Only his skeleton remained, darkening where sunlight soaked into bone. The stench of putrefaction faded as anger boiled up and men snarled and shouted, closing in. Rage leaped, growling furiously. A sharp blow cracked into the side of his head.

Gasping, he came up for air and found himself after all in the silence of the church, with Geoffrey standing stiff and arrogant before him and the hounds quiescent, not moving at all, ears down.

He steadied himself on Lavastine’s cold arm. “One boon I ask you, Lord Geoffrey.”

“What is that?”

“I have brought a child with me, a girl seven or eight years of age. She is the eldest child of one I once called ‘brother,’ a good man who has now a wife and child. Although he was betrothed to the girl’s mother, they never wed. Let her serve, I pray you, in your retinue. Honor her as the granddaughter of one of your faithful householders in Osna Sound. Treat her well. Let her serve Chatelaine Dhuoda. If she has the wit to learn to mark accounts and learn to write and read, let her do so. If she has not such wit, let her serve in the kitchens under Cook’s tutelage.”

For a while Geoffrey said nothing. At last, as if puzzled, he scratched his beard. “What means this girl to you? Why do you bring her here?”

“Nothing good will come of leaving her where she was. Best she make a new start, if she can.”

“That’s all? Is she pretty? Is she meant to tempt me, or some other man? Is she your by-blow, meant to twist my daughter’s heart and loyalty if she grows up beside her?”

“None of these things. A tree will grow twisted if the wind rakes it incessantly. Better she grow true, if she can. I hope it may be possible for her to do so here at Lavas, away from an otherwise good family that does not like her. That is all.”

“You always had a care for the unfortunate!”

“Do not mock the unfortunate, Lord Geoffrey. They suffer more than the rest of us do.”

“For their sins!”

“Do you think so? Rather they suffer for our sins. Is it not a sin to look the other way when you might extend a hand to one who is drowning? Is it not a sin to eat two loaves of bread when you might share one with those who are starving? Suffering is the task God set us. We choose whether to take action or turn away. Thus are we judged.”

Geoffrey broke down and wept. “It is all gone wrong! My daughter—lamed in a fall from her pony! My dear wife dead in childbirth days after the terrible storm. Our sons held as hostages in Autun. Bandits afflict the forest and prey on the farmers. Plague eats at our borders. Hoof rot strikes down our sheep and cattle. All the birds are fled as if we live in a desert. And more besides. Far more! Too much to tell! How have I offended God?”