The Witch & the Cathedral - Wizard of Yurt - 4 (29 page)

He nodded ruefully. But during the week it took us to fly home I gave him no more thought.

Paul and Lucas spent much of the trip working out elaborate methods to trick and overcome whatever renegade wizard was operating in Caelrhon. Vor was unable to give any more exact description of him than that he seemed fairly young and had a black beard. He commented, rather surprised himself, that he could not really recall the man's face, though he did remember his white jacket, emblazoned with yellow suns glowing by their own light, a jacket that I could certainly not remember anyone at the school wearing. The two princes speculated at some length on Vincent's role, concluding that he must have been deceived by the renegade, and drew up plans in which they were able to gallop, formidable and glorious, across all their enemies. I could have told them none of them would work.

"I'll be eighteen in two weeks," said Paul. "I hope Mother has been going ahead with the preparations without me. You were going to be at my coming of age ceremony anyway, weren't you, Lucas? I'll need you now especially, because the wizard may be planning some attack to coincide with the event."

" If the renegade wizard was planning some outrageous further assault on the cathedral, I needed warn the Church. Once Joachim was elected bishop I’d hoped that I could still get in to see him in spite of the other priests' suspicions of magic-workers, suspicions doubtless increased by Norbert's experiences.

II

We reached Caelrhon at sunset and saw both the new and the old towers of the cathedral rising before us. They are back," noted Vor.

Not just the Romneys. As well as their caravans, I saw a large number of silk tents pitched outside the the walls, far more than one usually saw for market day. . Set the air cart down in front of the gates. We climbed out, leaner and much more ragged and dirty than we had been when we left, and smiled to think what we must look like to people in the tents.

"First thing I'm going to do," said Lucas cheerfully, "is to take a very long bath." I was giving the air cart the commands to return it to the City. "Don't use up all the hot water,"

said Paul. "I'll need to see how my lads are doing," said Vor and slipped away. The air cart soared upwards into the darkening sky. "Save some hot water for me, too," I said to Paul.

"I'm going around by the cathedral, to tell the dean not to worry about the gorgos anymore. I don't trust that young priest to have given him the message."

The construction site in front of the cathedral was dark and still, except for the construction crew's huts on the far side. Then I heard sudden loud and cheerful voices as Vor arrived. I saw the watchman's lantern but detoured around him to reach at last the quiet cobbled street behind the church, where thin lines of yellow light came into the street from shuttered windows.

My footsteps echoed as I hurried down to the house at the end I stepped up into the dark porch and knocked. For a long moment there was no response. Then there was a click as the door was unlocked, and a candle shone in my eyes as it opened.

I had expected to see Joachim's silent servant. Instead I saw a man I had never met in my life. "I need to see the dean at once," I said. There was probably a good reason why Joachim had someone else opening his door. "It's very urgent."

He hesitated, apparently trying to decide if I was dangerous, then nodded. "Wait here, please."

There was another long pause, and I could hear faint voices. Then the candle appeared again with someone else carrying it. He was dressed in the black vestments of a senior officer of the cathedral, but he was not Joachim.

After a panic-stricken moment in which I imagined that we had somehow come to the wrong city, I remembered seeing this man last month at dinner at this very house. He was older than Joachim, with an intelligent face if not the dean's intense expression.

"Excuse me, I expected to see Father Joachim," I managed to say.

"He is at the Episcopal palace, but I am sure I could help you."

Joachim was alive, but I was too late. I tried to smile and shook my head. Thank you, but it wasn't important. Sorry to disturb you." The priest stood in the doorway, still holding up his candle, watching me as I slowly walked back down the street.

At the castle, Paul met me in great excitement. He seemed younger somehow than he had in the past weeks. "We got back just in time! They're going to elect the new bishop and have his enthronement tomorrow! Everybody's here—Mother, Prince Vincent, the old king and queen of Caelrhon. And they say that not only are all the lords of the two kingdoms here—that's why we saw so many tents—and all the bishops of the nearby dioceses, but the bishop of the great City himself! I'm afraid the castle is very cramped with the royal courts of both kingdoms, and there's hardly any hot water."

