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."Arise!" he commanded sharply."I am no god, no king.Worshiping me would be asin, and abasing yourself is foolish.I require your ears, not your soul."Chastised, she stood, and described the wasting disease that consumed the boy."Leave him with me,"Anselm said."Wait on the crest of the Eagle's Beak.Kneel and pray if youwish it can't do harm."Pierrette put a hand to her shoulder, and led her away.When she returned, Anselm commanded her to take the boy, and to prepare apotion of herbs for him.Thus she was not present when he spoke with the second woman.* * *Pierrette had expected to give the boy a rich broth or a fortifying drink, nota black brew of seaweed and dung, laced with weeds that made sheep and cattlego mad.Yet the boy was weak and biddable, and he drank the strong purgative.Later, she did not want to remember.She raged at her master for not warningher.After drinking the brew, the boy vomited what he had consumed and more.His bowels became loose, and he voided on the bedclothes.He spewed not theordinary contents of stomach and bowel, but white threads that writhed withhideous life all their own.Pierrette bundled the bedclothes and threw them from the window, not caringwhere they fell, or that they were fine blue cotton from Nemausus.As soon asshe spread fresh cloths, the boy fouled those, and again she tossed them away.Thankfully, the potion had stupefied him.He was already dulled by starvation,because for months thefile:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Douglas,%20L%20Warren%20-%2.Sacred%20Pool%20(.html.jpg%20v3.0)/0671319566__17.htm (7 of 11)2-1-2007 14:07:56- Chapter 17worms had consumed everything he ingested.Pierrette heated water to bathe her patient.The wood burned with loud, angryPage 110ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.htmlcrackles that mirrored her mood, and the water boiled in minutes, though sheuttered no spell.After that first rejection of the demons that had tormented the child, hisspasms diminished.At last he slept.The air cleared.She listening to hisstrong, regular breathing.Then she returned to the courtyard, where the thirdwoman now stood before her master."Ah, boy! What kept you? I have heard these women's complaints.The one knowswhat she must do, and the other requires a powder of red fungi and crushedinsects." He rattled off instructions which red mushrooms and how many, andinstructions for measuring several kinds of bugs from the storeroom's jars.Fuming, her lips compressed, Pierrette again departed.When she returned, Anselm dismissed the women.The first woman's boy, he said,would be along shortly.Pierrette informed him what a thoughtless curmudgeon he had been.He listenedwithout protest, and when she ran out of breath, his head hung low."I'msorry," he said."I was having so much fun pretending.""Pretending? Is that what you think? The boy had worms, and your magic drovethem out.""It was hardly magic.It will seem so to ignorant folk, of course especiallywhen the boy is returned rested and fed, when for them only minutes havepassed.""Don't spurn their ignorance, Master.Nothing else stands between you anddissolution.If the boy retains drugged memories of demons being driven fromhim, it will strengthen you.Now tell me what transpired while I was gone."The second woman, Anselm said, had become with child soon after the birth ofher last babe.If she conceived soon after birthing the one she carried, shewould die."`Poor women don't suffer so.' I told her," said Anselm."She would have givenall her riches to be freedof her fear of untimely death but I didn't require that." He laughed."`Whenthis child is born,' I toldher, `send away the wet-nurse your husband brings, and suckle the childyourself for a full year.'"Pierrette nodded."As long as she suckles, she won't likely conceive.But didyou set her another penance as well?"Anselm chuckled."Her husband is a mason.I suggested he repair my crumblingcauseway so if his wife again required something of me, her path might be lesstreacherous than now."file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Douglas,%20L%20Warren%20-%2.Sacred%20Pool%20(.html.jpg%20v3.0)/0671319566__17.htm (8 of 11)2-1-2007 14:07:56- Chapter 17"Thus building her conviction and your reputation into the stones leading toyour keep.That was good, Master.You're catching the spirit of my experiment.Now tell me of the third woman.""Bah! She could have asked any masc.Her cow is dry, and won't allow itself tobe mounted.Without a calf, it will not give milk, yet it still eats grain,and requires care and shelter.I suggested she learn to enjoy beef, which iswell-regarded in some countries."Pierrette smiled."I suspect she didn't take that well.""She promised me a tithe of all the cheeses she'd make [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]