The Blessed (14 page)

“Happily,” said Armand with a slight smile toward his sister. Unlike Gianni and Daria, Lord and Lady Devenue could not touch each other in public. They had to feign separation until the formal marriage ceremonies could take place, even though they had exchanged their vows.

Dimitri turned to Gianni. “I know it is not what you prefer, knight, but I hope that the villagers and the people of this valley will all come and listen to Father Piero, as they might have once flocked to hear the disciples. Our priest is a good man, but he is confined by the ways of the Church. I believe the Gifted are here to change the course of history. And I aim to do my part in aiding that cause. So they will come, hungry for the food you can provide, and I doubt it will be longer than an hour before they arrive.”

He reached down and helped Anette to her feet. “With the count's permission, I have asked Father Piero to baptize as many as will accept the gift, right here at the river.”

Daria could not hide her gasp. The count, the countess, Lord Devenue, and Father Piero all looked in her direction. “You shall bring down the wrath of the Church upon us. Why tempt them so? You all know as well as I that if it is discovered that you have been married without the cardinal present, there shall be repercussions. And a mass baptism . . . Why? Why taunt them?”

Piero raised his hands in a placating manner. “It all will be well, Daria. I agree with Lord Devenue. If this is the time and place, if his healing speaks to Christ's people and they desire to make a public proclamation of their faith, I shall not hesitate to answer their call. Every day without Christ is a day lost. These people need the Holy Spirit in their lives. Who are we to keep them from him?”

Daria sat back, stunned at his decisive tone. Clearly he thought it the right thing to do. “You are drawing a battle line, Father. The Church will come after us on multiple counts.”

The small priest smiled at her. “You must know that our battle is already upon us, daughter. The letter speaks of it . . . our map points us to Avignon. We go nowhere and do nothing that God does not see. He is with us. Is it not best to have as many possible with us? There is safety in numbers. Numbers persuade even the most powerful.”

“They will declare us Cathars,” Gianni put in simply, still sitting on the rock.

“They are more likely to declare us heretics,” Piero returned evenly. “But truth will be our defense. Think on it,” he said, looking at each one in the group. “When the Apostle Paul spoke of the armor of faith—the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth—only one reference was to a true weapon. And what was that weapon?”

“The Word, the sword of the Spirit,” Daria said in little more than a whisper.

Piero stared at her for a long moment, a nod bobbing his head. “What was your defense against evil when Amidei imprisoned you?”

“The Word.”

“Yes. The Word will be what we need most in the battle. The Word is what will force our accusers to face their own iniquity and failures. The Word will be our Defender and our Light and help us strike against the dark.” He reached down and pulled Daria's precious family Bible from the folds of the leather satchel. He raised it so they all could see. “The Word became flesh. Jesus was the Word. We will force them to see him again, before them. To remember his words. To recall what he said, and what he did not. Our Church has become an institution of ritual rather than an institution built on the truth of Christ. This is what we have been called together to do. We need not the third portion of the letter to know this. The spiritual gifts that Paul mentioned in Corinthians were there to show that the Holy One was present in our lives. We are together to be the Body of Christ, his witness to the world. Our gifts . . . they are present only so that we might call attention to the One we adore, the One we worship. It can never be about us. Never, ever. It is always about Him. Always and forever.”

He paused and looked at each one of the Gifted, from Daria to each of the knights, to Gaspare and little Tessa. “Who is most in need of this Word of truth?”

“The Church,” Gaspare said.

“Yes, yes. Our precious Church. We need the Church, people to guide and correct us in our walk. To rout out true heresy. But the Church needs to return to the Truth and the Light and the simple Gospel promises that Jesus preached. The Church needs to turn inward first and rout out the sin and greed and pride that is leading some of the powers that be, deep within, astray.”

Daria sighed heavily. Ever since they knew they were to go to Avignon, she had known their battle would come to the Church's door, at least on some level. But could it be true, that they were called together to correct the path of the most powerful entity in the world? Not since Roman times had one power had such reach, such wealth. How could their small group take on such a task? How could God ask them to effectively change the world?

