheer force than medical skill. Half a dozen times he reached for Danan’s poppy vial, but held off, reading the lights in John’s eyes as a will to survive and praying he was right. Aelfric didn’t intrude into the infirmary, and Cai didn’t encounter him again until at last he could leave John for long enough to go in search of food.
His route took him past Theo’s office. That was how the brethren had referred to the bare little cell by the scriptorium, though Theo had dispensed most of his administrative wisdom directly, outdoors or looking over his charges’ shoulders while they worked. The room had been the storehouse for his curiosities and teaching aids—a row of skulls, some from beasts whose living forms Cai couldn’t begin to imagine, some human—and on the shelves below, the array of devices he had used to teach the brethren his wild, anticlerical science. The Gospel of Science , Cai thought, Theo’s last words resounding in his head again. Only a copy, dear Caius. Don’t worry.
A dark-robed form was moving round the room. This was such a familiar sight that at first Cai didn’t react to it. Tall and thin, bending over the shelves…
Glass shattered on the stone flags. The floor was already glimmering with shards. Theo’s bronze spyglass lay in a corner, crushed as if a great foot had landed on it. The device he had called a sextant, the copper arc on its complex wooden frame—the thing he used to tell the distances between the stars—was in pieces against the far wall. While Cai watched in the doorway, Aelfric turned and swept the last shelf clear of its skulls, a single contemptuous gesture.
When he was done, he planted his hands on Theo’s desk and glared at Cai as if he had expected to find him there. “You will understand this,” he growled. “God made all men—even you, physician—as the sublime peak of his creation. He did not set them adrift on some bare rock to float amongst the stars. He placed them at the centre. The sun…goes round…the Earth.”
Cai wanted to weep. He wanted to fall on his knees, scrape up as many pieces of his beloved abbot’s precious toys as he could, fold them into his robes and make them whole again. “You’re worse than the Vikings,” he got out, the words scalding in his throat. “Even they didn’t… Even they left these things alone.”
“Yes. The demons recognised the devil’s instruments.”
For once Aelfric was on his own. Every other time when Cai had encountered him, he had been surrounded by his retinue of grim-faced clerics. Cai too was alone. Aelfric was lean, but Cai sensed a strength in him. It would be no cowardice to take him on now—by the rules of Broc’s stronghold, not the cloister. Man to man, and the loser to repent the error of his ways as he dropped like a stone from the window.
Caius, don’t worry.
This time the voice was almost physical. Cai barely restrained himself from jerking around. He felt as if Theo had laid a warm hand on his shoulder. Don’t worry. Don’t let him destroy you or drive you away. Guard my flock.
Cai decided he was going mad. That was far from unlikely, given his last few days. He had seen better men than himself break down over less. That was fine. If he had to hear voices, Theo’s would be the one he chose, unless it had been Leof’s. But that sweet soul was resting in a peace beyond Cai’s understanding, his voice the sea-wind
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