I
-°-oOo-°-
Encounters
I
-°-oOo-°-
Earth -414 IR1. Rouen English Monarchy
Lancastrian War (1415–1453)
(19th of May 1431)
I
-°-oOo-°-
Keep of Rouen, in front of Joan's CellI
-°-oOo-°-
It had been remarkably and surprisingly unbloody.
They had arrived on the Dungeon's roof and within a few seconds the two men playing guards -and dice- had been send into the welcoming arms of Morpheus.
They would wake up with a headache but, at the end of the day, they would be amongst the rare survivors.
- I'll enter alone, said Jane. Should there be a guard or guards inside, which would not be in accordance with the chronicles, I will deal with him or them.
Fluffy's mind voice could be heard immediately.
There's a second person within the cell. A nun named Anna whose ample herbal knowledge made her be chosen to help the prisoner who is currently ailing. She's asleep. There's a group of guards walking around a level down. They will come up in a few minutes. It is their habit to climb up to chat with the guards upstairs in the tower.
Jane looked at Maureen and Sun.
- Please, go and wait on them upstairs, said Jane. With Fluffy shadowing me, I risk nothing.
Shadowing you… That's a cute way to present it. I like it.
- I still want to clean up that cesspit of English inquisition, hissed Maureen who had been surprised and frustrated that the prisoner had been in the tower's upper level immediately under the roof where they arrived.
Which shouldn't have been the case since it was the most difficult cell to reach when coming from outside the Keep with normal methods.
- We will have to move her to the cell with the secret passage, reminded her Jane. I'm quite sure that you will have lots of occasions to show those half-time torturers what you think of their choice of professions.
- Indeed, said Maureen while looking at the cell's door.
- It looks like being locked, said Sun who was probing the lock. We haven't seen any keys now.
- The roaming guards are probably in possession of them, said Maureen. We should perhaps get them.
- I am very capable of opening an old obsolete lock like this one, said Jane while frowning at her sister and her daughter in law. And if I don't I have seen Speedy or Fluffy interfering with lots of locks my Magic couldn't get open.
She pointed at Sun.
- Even if you are not a very gifted weaver, even the air skills you have been taught should be usable to unlock that one. It would be a good training. Try it, please…
Sun nodded, placed her hand on the lock and let a small whirlwind enter the lock. After a few seconds a click could be heard, and the cell door was no longer locked but maintained closed by two bolts.
- Close the bolts behind me, please. We wouldn't want the passing guards to become suspicious.
- What if they decide to enter?
You'll hear them die, said Fluffy in their minds. And in their deaths' wake, you'll have a lot of would-be torturers running towards us.
- Let's hope they are curious, then, answered Maureen while pointing at the stairs. We climb up and wait for them.
I
-°-oOo-°-
The door closed behind her, and Jane let her eyes adapt to the darkness.
Her live weaving skill popped up to show her the two bodies lying in the cell. One was covered with red waves, sure sign that she was facing a very sick Human Being.
The other one was in better health but clearly not in good health. Both were malnourished and weakened.
Jane made a face. How she hated those medieval timelines where people, common people, were treated like second and third class citizens.
She looked at the candle on the table and willed the flames to blossom.
Let's begin with the easy case, shall we?
Two seconds later her hand was firmly muting the awakening nun.
- Restez calme et il ne vous arrivera rien (stay quiet and nothing will happen to you), said Jane. J'ai besoin de votre aide mais si vous vous montrez déraisonable, je me passerai de vous (I need your help but should you be difficult, I will have to do without you…).
The woman took a long breath and looked Jane in the eyes. Fear was still there but also a weird sense of relief.
- Faites oui de la tête si vous consentez à rester calme (nod if you consent to stay quiet).
The nun nodded. Once. But there was a trace of resistance in her eyes that warned Jane that something was still in the making.
- Jusque-là personne n'est mort (until now, nobody died). Si vous criez, les gardes qui vous entendrons mourrons, tués par mes gens à l'extérieur et ce sera le début d'une tuerie dont vous serez à l'origine (if you shout those who'll hear your shout and wjho will decide to come will be killed by my people waiting outside. If you want to cause a slaughter, just go on with what you wish).
To be sure that whatever she planned wouldn't last, Jane's other hand went to squeeze the women's right trapezius. For now, she was just placing her fingers on the three shocking points. Should it become necessary she could, by lightly increasing her squeeze on those points, stop any action of her current victim.
