Page 189 (1/1)
She hissed, like a cat ready to claw "What’s her na on this Earth"
The whore began to snivel "I hate God for stealing you You ought to be war on cold stone"
"Don’t hate God," he said gently "Pray for healing"
"What do I need healing for? You could heal me, if you’d come to me Aren’t I pretty? Everyone says so All the other men desire me"
"Beauty doesn’t last forever When er desire you, you’ll be cast onto the street Which will serve you better, Daughter? Men’s lust, or God’s love?"
"It’s all very well for you to babble piously about God’s love! What other profession is open to me? My mother was a whore There are at least five presbyters sht be irl like hter of a whore, except be a whore in my turn? That’s the only life I know What respectable man would want someone like me?"
He didn’t flinch under the assault of her scathing fury "I happen to know," he said quietly, "that there is a certain respectable sergeant of the guards at the skopos’ palace who has a brother who is a tailor down in the city That brother has had cause to visit the sergeant a tiarden more than once I expect he even makes excuses to coli, what chance has a coh to offer co’s suite?"
"His kin would all knoas a whore, and hate er in her voice had muted She sounded unsure of herself, afraid to hope "He’s probably soet a decent wife"
"Ah, well I happen to know he visits his brother every Ladysday and that they attend Mass together in the servants’ chapel"
"You lead that Mass," she said, surprised "Everyone knows you do All the servants talk about it But I know that the presbyters don’t let whores into the church, the old hypocrites, poking their le the day"
"When I lead Mass in the servants’ chapel, no one is turned away, no matter what they have been in their past No matter what they have done"
She knelt at his feet abruptly, bowing her head "I pray you, Father, forgivefor you in return for your kindness and hter" He touched her on the head, his blessing, and she caught in a sob, jumped up, and hurried away
It was too dark to see his face He stood there for so long that Antonia wondered if he was on the verge of turning around and going back into the feasting hall The bell tolled the end of Coations But she dared not move until he at last shook hi to the skopos’ palace When she could no longer hear his footfalls, she followed that sah the ht meet to survey their troops in times of trouble Her feet thudded quietly on the cobbled stone ay Light rain moistened her skin A servant hurried past toward the hall, carrying a lamp and a basket, and a brace of presbyters hastened from their prayers to the proress
The whore’s words stayed with her Would these pious presbyters spend their nights in carnal pleasure, only to turn around the next day and condemn sinful hue of the Abyss It needed a firround
The skopos’ palace was a warren of chaue, or so it seeht have corrected her; once, after he had spent a year in Darre studying at the palace schola, he had returned withexplanation of how the palace had been built out of the remains of an old Dariyan emperor’s residence, then expanded upon, partially destroyed in a fire, and rebuilt, only to be expanded again during the tiht keep secrets, she had not come to the skopos’ palace to skulk about like a thief She had already a suite of chahest rank and a bevy of servants and lesser clerics to serve her By the time Antonia reached the innermost chamber of Anne’s suite, where the Seven Sleepers ress, the others had already all arrived and taken their places Polished silver cups gleaht, and after servants poured wine, they retreated soundlessly and closed the doors, leaving Anne and her four companions alone