Chapter 39

39

Lustina

“It is with great urgency that I, and the love of our Holy Father, call upon you good people this day. A young man has gone missing, and his mother fears what may have become of him.” Bishop Venable stood at the pulpit in the monastery’s courtyard, where a crowd had gathered. Fingers curled around the edge of the carved wood, he spoke with fervency, his eyes seemingly directed and fixed on Lustina. He’d already conducted days of inquisition with her, in his search for Drystan, through which she’d held her tongue, even as he incorporated small punishments. “I believe we have a murderer among us.”

The crowd gasped at his accusation, and he raised a hand to quiet them.

“One who stands to face the judgment of our righteous and just Holy Father, lest he, or she, finds the courage to come forward and confess the whereabouts of young Drystan. His mother, as a gracious and pious example of our merciful Lord, has asked that there be no punishment for he who divulges the boy’s state. I vow the confessor shall be protected, their dignity upheld.”

“And what of a reward?” someone shouted from the crowd behind Lustina.

The bishop’s eyes burned with malice. “Does the Lord ask for reward when He grants mercy on your soul?”

“I will offer a reward.” Lord Praecepsia stepped forward and turned to face the crowd. “For anyone with information that may assist in apprehending the boy’s offender.”

Lustina followed the path of the elder Van Croix’s gaze, toward where the baron stood beside him, his face a cool slate of no emotion.

After she’d left the undercroft, heard the screams, Lustina had watched, but neither the baron, nor Drystan, had emerged. Only days later had she brought herself to investigate that horrid room, where she’d feared what still lay within its walls, but there had been no sign of Drystan. Not a single shred of evidence that he’d ever been injured.

A discovery which left her just as baffled as the bishop.

“The witch’s spawn!”

Another voice from the crowd broke Lustina’s musings, and she turned to find an older woman, face red with scorn, pointing at her. “Only she could have accomplished such a thing without anyone seeing!”

The few sounds of agreement from others sent a wave of panic through the girl, and she snapped her gaze toward the bishop.

Chin lifted high, he stared down his nose at her, his lips twitching with what she surmised as pure arrogance. “I can assure you, I have made every effort to reveal the truth.? Her dark and deceptive nature cannot rival the glory and immeasurable light of our Holy Father. However, if it is proven that she deludes us, she will suffer unimaginable consequences.”

* * *

In the monastery’s courtyard, Pentash Aurelia brought her two corners of the bed covering toward Lustina, who folded it over before setting it into the laundry basket lying on the grass. “Try not to think about them too much.” She, like Pentash Maria, had been kind since the day Lustina arrived at the monastery, embodying the charitable mindset she considered a virtue.

“Think of whom?” Lustina unclipped more linens from the clothing line, quickly folding them and placing them into the basket.

“The villagers. They are simple people. And they certainly do not know your good nature. If they did, I suspect they would all be raving over your delicious cheese pies, the way the rest of us do.” She chuckled, tossing another folded bedsheet into the basket.

“If only cheese pies could erase the judgement in their eyes, I would bake every day.”

Aurelia sighed, the sympathetic look on her face as genuine as if she were talking to the Reverend Mother herself, and not the daughter of a wretched sinner. “Someday, they will see you differently. You are destined for something good, my sweet friend.”

“And you are far too kind.” The smile on Lustina’s face faded, as she caught sight of the door leading toward the undercroft, standing off in the distance like a dark thunderstorm. “Pentash, can I show you something?”

“Of course. What is it?”

The very thought of what she wished to show her stirred a sickness in the girl’s gut. “Down in the undercroft. It is perhaps the most horrific thing I have ever seen.”

The young pentash’s brows came together. “The rooms we are not permitted to enter.”

Looking away was all Lustina could do to avoid what would surely be disappointment in her friend’s eyes. “It was not my intent to venture there, but I did. And … what I saw--”

“Show me.” Aurelia’s resolute tone punctuated the assured look in her eyes when she nodded. “I want to see.”

Looking around the courtyard showed only Pentash Maria folding laundry at the opposite end of the clothes line. The pentroshes had gone in for their afternoon Liturgy and there was no one else in sight.

With a nod, Lustina led Aurelia to the door.

“Where are you two going?” Maria asked, jogging across the courtyard, her robe fluttering over the dirt, while the long, beaded crucifix bounced at her hip. “Wait for me!”

Finger pressed to her lips, Aurelia urged her to be quiet, and when Maria finally caught up to them, she lowered her voice and asked, “Why do you stand by the undercroft door?”

“Lustina wants to show us something,” Aurelia snapped in a hushed tone. “Keep your voice down.”

“The rooms …” Maria spoke quieter that time. “They are forbidden.”

“Then, perhaps you might keep watch.”

With a quick glance around, Maria nodded. “Of course.”

Lustina entered the undercroft first, the cool air casting a chill over her skin, and led Aurelia to the thick door where the baron had once taken her. Even so much as the memory of it left her trembling, as she reached for the handle. She opened it onto the room that stood beyond--the chains that dangled from the ceiling, tools hanging on the walls, the crosses and restraints.

Eyes wide with horror, Aurelia stepped inside, looking around. “What is this?”

“It is where Bishop Venable has been conducting his experiments.”

“Experiments? On whom?”

“I am not certain how many, but I am aware the baron is one.”

Brows pinched, she shook her head. “This is …. This is an unholy place. A chamber of torture.” Tears filled her eyes, and Lustina could only imagine what horrific scenes came to mind, as the girl swept her gaze over the props within. Perhaps the same nightmarish visuals that had plagued Lustina, herself, since the baron first showed her the room.

Having crossed the small space to the wall, Aurelia lifted the leather bands of a whip, where blood still stained the black threads. “Merciful Father, who could carry out such pain on another?”

“What is taking so lo--” At the sound of Maria’s voice, Lustina turned to find her standing in the doorway, eyes also brimming with terror. “Oh, unholy suffering, what is this place?”

“We should inform the Pentash Mother,” Lustina said, but at the tight grasp of her arm, she looked down to find Aurelia’s hand gripping her, her bones vibrating with the girl’s trembling.

The young pentash shook her head. “No. We should not tell her about this.” Finally peeling her gaze from the surroundings, she stared back at Lustina, a mixture of sadness and disbelief claiming her expression. “I suspect she is as faultless as the bishop. Allow me to speak with Friar Felix. I believe he can help us.”

“How?”

“He will be returning to Rome soon. I will make the Pope aware of this abomination.”

“But … does the Pentacrux answer to the Pope?”

“They do not, but the bishop respects power. Do not worry. All will be well. Whatever horrific acts of suffering have occurred here, they will not be permitted to continue.”

Even at the risk of getting in trouble, Lustina was glad she’d told Pentash Aurelia. She’d always been a trusted friend. Aside from the baron, perhaps her only true friend.

“Thank you. I pray the young friar reaches the Pope before a tragedy takes place here.”