occasion, to the frustration of the tyrannic Father Abbot. But at least with Markwart, the Church had known stability and a direct code of conduct. In his last days, Markwart had brought purpose to the Church, had aspired to bring the Abellican Order to new and greater heights of power-thus the appointment of a bishop in Palmaris, a move to take power for the Church from the King unknown in Honce-the-Bear in several centuries. Thus Markwart's decree that only members of the Church could possess the sacred gemstones.
Yes, for all the differences he might have had with Father Abbot Markwart, De'Unnero agreed in principle with the man's policies. But what might he, and his Church, find now with Markwart gone, with no clear-cut and powerful leader to take his place? Even worse, how strong would the idiot Braumin Herde and his followers become, using the image ofJojonah burning at the stake to bolster their position among the more softhearted brothers, and proclaiming a 'miracle' at Mount Aida?
De'Unnero didn't like the prospects, and honestly, given his inability to deal with Master Bou-raiy, didn't see any way in which he could turn the tide.
He leaned on the wall, staring at the sparkling red waters of All Saints Bay, and wondered how far his beloved Church would fall.
The approach of footsteps some time later brought him from his contemplations, and he turned, and sighed, to see Francis and Bou-raiy marching his way.
'Brother Tellarese will be some time in healing,' Bou-raiy announced.
'It was but a minor wound,' De'Unnero replied, turning away from him.
'Or would have been, had it not been inflicted by cat's claws,' said Bouraiy. 'It is full of pus and required Machuso to work on the man with a soul stone for half the night.'
'That is why we have soul stones,' De'Unnero dryly answered, never taking his gaze from the bay. To his surprise, Bou-raiy came up right beside him, leaning on the wall.
'We have heard rumors of trouble in the south,' he said, his voice grim; but still De'Unnero did not look his way. 'Rumors of the rosy plague.'
Even the reference to that most dreaded disease didn't stir De'Unnero. 'Someone cries plague every few years,' he replied.
'I have seen signs of it,' Francis interjected.
'Signs that you compare with pictures in an old book? ' came De'Unnero's sarcastic response.
'The other masters and I have decided that we must send someone to investigate these claims,' Bou-raiy explained. Now De'Unnero did look at the man, his eyes narrow and threatening. 'All the other masters?' he asked. 'Where, then, was I?'
'We could not find you this morning,' Bou-raiy answered, not backing away from that threatening glare.
De'Unnero turned it upon Francis. 'Leave us,' he instructed.
Francis made no move to go.
'Pray, leave us, Brother Francis,' De'Unnero more politely requested, and Francis gave one concerned look to Bou-raiy, then walked off a bit.
'And you have decided that I should be the one to go and investigate,' De'Unnero said quietly.
'Perhaps it would be better if you were to leave the abbey for a while, yes,' Bou-raiy answered.
'I am not bound by your edicts,' said De'Unnero, standing straight and, though he was not a tall man, thoroughly imposing.
'It is a request backed by every master at St.-Mere-Abelle.'
'Francis?' De'Unnero asked, loudly enough so that the man could hear.
'Yes,' Bou-raiy answered.
That brought a chuckle from De'Unnero. He couldn't believe how quickly Bou-raiy had acted, seizing upon the injury of Brother Tellarese to turn against him. He should have seen it coming, he realized. His climb to power had left many sour faces in its wake.
'I can get the immaculate brothers also to agree with the request,' Bouraiy said.
'Now I am to take my orders from immaculate brothers?' De'Unnero was quick to answer, 'or from troublesome and jealous masters who fear, perhaps, that I will shake their comfortable world? '
Bou-raiy looked at him curiously.
'Yes, Master Fio Bou-raiy has carved out a comfortable niche for himself in the absence of Markwart and others,' De'Unnero went on. 'Master Fio Bou-raiy fears that I will come in and upset his coveted position.'
'We have already had this argument,' Bou-raiy said dryly, obviously seeing where this was heading.
'And we will have it again, and many times, I suspect,' said De'Unnero. 'But not now. I was just thinking that perhaps it would be better if I left St.-Mere-Abelle for a while, and if the masters wish that course to be to the south, then so be it.'
'A wise decision.'
'But I will be back for the College of Abbots, of course, a loud voice indeed,' De'Unnero promised. Then more quietly, so that Francis could not hear, he added, 'And I will watch the course of the nominating carefully, I assure you, and if Agronguerre of Belfour is to win, then I will back him as vehemently as Bou-raiy, and I will become indispensable to the man, as I was to Father Abbot Markwart.'
'Abbot Agronguerre is no warrior,' Bou-raiy remarked. 'Every father abbot is a warrior,' De'Unnero corrected, 'or will be, as soon as he learns of the undercurrents among those he should most be able to trust. Oh, he will be glad of my assistance, do not doubt, and he is not a young man.'
'Do you really believe that you could ever win the favor of enough in our Order to win a nomination as father abbot? ' Bou-raiy said incredulously.
'I believe that I could prevent Bou-raiy from achieving the position,' De'Unnero stated bluntly, and to his delight, his adversary's lips grew very thin.
'A fight for another day,' De'Unnero went on. He looked past Bou-raiy, drawing Francis' attention. 'You have an itinerary planned for me, no doubt? ' he asked.
'Presently,' a startled Francis answered.
'Soon,' said De'Unnero. 'I wish to be out of here before midday.'
And he walked away, considering again this Church he had returned to find, this hollow shell, in his estimation, of what Markwart might have achieved. Yes, he would willingly go to the south, but not on any search for the plague. He would go to St. Gwendolyn, perhaps, or all the way to Entel, if time allowed, and seek out allies among the more forceful brethren of the southern abbeys. How would Abbot Olin react upon hearing that the ascension of Agronguerre to father abbot was all but assured?
Olin and De'Unnero got on well together, and he knew that Olin would not likely be pleased with the events occurring in the Church, as the man had been glad that Jojonah was put to the stake. And he knew from the previous College of Abbots that Olin-and Abbess Delenia, as well-were no friends to Bou-raiy.
Yes, De'Unnero mused, on the road he could stir up some trouble; and in his estimation, any chaos he might bring to this present incarnation of the Church-this pitiful Order that tried to find a hero in Avelyn Desbris, a heretic and murderer, and in Jojonah, who had admitted treason against St.-Mere-Abelle-could only facilitate positive changes.
Marcalo De'Unnero had been a political animal for most of his adult life, and he understood the implications of his path. And he knew, if Bou-raiy and Francis and the others did not, that Braumin Herde and his ill-advised friends could well split the Abellican Church apart. De'Unnero would wage that battle earnestly and eagerly, and if he had to burn St.-Mere-Abelle itself down to the ground, then he would do so in the confidence that he would rise atop the ashes.
He made one stop before receiving his itinerary from Francis, a visit to one of the lower libraries, where he slipped one of the few copies of a very special ocean chart into the folds of his robes.
His steps out of St.-Mere-Abelle were even more eager than the hopeful ones that had led him back to the place a few days before.
From the wall of St.-Mere-Abelle, Master Bou-raiy watched the man go. His own thoughts concerning the Church that morning were not so different from those of this man he considered an enemy. Logically, it seemed to Bou-raiy as if the appointment of Agronguerre-an event that seemed more and more likely to him-should signal the beginning of the healing process. Agronguerre was known for just the kind of gentleness and compassion that would be needed within the wounded Church; and Bou-raiy's remark to the surprised De'Unnero that the ascension
