The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

Quote from: Evie on May 04, 2025, 01:53:48 PM

Quote from: Laurna on May 04, 2025, 01:45:31 PMOh my Goodness. Evie, you did it!  I could cry!

Who knew that the compulsion to prevent Aidan from sharing what was going on inside his head would extend all the way to trying to keep this scene from getting posted also! (Note for readers: You have NO idea how difficult it was to get Aidan's scene posted, because something in it kept triggering security errors for some weird reason. Thanks to Bynw, Laurna, and Nezz for helping to troubleshoot what was going on with it!)

If I'd thought it would help, I would have done much more troubleshooting. Now I'm afraid this has burned you from ever contributing another scene for us. And we love what you did so much!!!

Quote from: Laurna on May 04, 2025, 01:45:31 PMOh my Goodness. Evie, you did it!  I could cry!

Who knew that the compulsion to prevent Aidan from sharing what was going on inside his head would extend all the way to trying to keep this scene from getting posted also! (Note for readers: You have NO idea how difficult it was to get Aidan's scene posted, because something in it kept triggering security errors for some weird reason. Thanks to Bynw, Laurna, and Nezz for helping to troubleshoot what was going on with it!)

Oh my Goodness. Evie, you did it!  I could cry!

Aidan McLain was scared, and he wasn't entirely sure what he'd just overheard or why, but what he had overheard hadn't sounded good, not at all.

The two priests had been whispering together between the library stacks. Aidan had been standing just on the other side of one of the sets of bookshelves, not meaning to eavesdrop, but given his close proximity to the men, he couldn't help but overhear bits of their conversation.

They were discussing the sudden flurry of activity in the vicinity of the Bishop's Palace, and the disappearance of a great many books and scrolls from the shelves and niches where they were customarily stored in the Great Library of Grecotha. One of the men said something about the likelihood that the Bishop had somehow received word of the impending torching of Grecotha with Byzantyun fire. Aidan prayed fervently that he had misheard. He had known about the book evacuation because the Bishop's investigators had discovered some sort of plot to burn the city, but he had thought they were just talking about a regular fire, not Byzantyun fire! He had recently read about that frightening substance in one of the ancient histories he'd been given to read as part of his monastic education, and the thought of such a lethal weapon being used against the town of Grecotha terrified him. If Grecotha were to burn to the ground, how many hundreds of people might perish?

For that matter, if Grecotha were to burn to the ground and Aidan were to somehow survive the conflagration, where was he to go? That thought terrified him almost as much as the thought of meeting a fiery death just like his brother Corbin had.

"Look at this, whole shelves of books emptied and taken away to God only knows where!" groused one of the priests. "Maybe we should move our plans earlier, lest they have time to smuggle out any more of their Deryni writings or other heretical texts!"

"In this rain?" complained the other. "Granted, Byzantyun fire can spread even given far less than optimal conditions, but it would be more certain to catch and spread if we just wait another day or two until the wood and thatched roofs have had a little time to dry out more. Besides, if rumors have spread about our plans already, you can bet that people will be trying to leave the city. Delaying things would allow a few more innocent people to leave than might have done otherwise."

"And also allow some of those devil's spawn Deryni to slip past the gates as well," the first voice snarled. "Even with the roadblocks, there's no guarantee some wouldn't manage to slip away, and then what would all this planning have been for, I'd like to know?"

"They wouldn't be able to go far," the second voice assured him. "Soon, there won't be any safe refuges left for them to flee to."

He felt a sudden need to catch a glimpse of the whispering priests. Aidan didn't know why; deep down, he really wanted nothing more than to leave the library as fast as possible and tell Canon Damian what he had overheard. His heart thumping in his chest under his brown robes, he silently tiptoed closer to one end of the bookcase he stood behind, eventually finding a gap between the books that allowed him a brief glimpse of the two men beyond, if he crouched down long enough to peer through it.

