91. Near Castle Inter Lucus
The first knock came before Eadmar
expected it. The fire in his modest
fireplace was still blazing. He hurried
down the short hall to the sanctuary of Prayer
House and opened the outer door.
Alfwald and Fridiswid Redwine were there, along with Lord Martin’s
students who boarded with them: Besyrwen Fairfax, Ernulf Penrict, and Tayte
Graham. “It’s not dark yet,” Eadmar
said.
Alfwald opened his mouth to speak,
but turned aside to sneeze violently. He
pulled a kerchief from a pocket to dry his bulbous nose. “Aye.
But with snow clouds, dark will come early. Are we the first?”
Rather than answering, Eadmar
motioned the visitors into Prayer House. “I’ll return in a moment.” He trotted back to his quarters, tamped down
the fire, and changed into his cleanest brown tunic. He lit a taper at the fire and returned to
the sanctuary. Already more people had
arrived. Eadmar expected the residents
of castle Inter Lucus to come; how
could they not, when Lord Martin had instigated the meeting? But these early arrivers were people from the
village: the Alymars, the Idans, the whole extended Entwine family, and others
Eadmar didn’t yet know. He had begun learning
villager names during Martin’s Harvest Festival, but that was a month past and
Eadmar had forgotten many. Eadmar set
about lighting candles and lamps: two candle stands with six candles each in
the front of the sanctuary and three oil lamps in wall sconces on each side.
Another knock; this time it was the
castle children: Alf, Ora, Caelin, Went (not yet as pimply as Caelin, but
sharing his brother’s skinny build and brown hair), and the bright-eyed
Whitney. The biggest of Martin’s
sheriffs, Os Oswald, entered behind them.
Eadmar marveled yet again at Os’s sheer bulk; he filled the doorway when
he came in, dimming the light from outside.
Soon after, two other sheriffs arrived along with Lord Martin, Rothulf
Saeric, Mildgyd, and Agyfen. The little
boy Agyfen eagerly accepted Eadmar’s hug.
Only three sheriffs had come; Eadmar surmised that Elfric Ash was
keeping watch in Inter Lucus, behind
barred doors. Martin could not leave his
castle completely unguarded.
More villagers came. The fourteen short benches in Prayer House were lined with folk, and
others stood along the walls. Os stood
like a sentry next to the door, perhaps to make sure Rothulf didn’t leave
during the meeting. Prayer House was unheated, but with so many crowded together, some
people were pulling off coats and cloaks to sit on them. Eadmar walked the aisle between the benches
to face the people underneath the white pine cross, the sign of the old God.
Eadmar had been pronouncing the holy
name in the presence of ordinary folk for more than a month. So it was no longer precisely fear he felt,
yet excitement raced in him as he spoke before so many.
“As you know, when Lord Martin came
to Inter Lucus he brought with him
this book.” Eadmar held the little book
high. “Lord Martin says it is the book
of God. Some of my brothers in Down’s
End will be slow to accept this, but I think it is true. The book of God tells about Jesus, the Son of
God.
“The book of God does not tell if
Jesus was born in spring, summer, fall, or winter. Lord Martin says that no one knows—that is,
only God really knows—when Jesus was born.
But the book of God says clearly that Jesus brings us light and
life. ‘In him was life, and that life
was the light of men and women,’ the book says.
Because Jesus brings new life, Lord Martin says that believers in
Jesus—and on Earth there are many, many believers in Jesus—celebrate Jesus’
birth at the beginning of winter, just when the days begin to lengthen.
“I will not hide from you the
truth. My brothers in Down’s End would
not be pleased that I tell you the name Jesus.
We priests have long treated the holy name as our greatest secret. But my brothers have not read the book of
God, and it says we should share the name freely.
“What we do tonight we do not to
please Lord Martin but because this really is the book of God.” Eadmar again held the testament aloft. “Caelin has copied out parts of the story of
Jesus in the common tongue, and I have asked Caelin Bycwine, Ora Wooddaughter,
Whitney Ablendan and Lord Martin to help me.
Tonight, we will read you the story of Jesus’ birth.”
Eadmar went to a small table by the
wall, picked up several sheets of Inter
Lucus paper, and laid Lord Martin’s book in their place. Caelin, Ora, Whitney and Martin joined him at
the front of Prayer House. Eadmar distributed the papers, each reader
assigned particular passages. Ora and
Whitney were visibly trembling and even Caelin, who could read as well as
Eadmar or better, was obviously nervous.
The five of them had practiced together on four occasions. Whitney couldn’t actually read, since she had
been taking lessons at the castle for only two weeks, but she had quickly
memorized her small part.
Lord Martin began.
