The Quest for Saint Camber Read Online Free Page B

of God in the Sacrament housed in the tabernacle was clearly blasphemy.
    Wolfram pursed his lips and looked to Cardiel for guidance, but the archbishop only raised an eyebrow, turning the initiative back to Wolfram. Cardiel was already far from neutral in this case, being Duncan’s immediate superior. He did not know , in the way that many others in the room knew, that Duncan was telling the truth—but he sincerely believed he was. Unfortunately, neither believing nor knowing was sufficient in a court of ecclesiastical law, especially when the latter came of Deryni proving.
    For Duncan McLain, besides being a bishop and the father of a son, was also Deryni—a member of that magical race whose powers had been feared and condemned by the Church for nearly two centuries. Duncan’s identity as Deryni was not widely known outside the highest ecclesiastical circles, and even there was not officially acknowledged—for though the Church had long prohibited Deryni from entering the priesthood, Duncan McLain was an able, pious, and loyal churchman, Deryni or not—but speculation was rife. Thus far, Duncan had managed neither to confirm nor deny what he was.
    There were other Deryni in the room as well, though only one besides the king was openly known to be so. Folk had always known who and what Alaric Morgan was. Protected by Kelson’s Haldane grandfather and father through childhood and youth, he eventually had come to grudging acceptance at court because of his unswerving loyalty to the House of Haldane and because he had the good sense not to flaunt his abilities. Even the human Bishop Wolfram acknowledged guarded respect for the fair-haired man in black sitting at the king’s elbow.
    The fact that Morgan was Duncan’s cousin must surely fuel old Wolfram’s suspicions that Duncan was Deryni, too, though—and that Dhugal might also be, if Duncan was. What Wolfram did not suspect was that Bishop Denis Arilan also shared that distinction—though everyone else present except the clark knew it. And though any one of the Deryni could have verified the truth of Duncan’s claim by using their magical powers—and some had—that evidence might not be presented, for the Church’s official position regarding the Deryni race and their magical powers was still quite negative.
    â€œYou beg the question, Denis,” Wolfram finally said. “Naturally, any declaration made before the Blessed Sacrament would have been witnessed in that sense.” He jerked his chin vaguely over his shoulder toward the open doorway of the adjoining chapel. “The Light burns in there, too, and His Presence is among us in this room.”
    â€œFar be it from me to dispute that,” Arilan replied, spreading his hands in a conciliatory gesture.
    â€œIt is usual, however,” Wolfram added, “to be able to produce witnesses who can testify to what they’ve witnessed.”
    â€œImplying that God could not, if He wished?” Arilan asked.
    â€œYou know that isn’t what I meant!”
    â€œOf course not,” Arilan agreed. “I would point out, however, that after eighteen years, even human witnesses are not always available.”
    â€œAye, that’s true enough.” Wolfram scowled and turned his vexed attention back to Duncan, only partially mollified. “I don’t suppose you confessed this alleged marriage before entering holy orders?” he ventured. “I needn’t remind you, I hope, that marriage is an impediment to orders.”
    â€œOnly if he had, indeed, been married and was still married at the time of entering orders,” Arilan replied, before Duncan could answer. “But the lady, alas, had died. So you either ask a meaningless question, Wolfram, or else you intrude on the seal of privacy between a man and his confessor—who, I believe, is no longer with us, in any case. Am I correct, Duncan?”
    Breathing a careful