The two priests wore ordinary black cassocks with nothing noteworthy about them to make them stand out from any other priest in Grecotha, but he noticed that one man wore an eye-catching red and gold rosary that was looped over his white cincture. Even that might not have caught Aidan's eye despite the bright coloring–after all, it was hardly out of the ordinary for a priest to own a rosary–but where Christ or Mary or some saint might be depicted on the small oval medallion above the cross, this particular rosary's medallion sported a lion's head with a halo. Something about that embossed motif teased at the edges of Aidan's memory. He was fairly certain he had read about that symbol somewhere, maybe in his history lessons, but the specific reference was eluding him at the moment. Despite that brief moment of near recognition, he might have thought little of the showy rosary or the medallion except that the other priest wore a ring with an almost identical motif.

The man Aidan thought might have been the priest his mind had labeled as "number one" had dark hair, but the aisle where they stood was shadowed enough that he couldn't quite make out if it was black or a dark shade of brown. He didn't know the priest's name, but he thought he might remember his features well enough if he saw him again in future. The other man had his back to Aidan, so he only caught a glimpse of brown hair, neatly tonsured, in a shade that was slightly lighter than Aidan's own hair, a nondescript color that would be difficult to pick out in a crowd. But he had a faint scar on the ringed hand that Aidan was also fairly sure he would recognize if he saw it again.

The two men moved further away, looking as if they meant to go deeper into the library. Aidan slowly released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and slipped out silently, heading in the opposite direction. Canon Damian must be told of this!


Edwin and Amy had left Elspeth back at the secret sanctuary and were heading back towards the Duggan house to pick up their belongings and see if Muirea had returned yet. As they made their way through one of the sections of town near where the foreign students tended to congregate and seek out lodgings, they spotted a familiar figure in the near distance.  "Is that the boy who assists the Canon?" Amy asked, laying a hand on Edwin's arm as she tilted her head in the direction of a young lad just up ahead who was dressed in the familiar brown robes of a monastic oblate or novice.

"Canon Damian's assistant?" Edwin asked, shading his eyes with one hand and following her gaze. "Aye, looks t' be him, right enow. Aidan McLain, I think his name is."

They started to head in his direction. As they drew closer, Edwin took note of his distracted appearance, the boy's sky blue eyes darting fearfully around as if searching for someone.

Amy frowned. Even from a slight distance, she could sense the boy's distress. She glanced at Edwin, wondering if he sensed it too.

They were nearly upon him now, but he showed no signs of recognition yet, unlike the other times they had encountered him at the Canon's office or elsewhere. Finally, when they were nearly on top of the lad without him seeming to notice their approach, Edwin stepped up and caught his attention. "Oi, Aidan! Ye're a bit out o' the way o' yer usual haunts, aye? Were ye lookin' for us?"

Aidan shook his head, looking slightly confused. "Nay, I'm lookin' f'r...." As if registering their presence and his surroundings properly for the first time, his expression grew even more baffled. "I ought t' tell th' Canon, but he ain't here."

"Should he be?" asked Edwin, equally confused. Why would the Canon be in this remote area of town? It seemed a bit out of the way from the places he normally frequented.

"I...dinnae ken," admitted Aidan with a thoughtful frown. "Mebbe I should find 'im, but I need t' tell Ol–" He stopped abruptly, his brow furrowing as he looked around more closely at their surroundings. "Where are we?"

Edwin glanced at Amy, equally confused. "Where are we? Where do ye think we are? And Ol' Who? Do you mean th' Canon?" Surely the boy wouldn't be referring to his master by such a familiar form of address as 'Ol' Damian'!

"Nay...." The boy looked distractedly around again, this time turning slowly in place to look behind him before turning back to Edwin. "I ain't even near th' Library anymore!"

"Nay, ye're no'." It was Edwin's turn to frown in puzzlement. "Aidan, are ye unwell? Should we get ye hame?"

"How'd I get here?" Aidan asked, his eyes widening in alarm.


Amy glanced uncertainly at Edwin. "Maybe we should see him safely home. Or do you think Elspeth should have a look at him?" she whispered. Loud enough for the boy to hear, she added, "Aidan, did you maybe bump your head or something? Maybe I should have a look."

The boy took a step back in alarm, not understanding why he did so. It was just an instinctive reaction. "Oh, no worries, mistress, ain't nowt tae see in there anyways, just a bit of straw mebbe," he joked with a disarming grin, ducking his head shyly. In truth he didn't know why he felt so reluctant to allow Mistress Amy to check for a head injury, from being fairly sure he didn't have one.