In
the time of Herod king of Judah there was a priest named Zechariah…
Eadmar watched the faces reflecting
candle and lamplight. Eadmar had himself
first heard this marvelous story only two months before, when he had returned
from Down’s End with Agyfen. Naturally,
the people of Two Moons would puzzle over many things in the story, especially
references to Judea, Nazareth, Galilee and Rome, but they quickly grasped the
central theme: the births of two boys, promised by God, as God’s salvation for
poor ordinary folk.
Ora’s reading picked up the story
when it came to Mary: In the sixth month,
God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged
to be married to a man named Joseph…
Eadmar could not help reflecting on
the story’s meaning for the people of Two Moons. They were familiar with castle gods, castle
lords, and castle magic. Worship of the
old God had survived on Two Moons because castle magic could not reach priests
and believers when they hid far away in the wild. For generations, priests and believers lived
on the knife’s edge of starvation while the castle gods lavished wealth,
learning (for a select few), security, medicine, and ease on those who
worshiped them.
Whitney’s turn came. Her eyes fixed on the paper, but she spoke
from memory. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and said in a loud voice:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! Why am I so favored, that the mother of my
Lord should come to me?
The castle gods went away. No one knew why. Castle lords claimed the gods would come
back, and they continued to insist on the worship of castle gods. But the centuries rolled on, the gods did not
return, and in the growing cities worshipers of the old God found a measure of
welcome and security. Lordly favor still
meant that worshipers of castle gods enjoyed advantages in trade and
learning. Even in the free cities rich
people usually confessed loyalty to castle gods. After so long a time, God’s priests on Two
Moons knew their place; their call to serve the poor and powerless had been
ingrained in their hearts.
Ora read again. And
Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my
savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me
blessed…
He
has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but
has sent the rich away empty.”
Eadmar exulted again as he heard the
words of Jesus’ mother Mary. God sent
his son to help poor people, people suffering under a foreign king. All over
Two Moons, people worshiped castle gods for straightforward reasons of
privilege, but the castle between the lakes had lost its lord and fallen into
ruin. For a century the people of Inter Lucus and Senerham had had no lord
to dispense favors; they were like sheep without a shepherd. And now the book of God had appeared,
proclaiming good news for ordinary folk.
Caelin’s turn came when the story
returned to the priest Zechariah. His father Zechariah was filled with the
Holy Spirit and prophesied: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because
he has come and redeemed his people…
“…to
rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without
fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days...
“…to
shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet
into the path of peace.”
Eadmar tried to read faces. Surely some of the folk between the lakes
would link the story to their own situation.
Eadmar was thoroughly confident that Lord Martin sincerely worshiped
Jesus. Martin’s coming to Two Moons
would enable many to serve God without fear.
Finally, the reading came to
Eadmar. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea,
to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of
David. He went to register with Mary,
who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the
baby to be born…
But
the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.
I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been
born to you…
Eadmar finished his reading and
handed his paper to Lord Martin. Ora,
Whitney, and Caelin also gave their texts to Martin, and people looked at the
lord, expecting him to speak. But Martin
only inclined his head to Eadmar.
Eadmar held his palms up in a
gesture of openness to everyone present.
“The angel of God told shepherds that Jesus’ birth was good news for all
the people. This is a message of joy and
happiness for all of us. Tonight we
celebrate the birth of God’s Son. He was
born into a world of darkness much like our world of Two Moons. Tonight, to commemorate his birth, we will
use light to symbolize his coming.”
Martin motioned and Alf picked up a
woven sack that had been on the floor at his feet. Alf held it open and Went, Tayte, and
Besyrwen helped him distribute small candles to everyone present.
“I trust that no one will be afraid
of the dark,” said Eadmar. He took one
of the candles from the candle stand on his right and nodded to Martin, who
blew out the other candles on their stands one by one. While Martin extinguished the candles,
sheriff Leo and sheriff Ealdwine put out the lamps. In a matter of seconds, the candle in
Eadmar’s hand was the only light in the room.
The crowd in Prayer House waited in profound silence. “Jesus came as light into the world,” Eadmar
said. “A single light in the darkness
seems to be a small thing. But the light
can be shared.” Eadmar held his candle
still and Ora tipped hers to light it.
“And when the light is shared, it grows brighter.” Eadmar and Ora held their candles for others,
and very soon the light passed to every person in the sanctuary. With more than 100 candles burning, Prayer House was filled with light.
Eadmar returned his candle to the
candle stand. “May the light of Jesus
shine in your hearts. God bless each one
of you! May peace be with you.”
The crowd took their cue from Lord
Martin, who blew out his candle and gave it into Alf’s sack. Eadmar relit the candles on the candle
stands, and Leo and Ealdwine relit the oil lamps. Soon the people were talking together and
moving out of Prayer House for the
walk back to the village. It was
snowing; once outside, family groups walked quickly away, seeking the warmth of
their houses.
Here ends part two of Castles.
Copyright © 2014 by Philip D. Smith.
All rights reserved. International copyright secured.
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