She squeezed a little tighter which with her superhuman strength had immediate results. Even if it lasted only for a second, she knew how debilitating it was.
- Ne jouez pas avec moi (don't play with me). Je préférerai vous avoir consciente et coopérative mais sans vous ça ira aussi (I would prefer having you conscious and helping but I can do without it).
She let her smile do the job for her.
- Raisonnable?
The nun nodded once more. And this time the reluctance was a lot less visible.
Jane lifted the hand that was on the nun's mouth but let her other hand placed on the nun's trapezius.
- You do have an English accent, said the nun finally. How is that possible?
She was speaking a perfect, if popular, English. Very similar to those her Aunt de Bourgh's servants had. So, probably coming from Kent.
- Probably because I'm a native of Hertfordshire, answered Jane with her most motherly smile. And since my aunt is from Kent, I suspect that's where you've been raised. My French is as fluent as they come but whatever I tried that small trace of an accent never disappeared and since I am proud of my origins, I tend to like it. It shows how stubborn we English can be.
- You still are here to free her?
Jane's smile disappeared.
- Of course, the reason I am here is to free her. What else could I want? She's God's tool and treating her like a common criminal is a total heresy and should be offensive for any true Christian. The Church should have supported her, not imprisoned her.
- She's a fraud…
Here Jane couldn't help but let mirth appear in her eyes.
- I very much doubt that, dear. The results she got speak for more than just Human Skills.
- Would she have been captured had God be with her?
That was indeed at the center of the present problem and hearing the nun wonder said a lot about said nun's doubts and questions.
She had herself wondered about that. Why would God let his willing and useful tool be captured? Why indeed?
And Geoff's explanation that God clearly loved to see his tools ending as martyrs wasn't one she agreed with.
- Let's look at that episode in a more constructive way, shall we? God clearly gave the King of England -or should I say said King's Uncles- a chance to earn his favor by treating his envoy with the deserved respect. They clearly slandered said chance by treating her like a fiend! And, to add injure to injury, by insisting that Joan had to be executed, they lost even the last piece of support God could have given them. Let it be known that it was not a smart decision and that the price they'll have to pay will be steep and will, without a doubt, at least put an end to their influence at court.
- Who are you?
Another friendly smile blossomed on Jane's face.
This one the one she knew had calming effect and nervous kids.
And the answer had been discussed and rehearsed.
- Another of the Allmighty's tool.
She pointed at the other woman lying in the cell.
- What sort of sickness does she suffer from?
- You don't know?
- I just have to touch her to know but as of now I'm giving you the chance to do something that God will like! You can, of course, chose to not help…
- I'll help…
- Good, dear, what does she have?
- Her lungs are infected… She has great difficulties to breathe. I made her poultices, but it didn't work as I hoped.
- Pneumonia, probably. Those walls are dripping with humidity and the air is soaking with spores. Not the best conditions to heal! I think that I can be of help, there. God did send me after all to free her. If she dies while still here, I would have wasted my time.
Jane stood up, walked to the other bed, and put her right had on Joan's brow.
For a few seconds she was silent.
- She does indeed have a pneumonia and said pneumonia has totally infected her left lung and is going over the right lung.
She let out a long breath and her hand, as was always the case when she was weaving a healing spell, began to glow.
Jane heard the gasp the nun breathed out when the glow appeared. Luckily for all the presents she chose to stay abed and didn't move.
- The golden glow is how you recognize a healing spell, said she using the tone she had mastered when teaching her pupils in Pemberley. If you could see within her body you would recognize said glow flowing along the body's arteries to reach the points where healing is needed.
Here Jane shook her head.
- And clearly it isn't only her lungs that need healing.
She looked at the young nun.
- Quite a few bones in her hands have been broken and do you have an idea of how she got the injuries on her back?
- The hands I didn't know, but the back was probably due to the whipping.
A small frown was Jane's only reaction.
- Why was she lashed?
- She was wearing men's clothes when she was brought in and she repeatedly refused to change into the female's garb they tried to impose her. The Bishop in charge of the trial…
- Cauchon?
- That same one, he was the one who insisted that she had to be punished for that. The normal sentence is a lashing. At least ten but it could have gone up to fifty. I wasn't there at the whipping but from the lacerations I'd say she was hit with twenty…
Jane took a long breath and shook her head. She had known about Bishop's attempts to punish Joan for wearing man's clothes. His reports had been full of his recriminations but they hadn't alluded at whippings. And it was a good thing since Maureen had read those same reports before coming.
