Courted Sanctuary

Chapter 6

  Though Luitgard slept, it could not have been called restful. Memories of her journey to Rome as a girl and all her nightmares of what could be swirled in a convoluted mess in her mind. Visions of an bronze angel with palms outstretched in welcome kept interrupting any flow the dreams might have had. By the time that Sieglinde shut her chest with a loud thud after dressing, Luitgard felt as though she had been deprived weeks of sleep.

  "Get up," Sieglinde said with the same bitterness she had had the night before. "I can smell the bread already."

  "I'm awake," Luitgard groaned.

  "And now you must get up," Sieglinde pressed. "I will be downstairs helping with the tables. We will meet with the friar after breakfast."

  "Justin," Luitgard said. "His name is Justin."

  Sieglinde left the room, nearly slamming the door behind her.

  Luitgard opened her eyes and stared at the door. She wished her sister priestess was more understanding. To be truthful to herself, she was hurt entirely because she had thought Sieglinde would be more understanding. Between the two of them, had it not been Sieglinde who had always proven the more compassionate?

  Luitgard rolled over and shut her eyes instantly as they were blinded by the sun. Sieglinde had opened the shutters and the morning light was at just the right angle to hit her in the eyes. After another moment, she opened her eyes again and looked at Sieglinde's bed. She would miss her.

  If she was remembering correctly, the journey to Rome took almost two months. She had no idea how long she would need to be there either. Even if she could keep her time there short, she would need to hurry to return to the village before the first snows.

  She rolled onto her back and looked at the roof beams. How many more days of her life would she wake up starring at those beams? Would the day she set out be the last?

  Though she wanted to, she did not trust Justin as much as she had pretended in front of Sieglinde the night before. He had seemed sincere in their conversation and she had enjoyed talking to him without antagonism, but she could not deny that he was still hiding something.

  She looked over at the dagger, resting on the shelf where she had set it the night before. She hoped very much that she would never need it. Her guts twisted. The Goddess had thought she might.

  After giving herself only one more moment to wallow, she got up and dressed for the day. She used the water in the bowl on the corner table to clean her face and smooth her hair back into a braid before walking down to the hall for the morning meal.

  Justin was already seated in his usual spot. He and several others beginning to gather were waiting patiently for the bread, water and ale to be brought out. While the women greeted each other warmly and chatted, he remained alone and silent.

  Luitgard walked to her chair and she saw that he had finally noticed her. She smiled in greeting; he nodded in reply.

  When all were gathered for the morning meal, Sieglinde stood. "Before we begin, I must inform you that the morning lessons will be cancelled. Luitgard and I have some matters to discuss and will be unable to instruct you until they are concluded. Please take the time to make yourselves useful." She looked directly at the Goddess Maids. "I know Oda requires some extra hands for plant harvesting today," she said.

  The girls nodded in capitulation and Sieglinde sat down, allowing Luitgard to perform her usual role of overseeing the morning prayers.

  After nourishing themselves, Sieglinde and Luitgard walked over to Justin who had just helped a Goddess Maid put away one of the tables.

  "Please stay behind until everyone else has left the hall," Luitgard said. "You are involved in the matters that we must discuss."

  His brow furrowed but he nodded in agreement.

  Several minutes later, the hall was quiet and empty but for the three of them.

  "Is this about our conversation last night?" he asked.

  Luitgard nodded. "Your arrival and ... other developments indicate that I must return to Rome," she said. "I am quite sure you are to accompany me. We must make arrangements for the trip and will need your assistance."

  "What do you wish me to assist with?" he asked.

  Luitgard noticed his guard had resurfaced. Far from the relaxed and vulnerable demeanour he had shown her the night before, he was nearly as tense as in their first meeting. His eyes flicked repeatedly to Sieglinde.

  "I am unsure of the route, or what to expect on the journey. I remember that your people use money. How much do you have?" Luitgard asked.

  "Not a coin," he replied. "Dominicans are poor. We rely on the goodness of the people to provide for us."

  Luitgard crossed her arms, one hand lifting to rest against her mouth as she considered. They had no precious metals within the village and she had no idea what the Christians valued beyond the death of their enemies.

  She let out of a long breath. "This is a problem," she said. "I know the journey is long. We will need food, shelter, and likely transportation. We have no horses here."

  "I managed to make the journey here solely upon charity, but that may be more difficult if you are with me. It would be unusual for a friar and a nun to be travelling alone together," he said. "But ... " he looked around the hall at the blue curtains. "There are other things that can make purchases," he said. "The dye you use can often only be afforded by nobility. It sells for a high price."

  "We have little left for the time being," Luitgard explained. "Oda needs to process more and that would take many weeks. We need to leave soon if I am to be back before the snows."

  "The dyed fabric could bring just as high a price," he reasoned. "One of these curtains would be enough to feed us the entire journey."

  Luitgard looked at Sieglinde. "We just dyed several new lengths of fabric yesterday," she said.

  "And what were they to have been used for?" Sieglinde asked. Luitgard knew she was trying to cause problems.

  "They would have replaced some of the older, worn ones but none need replacing immediately," she replied. Though she felt they looked good enough to convince Sieglinde of the lie, she knew she was downplaying how much they needed to be replaced. But she would be gone for months and in that time, Oda would have more dye processed and ready for use. They could easily have more made before winter.

  Sieglinde's jaw tensed. "If you are sure," she said after a brief hesitation.