Gianni squeezed her hand and she met his gaze. In his green eyes, she saw reassurance and peace. Faith. Even in the face of this, this idea that they might have to challenge the Church he once loyally served. He nodded toward Lord Devenue, reminding her of what they had witnessed, not three days past.

Dimitri rose, conferred with Anette and Armand, then walked to the priest and knelt before him. His lady did the same, and the count followed suit, kneeling beside his brother-in-law. “We swear we shall do everything in our power to aid you and yours,” Armand said simply. “We shall command forces to protect you, gather friends to come to your aid in the papal courts, provide you safe passage. Most of all, learn from you and pray for you. We recognize what you speak as God's own truth and will die defending you and yours. This is the very call upon on our lives, greater than any we have ever known before.”

Piero smiled down upon them. “Dear nobles, my daughter and sons. My sister and brothers, what you have discovered is the call of Christ upon your hearts. Know that regardless of what transpires with us, nothing is more important than this moment. We accept your offer of friendship and protection, but I ask you to always remember, whether we live or die, always remember this day and God's call upon your lives. This is all that matters, truly. That you might accept the Christ as your own Lord and Savior. That you serve him, ultimately, and only him. That you might know love in full. This is what buys you the keys to doors of heaven—simply embracing Christ as your Lord. Loving and serving Christ, learning what that means, shall bring you fulfillment and joy beyond anything else. What say you? Shall you do that?”

He looked each in the eye until each said, “I shall.”

He reached out and touched their heads, then made the sign of the cross and lifted his face to the bright skies of the valley, raising his hands wide beside him. He knelt down beside the nobles. “Pray with me, brothers and sisters. Father God on high, Lord of truth and light, Protector, Redeemer, we thank you for the miracle of this day. For Lord Devenue's healing. For our friends, whom you have brought to us to aid us. You have begun a good work within us. Complete it, Lord, complete it.”

Daria moved to her knees and Gianni did the same, each raising their faces and hands to the skies. The steady
thrum
within Daria grew until she felt she was fairly resonating sound, light. They could feel the Holy Spirit enveloping them here, surrounding them. One by one, the others in their group did the same as Father Piero continued to pray. It was as it was when Vito and Ugo had become baptized. It was as it was in the dungeon of Amidei's dark isle. It was as it was when Lord Devenue was healed. As if angels surrounded them, moved about them. They were not alone. They were never alone! Despite what might come before them, they were surrounded by the mightiest of warriors! Daria smiled, full, full to overflowing with the purest joy.

“Use us, your children here, for your good purposes. Drive fear from our hearts and replace it with courage and might. Let us never look away from evil, but drive it from our paths. Let us not tolerate it within our own hearts. Let us be constantly confessing our own failures, learning to be less our own and more your own. Let us teach love and peace and joy to your people. Let us remind other lost souls that you alone are the Way. Let every word from our lips be as if from your own, Jesus. Use us, Lord.” His voice cracked with emotion. “Use us. Our lives are meaningless without you. With you, we have all. Enter us, fill us, move us, teach us, protect us, guide us. We are yours, Father. Amen.”

“Amen and amen,” said Armand, in a softer tone than Daria had ever heard from the count.

“Amen and amen and amen,” said the others.

“Come, preach and minister to the people at my side,” Piero said, rising with some effort on stiff knees, then offering a hand to Daria. He looked her deeply in the eye, seeing the now familiar desire there, the call to move and heal another. He raised an eyebrow and smiled, then looked about, realizing that the people had already begun to gather, close to a hundred already watching them with wide eyes. He raised a hand in warm greeting and leaned toward Daria to say, “You are schooled in the language of Provençal. We shall read the Scriptures and they shall hear it for the first time, as those in Italia did. Anette will sing. We shall heal and baptize . . . and many new sisters and brothers will know the Word as their own for the very first time.”

