Here, on the grounds of the palace, they waited in the large, open interior field—not quite a courtyard—for the king to make his way to his quarters, which lay on the other side of a stone chapel. A stately timber hall with its foundations set in stone graced the southern side of this complex of buildings. The king’s stewards parceled out quarters according to rank and favor, but no sooner had Alain gotten the hounds settled in a makeshift kennel outside their assigned guesthouse than the count came looking for him.
“King Henry has asked that we attend him in a private council. Come, Son. Make yourself presentable.” He glanced toward the kenneled hounds who, hoping for a caress, wagged their tails and whined. “Bring two of the hounds as well.”
The king received them in a spacious room with all the shutters taken down to admit light and air. Only Helmut Villam, a half-dozen servingmen, and Sister Rosvita attended him. Henry sat on his traveling chair, carved cunningly with lions as the four legs, the back as the wings of an eagle, and the arms as the sinuous necks and heads of dragons. The king leaned forward as his favored Eagle spoke softly into his ear. Seeing Lavastine and Alain, he straightened.
“Let him come to me at once if you can coax him within the ramparts. Otherwise—” He glanced toward Villam, who gave a barely perceptible nod. “—let him range as widely as he wishes at this time. Better that the court not see him when he is in such a restless and wild humor.”
She bowed and strode briskly out of the chamber. Henry gestured to a servingman, who left the chamber in the Eagle’s wake. Then he nodded to Sister Rosvita and, with a troubled expression, she read aloud from a letter.
“‘To my brother, His Illustrious Majesty, Henry, regnant over Wendar and Varre. With a heavy heart and a disquieted mind I must relate to you these tidings, that our niece Tallia cannot remain at Quedlinhame. She has been spreading the taint of heresy among my novices and has polluted over twenty young innocents with her preaching. I advise caution even as I commend her into your hands. It seems to me that marriage would best distract her from these falsehoods.’”
Henry signed, and Rosvita stopped reading. “Do you still want the marriage to go forward?” he asked Lavastine bluntly. “The charge of heresy is a serious one. Mother Scholastica has taken Tallia’s youth into account in judging her fit, at this time, for mercy. The girl claims to have had visions, but whether they have come to her through the agency of the Enemy or merely through her innocent trust in bad counselors we cannot say. If she does not repent of these views, the church may be forced to take more drastic action.”