She would have to be discreet on that matter.
If Joan spoke about it, she wouldn't intervene but if she forgot to mention it and it avoided them the Crusade Maureen would surely launch if she heard about it, it would be better for everybody.
Even if, somewhere deep down in her own guts, a very surprising desire for mayhem and slaughter had awoken.
As of now, prudence and quietness were still the best path to safety. They just had to take the girl and move out of the Keep. If they had to look for Cauchon, it would take longer and there would surely be a lot more deaths within the keep.
Knowing Maureen and her skills, a great lot more…
The nun finally overcame her disbelief and let fascination and curiosity take over.
- How long will it take to heal her?
- Healing always takes time. I will need a few more minutes to get her out of the worst. I am killing the germs as I speak but the real problem is that she's underfed and weak and so her body doesn't have the resources to regenerate. So, I need to restore her strength at the same time that I heal her illness and her injuries. That makes the healing process a little more strenuous.
- How is it possible to heal just by a laying on of hands.
- By God's will, that's how. I was born with the gift and once I've learned to use it, it became my duty to use it as often as possible. God is very generous with his gifts, but he has his own ways to show that he wants you to use them…
- You say God, but what warrants you that it is not the Devil's gift…
As usual when a theologist came up with that argument Jane could only laugh.
- I'm always amazed when that argument comes up. Amazed that faithful people have so little faith in God's Power and so high an opinion of the Devil and his plots.
- My Faith is my shield…
- And still, you see the Devil winning everywhere and everywhen.
- I don't…
- Yes, you do. Just by giving him credit for something God does, you are belittling the Lord and worshipping the Devil. Devil who, by the way, is like everybody else, God's tool and not his competition.
- Why would the Devil be God's tool?
- Because this is God's creation! Everything and everyone is God's tool and that's it! If you believe that a tool is mightier than the one who created and uses the tool, I fear that you are misled, dear!
- But it reeks of witchcraft…
- Magic really reeks of nothing, dear. What you are smelling is bad bodily hygiene and even worse plumbing. And to go on rattling you, what I am currently doing is by all known definitions witchcraft! But like the Devil, witchcraft is a tool manufactured by God to be used by his servants as they see fit. And a tool can be used to build things or to destroy them. It is the user's intention that counts, not the tool he's using.
- How can the Church be so false as to say just the opposite.
- Because the Church has become the Prelates' tool used to manipulate God's flock, dear. The Church has, for a long time now, ceased to serve God to become a tool in the hands of the ruling class.
Seeing the nun's pallor, Jane decided to use another approach.
- Let me try to explain it with a little image also built around tools. The best tools are made of steel, remember that to tamper iron in order to forge steel the smith needs three things, a blazing fire, an anvil and a hammer. And the simultaneous use of all three of them will, while clearly giving no pleasure to the hot iron that is being tampered with, what comes out of the forge will be a work of beauty and strength. The Devil is the fire God needs to tamper with our souls and to forge the souls he wants to join him.
- That's not what the Church teaches…
- And that's why none of those lying cultists who call themselves Christians prelates has been given for centuries any useful gift. Liars and con artists are not God's favorites and because of it have been denied any real clerical power for a very long time. The only places where you still find holy people within the church are quiet nunneries or forgotten monasteries. The proximity of Power and Wealth are poisons for the souls. Only the fire of the true Faith can tamper a soul to become God's tool.
A moan coming from her patient interrupted her.
- That's better… The pneumonia is cured and the skin on her back is, as I speak, closing up! The broken bones will take a little longer to grow back into their normal size and shape. And moving broken bone pieces hurts…
- You can move her finger bones just by laying on your hands?
Jane winked at the amazed young nun.
- I am a powerful Witch and no novice in this business, dear. A novice could still force the bones to regrow but to avoid crippling the patient's hands she would have had to put the bone pieces back into place by using her own hands. That hurts even more… Luckily for dear Joan here, I am a lot better than that. She will get her hands back and be able to use them as usual in a few more minutes.
A last moan came out of Joan's mouth and soon she fell back into her sleep.