Anette took Dimitri's hand and rose to stand beside him. Daria went to Anette's side and Armand went to Dimitri's. Father Piero raised two fingers and made the sign of the cross before them. “We begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit . . .”

 
VINCENZO, watching the group from his hiding place above them, recoiled at the sign of the cross. But Ciro was beside him, bolstering him. He was thankful for his presence, one he did not normally welcome. But without Amidei here, Vincenzo felt somehow weaker, less sure of himself.

“Has the spy arrived?” he asked, his eyes never leaving the group below him.

“Moments ago,” said the hulking knight.

Vincenzo was torn, half filled with revulsion, half pulled by something about them, in them. Daria and Gianni held hands. Fury at their public display of affection nearly cast him down the side of the mountain, sword in hand. How dare the knight touch her! She belonged to them! To them!

“What news has he?” Vincenzo forced himself to ask.

“The Duchess and de Capezzanas, the countess and Lord Devenue—both couples were married last night by the priest at the Devenue mansion.”

“It cannot be,” Vincenzo said, staring at Ciro. “That is political madness. If word reaches Avignon, they shall enter the papal palace with the lions already pacing and hungry.”

Ciro shrugged. “ 'Tis the truth of it. Both couples consummated their vows last night. The countess and Lord Devenue plan to keep their matrimony a secret and wed in a cathedral sometime soon. The de Capezzanas feel no need to do anything further.”

“Such knowledge shall serve us at some point,” said Vincenzo. Abramo's training came to him, then. The call of the master was to find every person's secrets, desires, weaknesses, and exploit them all. When they did so, their enemy faltered even as their own power grew.

“The villagers will join them there,” Ciro said. “They have sent them to gather others and come and worship here, right before us. We should attack now, divide them, kill as many as we can.”

“Nay,” Vincenzo said. “We shall wait. Wait for them to feel the dulling effects of victory, glory. They shall not anticipate us then. Look, look even to the girl now. She does not know we are here. She is entranced by the worship ceremony, as she will be as they preach to the simpletons. The others believe us gone, probably having heard word of Abramo leaving the area. If some of their group depart, the count will send some of his men with them to protect them. When the Gifted are separated from the nobles of Les Baux . . . Then, then, is when you shall attack.”

He slid a hand onto Ciro's shoulder and gazed down below them. “The day shall ultimately be ours. But patience will be our ultimate weapon. Summon the archers and all the men you can garner. Take up the positions we discussed. And wait for my archer to let her first arrow fly.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THEY rode hard from Avignon, twelve knights de Vaticana by their side. Word had reached Cardinal Boeri that Abramo Amidei had entered Avignon and sought an audience with the pope. Now his cause was twofold: to bring the Gifted to the pope, and to bring Amidei down. He knew Lord Amidei's reach was vast, that his tentacles already interlaced with the men within Avignon and beyond. But he had to expose the Sorcerer. Collect evidence and testimony against him. If he could do both—bring the Gifted into line and into service for the Church, and bring down Amidei—his brothers could do nothing but crown him with the papal crown at the next conclave. And then he would bring the papacy back to her true home in Roma.

He winced with each impact of his steed's step. His hips ached as his horse galloped beneath him. He was accustomed to a more leisurely pace, or a wagon, but there was no time. If he was to keep Hasani as an ally, he had to placate the man's need to rejoin his comrades immediately. When they paused to water the horses by the Rhône and eat a bit of bread and cheese, he went to his horse and unlashed the bundle at the saddle. He nodded to two knights, and the men went to unlock the manacles around Hasani's wrists. Hasani looked at the cardinal, still chewing his bread, as the men released the irons. He rubbed his wrists, raw and tired from the metal, still staring at Boeri, measuring him, considering him. Cardinal Boeri tried to give him a small smile of friendship.
You can trust me,
he wanted to say.
Trust me. I am on your side, ultimately. I want much of what you want.