  "We will need food enough for the next few days to get us to the nearest town," Justin added. "And a cart to carry the supplies."

  Luitgard shook her head. "No cart."

  "But how are we going to carry the fabric and food?"

  "The only cart we have is hand drawn and used for harvest. The people will need it before we return."

  "You want us to walk the entire way to Rome, carrying food and fabric in our arms?"

  "I was hoping we would be able to buy horses or find some other alternative to walking at some point," she said. "How did you come here?"

  "I walked," Justin said. "I managed to get a ride on a cart a few times but mostly it was just my two feet. It has also taken me almost a year while carrying nothing and relying upon willingness of strangers to help a friar."

  Luitgard ran through the village inventory in her mind before looking over to Sieglinde once more. "Weren't you and several Goddess Maids going to sew this afternoon?" she asked.

  Sieglinde nodded slowly. Though she had accepted Luitgard's insistence to embark on this journey, it was obvious she refused to help her out the door. Perhaps she was still hoping that too many obstacles would make Luitgard change her mind. Luitgard would never change her mind. The Goddess was telling her to go to Rome, possibly even to save Dragonfather. There was nothing that would change her mind now, especially with Justin's reassurances to keep her people a secret.

  "Would you be able to sew some bags for us? Ones we can just put over our shoulders like a sling?"

  Sieglinde nodded slowly again.

  "Wonderful," Luitgard said. Looking at Justin, she added, "I am sure we can man
age."

  He raised a brow but did not object to the idea. He looked down at her blue dress. "You will need to wear something else while we travel," he said. "You might be mistaken for nobility. A noble woman travelling by foot, alone with a friar, with no coin would bring far too many questions. It would be best if you looked a peasant."

  "And what do peasants wear?"

  "Un-dyed clothing mostly. Do you have any of that around here?" he asked. "All the women I have seen wear colours."

  "There should be something in the piles bound for the dying hut," she offered. Her heart was beginning to race. The more solutions they came up with, the more real the trip became in her mind, which revelled in the thought of seeing Dragonfather again. Her expectation was so pronounced that even her fear was losing its hold.

  As a final matter of discussion, Luitgard and Justin determined the route they would take. When Dragonfather had taken her twelve years earlier, she had been a little girl. She remembered nothing of the names of the towns through which they had travelled. She just knew they had to keep travelling South.

  Justin explained that there was a heavily used trade route between Stare Mesto and Rome. They would need to travel south to Stare Mesto, a growing and busy merchant town where they would likely be able to exchange the tapestries for horses. There would also be plenty of places along the way for food and shelter if they stayed on the trade routes.

  Though Luitgard was concerned the Church would learn of her if they travelled such a well-worn path, Justin insisted that was unlikely. If they both wore the simple clothes of peasants, no one would think anything of them. There were many Germans travelling to Jihlava to work in the silver mines.

  "We will have to pretend that we are wedded," Justin said finally. "It will prevent problems," he added as he looked her up and down. She felt her face become hot under his appraisal.

  "And how do we pretend that?" she asked.

  He shrugged. "We say we are and ensure that when we pay for shelter, we sleep together."

  Her temper rose into her throat. "I am not sleeping with you," she said. "Facade or not, you are not my husband and I have never agreed to give myself to you."

  He threw up his hands defensively. "That's not what I meant," he said quickly. "I am a man of God. I have taken vows of celibacy. I would never ... How could you even ... "

  He was so flustered by her response that her embarrassment deepened. Her cheeks felt even hotter than before and her heart had plummeted into her stomach where it was now swishing around uncomfortably.

  "Sorry," she muttered.

  "I think you two have the major matters figured out," Sieglinde said. Her tone was much more jovial than Luitgard had heard in days. She was even supressing a smile.

  "Thank you very much for your help," Sieglinde said to Justin. "We must make arrangements with Adalbern to compensate for Luitgard's absence. We will call upon you if you are needed."

  Justin nodded before turning and leaving through the main doors. His own cheeks were scarlet. When he was gone, Sieglinde let out a loud belly laugh.

  "I had no idea Dominican's were celibate," Luitgard defended. "How was I to know that wasn't what he meant by it?"

  Sieglinde wiped away a tear as she attempted to catch her breath. "While your embarrassment was indeed entertaining, my good mood has little to do with it," she said.

  Luitgard paused before asking, "What do you mean? What does have to do with it?"

  Sieglinde was still laughing. "I thought you would die a childless spinster. I'm thinking that I was completely wrong about you."

  "I don't see you rushing to get married," Luitgard countered. "It isn't like I've had the time or the opportunity to seek a husband."

  "You've had more of both than you are willing to admit."

  "And you have not?"

  "There is someone I've been watching but he needs more time. You've never showed any interest at all before now. "

  Luitgard looked at the doors through which Justin had left and then back at Sieglinde. "Him?" she asked. "You think I am interested in him?"

  Sieglinde smiled and her eyes sparkled with mischief. "I think this journey might be better for you than I thought," she said as she began to walk to the doors with a light step and a happy swing to her hips.

  "I am not interested in Justin!" Luitgard shouted. When Sieglinde did not respond, she added, "He is celibate!"

  "If you insist," Sieglinde called back with laughter before opening the large doors. "We best meet with Adalbern. We don't want to steal the entire day from him." She skipped through the door, leaving Luitgard rushing to catch up.