Read Online DemonWars Saga Volume 2: Mortalis - Ascendance - Transcendence - Immortalis (The DemonWars Saga) by R.A. Salvatore - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: R.A. Salvatore
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heads the Abellican Church?” Danube asked.
Pony, embarrassed as she was, didn’t turn away but met Danube’s stare.
“Unless Abbess Delenia of St. Gwendolyn makes a bid for the position of mother abbess, it will be a man,” Braumin answered.
“And Abbess Delenia would have no chance of assuming leadership of the Church, even should she so desire it,” a bristling Abbot Je’howith was quick to add.
The man’s tone made Pony glance his way, trying unsuccessfully to determine whether he was upset because of the mere suggestion that a woman might head the Church or because King Danube had asked the question of Brother Braumin instead of him.
“So you have refused the offer, then,” Danube said to her as she turned back to him. “The Abellican Church hands you one of the most powerful positions in all the world, and you turn it down?”
“Brother Braumin and others offered to
sponsor
me as a candidate for mother abbess,” Pony corrected, “but many others within the Church would have rejected such a proposal. It is a fight I choose not to wage, and the leadership of the Church is a position I do not feel that I have earned.”
“Well said,” said Je’howith, but Danube cut him short with an upraised hand.
“You underestimate your charisma, Jilseponie,” the King went on, “and your accomplishments and potential accomplishments. I doubt not at all that the Abellican Church would fare well under your guidance.”
Pony nodded her thanks for the somewhat surprising compliment.
“But perhaps Je’howith’s and the others’ loss might become my gain,” the King went on. “Since you have chosen to reject the offer of the Church, I ask again if I might somehow persuade you to accept the barony of Palmaris.”
Pony looked down and sighed. Everybody wanted her in his court. She understood the attention—she was a hero among the common folk now, and those common folk had been doing more than a little grumbling about the King, and especially about the Church, of late—but she could not believe how much faith these leaders were willing to place in her. “What would I know of ruling a city, my King?”
Danube burst out into laughter—too much so, it seemed to Pony and to several others who, she noticed, were glancing nervously around, particularly Duke Kalas and Constance Pemblebury, who were both scowling.
And when she thought about it, Pony wasn’t surprised. Kalas, after all, had hinted at some amorous feelings for her, and Constance was the King’s favorite. Had Danube’s exaggerated laughter just put Pony into the middle of some intrigue with those two?
She sighed and looked away, back at Brother Braumin, who was staring at her nervously.
Pony gave in and started laughing as well.
“So you agree that your statement was absurd?” Danube was quick to ask. “What would Jilseponie know of leadership indeed!”
“No, your Majesty,” Pony replied. “I laugh because I cannot believe …” She stopped and just shook her head helplessly. “I am not suited to be baroness, or for any other rank you wish to bestow upon me,” she said, “as I am not suited to be mother abbess of a Church whose policies and intricacies I hardly understand.”
“Nonsense,” Danube declared, but Pony was shaking her head even as he barked out the word. “Nobility runs in your blood,” the King went on, “if not in your lineage, and your ascent to the court of Honce-the-Bear would prove most beneficial.”
Still she shook her head.
The King stared at her long and hard then, another uncomfortable moment, and then he gave a helpless sigh. “I see that I shall not convince you—no, Jilseponie Wyndon, you are one of extraordinary character and determination.”
“Stubborn,” Brother Braumin dared to interject, breaking the tension.
Again the King laughed. “But in a manner suited to heroes,” he said. “A pity thatyou’ll not change your mind, and truly a loss for both of us, eh, Abbot
Pony, embarrassed as she was, didn’t turn away but met Danube’s stare.
“Unless Abbess Delenia of St. Gwendolyn makes a bid for the position of mother abbess, it will be a man,” Braumin answered.
“And Abbess Delenia would have no chance of assuming leadership of the Church, even should she so desire it,” a bristling Abbot Je’howith was quick to add.
The man’s tone made Pony glance his way, trying unsuccessfully to determine whether he was upset because of the mere suggestion that a woman might head the Church or because King Danube had asked the question of Brother Braumin instead of him.
“So you have refused the offer, then,” Danube said to her as she turned back to him. “The Abellican Church hands you one of the most powerful positions in all the world, and you turn it down?”
“Brother Braumin and others offered to
sponsor
me as a candidate for mother abbess,” Pony corrected, “but many others within the Church would have rejected such a proposal. It is a fight I choose not to wage, and the leadership of the Church is a position I do not feel that I have earned.”
“Well said,” said Je’howith, but Danube cut him short with an upraised hand.
“You underestimate your charisma, Jilseponie,” the King went on, “and your accomplishments and potential accomplishments. I doubt not at all that the Abellican Church would fare well under your guidance.”
Pony nodded her thanks for the somewhat surprising compliment.
“But perhaps Je’howith’s and the others’ loss might become my gain,” the King went on. “Since you have chosen to reject the offer of the Church, I ask again if I might somehow persuade you to accept the barony of Palmaris.”
Pony looked down and sighed. Everybody wanted her in his court. She understood the attention—she was a hero among the common folk now, and those common folk had been doing more than a little grumbling about the King, and especially about the Church, of late—but she could not believe how much faith these leaders were willing to place in her. “What would I know of ruling a city, my King?”
Danube burst out into laughter—too much so, it seemed to Pony and to several others who, she noticed, were glancing nervously around, particularly Duke Kalas and Constance Pemblebury, who were both scowling.
And when she thought about it, Pony wasn’t surprised. Kalas, after all, had hinted at some amorous feelings for her, and Constance was the King’s favorite. Had Danube’s exaggerated laughter just put Pony into the middle of some intrigue with those two?
She sighed and looked away, back at Brother Braumin, who was staring at her nervously.
Pony gave in and started laughing as well.
“So you agree that your statement was absurd?” Danube was quick to ask. “What would Jilseponie know of leadership indeed!”
“No, your Majesty,” Pony replied. “I laugh because I cannot believe …” She stopped and just shook her head helplessly. “I am not suited to be baroness, or for any other rank you wish to bestow upon me,” she said, “as I am not suited to be mother abbess of a Church whose policies and intricacies I hardly understand.”
“Nonsense,” Danube declared, but Pony was shaking her head even as he barked out the word. “Nobility runs in your blood,” the King went on, “if not in your lineage, and your ascent to the court of Honce-the-Bear would prove most beneficial.”
Still she shook her head.
The King stared at her long and hard then, another uncomfortable moment, and then he gave a helpless sigh. “I see that I shall not convince you—no, Jilseponie Wyndon, you are one of extraordinary character and determination.”
“Stubborn,” Brother Braumin dared to interject, breaking the tension.
Again the King laughed. “But in a manner suited to heroes,” he said. “A pity thatyou’ll not change your mind, and truly a loss for both of us, eh, Abbot
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