Well, that and she was female. And pretty. And he was just a year or two away from taking holy vows, so he didn't need a woman taking such liberties. Just looking at her made him feel a bit funny inside, not in a bad way, but just in a way that maybe a future monk didn't need to be feeling.

Yet again, as he had with increasing frequency in the past year or two, he wondered what it would be like to take a wife, marry, and settle into some form of trade. But he was uncertain what sort of future he would end up with if he left the order to find his own path in life. What if he ended up back in poverty, but with a wife and bairns to feed, like his father before him? Aidan wasn't at all sure it was worth the risk of leaving the safety and security of monastic life to chase after some silly romantic fancy.

"Oh, I'm sure it's stuffed with something a lot more substantial than straw!" Amy joked back, though she gave Edwin another quick look. "Though you do seem to be a bit disoriented. Are you hungry? Maybe we should get some food in you; that should sort you out."

"Aye, mebbe tha's it," agreed Aidan, feeling some relief as Mistress Amy stepped back, allowing her companion to come forward and take the lead.

"In tha' case, why no' come wi' us?" suggested Edwin. "We're just off t' see if one o' oor companions has made it back tae oor lodgin's yet, but there's food there that'll tak th' edge off yer hunger."

"Tha' sounds richt guid...." Aidan's voice trailed off. "Nae, on second thought, I need tae find Ol–there's a man I need tae find first. 'Tis gey important, an' 'e needs tae hear it iffen I c'n find 'im...." His eyes darted back and forth again, making Edwin wonder if the boy was about to dash off again.

"We could help ye look," Edwin offered. Amy raised her brows at him, not at all certain they could risk any delay with their own errand, but he had a gut feeling that Aidan needed help, and not just with finding whoever he was looking for. "C'n ye describe th' man?"

"Nay...." The puzzled look crossed Aidan's face again. "I'll ken 'im if I see 'im, though."

Amy's brows rose even higher towards her hairline. "Well, maybe we'll see him on the way to getting you fed. In the meantime, why don't you join us? Once we've all had a chance to eat, if you're still not feeling quite like yourself, maybe Elspeth will be back. You remember our physicker, don't you?"

Aidan nodded. He reckoned it would be fine if their physicker wanted to give him some potion for these odd forgetting spells he'd had lately.  Maybe she might even find some bump on his noggin that he'd forgotten about while she was at it. There was just something deep down that made him feel like he oughtn't let folk go poking about inside his head. Not that he had anything against Deryni folk in general, and none had ever done him any harm, so far as he knew, but a lad couldn't be too careful about that sort of thing. At any rate, he had formed an instant respect for the woman they called Elspeth despite her somewhat unnerving mismatched eyes. After all, she couldn't very well help those, any more than he'd had any say over the small birthmark on his left shoulder. He wasn't sure what it was about her, maybe it was just her efficient, no-nonsense way of doing things, but something about her vaguely reminded him of what few memories he had left of his Mum. If she could figure out why he kept losing bits of time, he'd be grateful, because these funny spells kept happening with increasing frequency now, and they were most annoying.

But now he was letting himself get distracted from the importance of his mission, he realized as he caught sight of a black-clad man walking swiftly in the opposite direction. Time was of the essence, and if he couldn't find the man called Oleg, he would need to tell someone he could trust. Tugging at Edwin's sleeve, he whispered, "There's summat important I need tae tell ye, but no' oot here. Mebbe I should gae wi' ye after a'."

Quote from: Jerusha on May 04, 2025, 12:34:50 PMAwesome scene.  Very scary, and very powerful.  I wouldn't want to be in Christian's path right now.

Looking forward to what follows next.

Thank you! I'm hoping to have a new episode soon!

Awesome scene.  Very scary, and very powerful.  I wouldn't want to be in Christian's path right now.

Looking forward to what follows next.

Quote from: tmcd on May 03, 2025, 11:54:27 PMI have no useful comment. Just "Well. THAT was DIFFERENT." Good, mind you. The DIFFERENT in your writing is good.

Merci! Thank you very much!

I have no useful comment. Just "Well. THAT was DIFFERENT." Good, mind you. The DIFFERENT in your writing is good.