I felt swept with relief to hear that the queen was all right. Now all I had to do was find Theodora. "And have there been any more manifestations from the renegade wizard?"

"No. Lucas told me he was going to talk to his brother immediately, of course. But I've seen Bonfire, and he seems well—my knights did remember to exercise and feed him."

There was one more important point in what Paul had said. "And they haven't elected the new bishop yet?"

"Well, not really. I've just been hearing about this. They hold the official election right before the enthronement, but in fact they have to decide much earlier. It would never do to have everyone there for the ceremony and then have a split election! The priests keep the results secret, of course, but there are plenty of rumors.'"

"And who is rumored to have been elected?" I asked, but I already knew.

"You'll never guess. It's Father Joachim, our old chaplain! We'll find out for sure in the morning."

The morning found us all in the cathedral very early. I kept probing for another wizard in the city, but I could not find him. I also found no monsters, not even the red lizards with hands, although I had flown surreptitiously over the new tower, repeating the spell to reveal what was hidden. This absence of other wizards and of magical creatures was not the relief it should have been, because I also had not been able to detect the wizard even when Theodora had. I wondered if he planned some outrage for the middle of the ceremony or if, as at the old bishop's funeral, he would save his surprise for the end.

The church was even more crowded than it had been for the funeral, because as well as all the townspeople there were all the aristocrats of two kingdoms, with their trains.

Quite a few wore their swords, a surprising sight in church. 1 spotted Yurt's two counts and the duchess several rows behind us. The duchess was flanked by her tall husband and their twin daughters. The girls waved at us and Paul waved back. I even saw the Romneys, in their bright red and gold best, squeezed into a back pew.

Prince Vincent sat with his own family, including his parents, his brother Lucas, the crown princess and their children, in the front pew on the far side of the church, so Paul and I had the queen to ourselves. As we waited for the service to begin, Paul continued telling his mother the story of our adventures which he had started last night. The nixie, I noticed, became changed in the telling into a rather ill-defined although still malignant magical creature.

I was almost overwhelmed to be sitting so close to the queen again, smelling her scent, seeing her smile, hearing her voice. She addressed me perfectly naturally, as she always had, and I did my best to be equally natural.

But I still glanced surreptitiously around the church, looking for Theodora. She could have been there but I would not have seen her in the throng.

Then the organ began playing, and conversation quickly died away as aristocrats and townspeople settled back as well as they could in the crowded pews. Through the great doors of the cathedral came half a dozen bishops in brilliant scarlet robes. All of them seemed quite old and highly venerable. They walked solemnly the length of the cathedral, across the mosaic Tree of Life, to stand around the altar.

When the last bishop had taken his place, the doors opened again, and all the cathedral priests came in. I looked for and did not see Joachim. But the other members of the cathedral chapter filed slowly up the aisle to stand in a group beside the bishops.

One bishop stepped forward: the bishop of the great City. I had seen him once when I was in school. The great mane of hair protruding below his miter had been gray then and now was white, but his booming voice was unchanged.

"Dearly beloved," he began, speaking into a profound hush, "we are gathered here to observe one of the most important ceremonies of the Church, the election of a new bishop."

I rather doubted that I was his dearly beloved. Although Joachim had forestalled an incipient riot against me, after I left there would still have been strong feeling against both the magical monster who had attacked the cathedral and the wizard who "must" have had something to do with its appearance. Perhaps Norbert had tried to cover up for his humiliation by lashing out against me, even if not against Joachim, once I was gone. The City's bishop would certainly not be impressed at hearing from one wizard that another wizard was planning some sort of attack on the Church.

