CHAPTER 844: JOCELYNN’S PLANS (PART THREE)

The moment she mentioned the Inquisitor, everyone at the table grew quiet. The summons for an Inquisitor had almost certainly gone out at first light, as soon as carrier pigeons could see to fly. Given the importance of Bors’s accusation, an Inquisitor from Maeril would almost certainly arrive within a few hours of nightfall, and the interrogation could begin as soon as they arrived.

In Blackwell County, Inquisitors had a fairly even reputation. While some were known as obsessive zealots who sought out the slightest hint of heresy, many more had a reputation similar to Inquisitor Diarmuid’s.

Ordinary criminals attempted to conceal their crimes under the guise of ’demon attacks’ while petty feuds included a number of trumped-up accusations. Diarmuid and men like him were known as seekers of truth who sifted the true evil from the merely criminal.

If the Inquisitor who arrived was a man of such principles, then Lady Ashlynn was likely safe. But here on the frontier, if he was a zealot who saw demons lurking around every corner and had likely found more than a few... the outcome of their Inquisition was much less certain.

"I don’t know the Inquisitors who reside in Maeril," Eleanor admitted. "But I’ve spent quite a bit of time with men of other temples who serve the Inquisition, and I think that most of them would find Lady Jocelynn innocent. The greatest danger is that the Inquisitor will be swayed by pressure from the Marquis and that he will fall to the temptation to betray the truth for earthly rewards."

"As much as I want to say that those who serve the Holy Lord of Light are pure and never stray from the path to the Heavenly shores," Eleanor said in heavy, resigned tones. "The truth is that some men of the cloth have come to it in order to find wealth and power that would have been forever denied to them because of their common birth. Some of those men even take great delight in the chance to ’bring down’ a member of the nobility."

Sir Elgon and Captain Albyn exchanged a dark, knowing look as Eleanor spoke, and the knight looked visibly pale at Eleanor’s pronouncement that they couldn’t rely on the neutrality of the Inquisition here in Lothian March.

Both men had heard rumors of corruption within the Church, and Albyn had encountered church officials who threw their weight around to bully simple merchant men like him on more than one occasion.

But there was a world of difference between a priest insisting that he needed the captain’s quarters on a ship during a voyage in order to protect the ’sanctity of the voyage’, or lining his pockets by selling ’blessings for a safe passage’ to superstitious sailors and the kind of murderous greed that would see an innocent woman die in order to satisfy the ambitions of a powerful lord and an unscrupulous inquisitor.

For a Confessor like Eleanor to come right out and admit to such a possibility was almost more terrifying to the two men than the demons they’d heard lurked in the wilderness of the march.

"In other words," Jocelynn said. "There’s no way to be certain until we meet the Inquisitor, but my odds of surviving this first trial are at least slightly in my favor because I really am innocent in this," she said with a nod. If the Inquisitor who had been summoned was truly corrupt, then she was doomed no matter what she did, so rather than worrying about what she couldn’t control, she focused instead on what she could.

"Which brings me to the second part," she said as she opened the book of maps, flipping pages until she found one that covered much of Lothian March and the surrounding territories. "I doubt that Lord Bors will give up on his intentions to do me harm. Even if the Inquisitor declares me innocent and Lord Bors blames this on his illness and a fever dream, he still intends to force me into a marriage with Liam Dunn that I do not desire," she said, shocking everyone at the table.

The marriage was a lethal threat in more ways than she would explain to the men in the room, but Eleanor clearly understood just how perilous such a callous plan was for her lady. In the very best case, Jocelynn would find herself trapped in a marriage she wanted no part of, but it was far more likely that Owain Lothian would lash out violently when he discovered that his father intended to give away the woman he’d set his eyes on conquering.

Whether he lashed out at his father, at Liam Dunn, or at Jocelynn herself in order to deny any other man the chance to claim the woman he’d decided belonged to him, the resulting chaos and the implication that it was Jocelynn’s fault for ’tempting’ her sister’s husband would create consequences that neither woman present wanted to think about.

"He can’t do that!" Sir Elgon roared, his face flushing red as he lurched to his feet so violently that his chair crashed backward onto the stone floor. The sharp crack of wood against stone echoed through the room as he slammed both fists onto the table, making the silver plates jump and sending a half-finished loaf of crusty bread tumbling to the floor from the force of his blow.

"The only person who can arrange your marriage is your father, the Count!" Sir Elgon said fiercely, staring in shock at Lady Jocelyn. "The Marquis has no business dictating who you marry."

"Things are different in the frontier," Eleanor said softly, choosing her words with care. After all, Sir Elgon had no idea that Lady Jocelynn had already been promised to Owain as a replacement for the murdered Ashlynn, and if he came to know the full truth of things, she was worried that his support for Lady Jocelynn might waver.

"There are old laws," Eleanor explained. "Many of them long since forgotten as archaic or as things to be used only in dire circumstances, which find more common use among the frontier lords. Scholars may disagree about whether or not Bors has the authority, but his lords won’t be among those who protest."

"And that’s why I need everyone’s help," Jocelynn said as she looked around the room. "Ash said that a lord has to act decisively, but that doesn’t mean a lord should rush into things. I’ve made up my mind," she said firmly. "If I can weather the storm of the Inquisitor, then it’s time for me to escape Lothian March."

"I can’t stay here," Jocelynn said as her seafoam eyes flashed with determination. "But going home to Blackwell County won’t be as easy as following the River Luath until we’re out of Lothian March," she said. "That’s why, Sir Elgon, Captain Albyn, I’m going to need your help to escape the march, coss country, in the middle of winter."

Both men looked at her with wide eyes as their minds grappled with Lady Jocelynn’s ’plan.’ They were prepared to defend her, and they’d even considered encouraging her to leave Lothian City in favor of one of the towns ruled by the local barons. After all, they’d seen her forming friendships with several of the young ladies of the Lothian Court, and if the daughter of a count wanted to visit a friend during the winter months, most barons would be honored to receive her. But to flee the march entirely...

"I know it’s daunting," she said as her expression softened as she pleaded for their help. "But there are very few people I can rely on. So, can I count on you to help me return home, even if it means we have to defy an entire march to do so?"