"In the Church, as you know," he continued, "we bishops are brothers, brother shepherds, guiding the Christian flock in the ways of God with each others' assistance and guidance. Because each bishop is elected by the priests of his own cathedral, that is the men who will serve under him, only the most holy and worthy men are sought for the position. We who are bishops know in our hearts how far we fall from the ideal, but the ideal is clean piety, intelligence, judgment, dedication to the Lord's Word."

I became tenser and tenser, waiting for what must be coming, but a fast and irreverent magical probing still located no monsters.

The bishop opened his Bible. "The office of bishop was laid down from the beginning, and the Apostle tells us the necessary qualifications: A bishop must be blameless, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, apt to teach, not greedy of filthy lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous, one that ruleth well his own house. A bishop must be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, prepared unto every good work."

He closed the Bible complacently, as though congratulating himself that he was prepared for every good work, and turned to the assembled cathedral priests. "You have heard the inspired Word regarding the sort of man whom God calls to the Episcopal office, speaking through the will of the cathedral chapter. Are you ready now to elect such a man?"

"We are ready." I noticed that the priest who was apparently now dean spoke for the chapter.

"Then let your deliberations begin."

The priests filed gravely out the side door of the church. They had been gone for ten minutes, and Paul had started to swing his legs and I was wondering if there would be a recess, when they all filed back in again. This time they had Joachim with them.

I strained forward to see better. He was dressed in scarlet robes and was bareheaded. His eyes turned toward us, but he did not seem to see us.

"We have made our choice," said the new dean.

"And do you all agree in this choice?"

"We are all agreed, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit" The priests spoke together, but I heard Norbert's voice loudest of all.

"Then send your candidate forward!"

The priests stepped aside, and Joachim walked slowly to the front. I would have been intimidated by those enormous black eyes in his completely sober face, but the bishop of the City met him placidly. "Joachim! You have heard the will of the cathedral chapter. Do you accede to this election?"

"If God has called me," said Joachim in a low, grave voice, "in speaking through the chapter, then I must accept, although I know in my heart I am not worthy."

I had to disagree with this. I thought he met every criteria the bishop had mentioned.

"Brother bishops!" turning to the others. "Do you accept Joachim as your brother?"

"We accept him with joy," said the bishops, all speaking together.

"And you, the People of Yurt and Caelrhon," turning to the congregation, "do you acclaim him as your spiritual father?"

There was a general affirmative murmur from the crowd.

"Then kneel down, Joachim." Joachim knelt, and the bishop took a crystal ampoule of oil from the altar. He unstoppered it and poured two drops on the lowered head before him.

He then took a tall gold and white hat, like his own, and fitted it on.

"Rise then, anointed of the Lord, and fellow bishop!" Joachim stood up, and the two men kissed each other on both cheeks. "Take these symbols of your office." He put a shepherds crosier into his right hand and slipped a ring onto his left. The enormous ruby gleamed in the candlelight, the ring I had last seen on the dead bishop's finger.

"Then let us all sing Alleluia to God!"

The congregation scrambled to its feet, the organ began to play, and a great song of praise rang out Joachim stood still, not singing. I tried to catch his eye as he was only about twenty feet away. But I doubted he saw me. His eyes were again elsewhere. He was bishop now, burdened with the souls of two kingdoms, with responsibilities that went far beyond the worries of a wizard he had known when they both were young.

When the hymn died away and the congregation sat down again, two acolytes brought forward a throne. It was heavy, and they dragged as much as carried it in front of the altar. When it was properly positioned, they stepped back and Joachim sat in it.

"My people!" he said, addressing us all. "I come to you an unworthy man, but one who will do his best to guide your souls to God, with His aid. I would now like to ask those of you who govern our people's physical bodies to come forward, to dedicate yourselves and your purpose to the same divine purpose that guides us all."

Another week and Paul could have taken part himself, but the queen was still regent. She rose, holding Yurt's silver ceremonial sword, then walked slowly forward to the altar, laid the sword on it, and knelt before the throne. She kissed the Episcopal ring, and Joachim put his hand on her head and blessed her. Then he took her by the shoulders and drew her up.