- We should soon be done, said Jane. The cut skin on her back is totally healed, too. I've used a little more time because I'm quite sure that she will prefer to come out of here without scars covering her back. Even if she would probably never have had a chance to look at them. This cell, like probably the rest of the Keep, seems devoid of most civilized amenities.
- The Bishop offered her to be incarcerated in an ecclesiastic jail the moment she arrived. She just had to admit that the voices weren't God's. She could have been out of here weeks ago.
- So, the only thing she would have had to do to get out of here would have been to renounce to the Truth and forsake God? How kind of said bishop to have given her, by the Church's own standards, the choice between hell on earth and hell afterwards!
She shook her head and, having felt the last scar dissolve and be replaced by new skin, she stopped her ministrations.
- I don't judge her, dear. I fully understand why somebody, placed before that sort of choice, could have been tempted. The fact that she refused is another sign of her being God's tool. How can a man of God who has a real belief and a true faith ask another person who believes being God's tool to forsake her Faith?
- He didn't believe her…
- What's more probable is that he looked at her as if she was the same sort of crook as him and since he clearly does not believe in God, only in personal Power, status and wealth, he offered her what he would have agreed for.
The nun shook her head.
- He has been made Bishop. That means something!
- Only that he has good political instincts, a hell of a support within the church and, probably, a cutthroat mentality. Dear, don't ever trust priests who have reached the top of the power ladder! They are not God's chosen but only those who have been taught how to get the competition out of their way.
After a last control Jane took a long breath and stood up to walk at the nun's side.
- In matter Faith, God does appreciate commitment and frankness! Political savvy. Is not one of his crtiteria. She would probably have been burned alive, but God would have welcomed her arrival at his side.
- You are taking her with you, won't you?
- We came to free her and save her life, dear. There's no chance we will let her stay here.
- What if she refuses to come with what could be a spawn of the Devil?
- You should worry for you, not her. She we will take to safety. You, you will stay here in the company of crooks and what clearly are false Christian Priests. You should consider coming with us. I promise that we will let you go as soon as we are out of Rouen.
- They will accuse me of being your accomplice.
- Whatever you decide to do, they will accuse you of something. And said something will probably see you end up dead. Those people around here, those inquisitors and those ecclesiasts employing them are, in my opinion, the scum of the Earth. They only act under the cover of religious deeds while, in truth, they respect nothing and nobody. What you need to understand is that they are not God's servants. They serve only their own ambition and Cauchon's unique goal in life is to suck-up to his English Masters. He will, literally, walk on corpses to reach his political and earthly goals.
- Why did the Lord let him come to Power if he is such a bad person?
Here Jane couldn't help but smile since this was a question that always came up when she was discussing God and God's will.
- Because God is not a mediocre puppet master who makes all the decision for everyone! God has given Mankind the Power of unbiased choices. Even if, in the present times, it seems preposterous to say such things, but, all in all, you are free to choose whomever you want to lead you.
- The King is God's delegate on Earth.
- Which King? Henry who's not yet even a teenager? Or Charles who was about to surrender when Joan arrived to remind him that he had a role to play?
- Wouldn't have been better to see both Kingdoms united under one King? As it is, the war will go on for years…
Jane shook her head but, for familial and national reasons, had some problems to stay neutral.
Having Henri becoming King of France would have been in theory, the best way to stop the war. But, in fact, when one studied who was really behind the war, it did show that it would not have stopped the war. It would only have pushed one great aristocratic family, the Valois, out of the game. The war would have gone on with almost all the other players. With almost a century of betrayal and all-out slaughters, hatred and ambition had pervaded every family and every Nation within a thousand miles of Orléans. Everything was way too intense to see the war just ebb down.
- Henry is but a child. Nobody knows, yet, what sort of King he will be. What is sure is that most of the French Nobility will argue that he is too young and, what's even worse, controlled by his uncles. He's not a King they will accept to follow. They will refuse under that pretext and the war would not have stopped it would just have been pushed farther towards the East.
- If God has sent her, why hadn't he used better tools? He could have made a clear announcement about what he wanted to happen.
- That's true but considering the fact that he never announces anything, I'm quite sure that nobody would have believed it! And if it would have been uttered in such a way that nobody could have put the whole thing in doubt, what would it have meant? Do you really want God to look over everybody's shoulder and decide who's about to become what? If you are led by bad rulers don't point at God, point at yourself when looking for reasons! What have you done to be better and be more in harmony with your Faith?
She pointed at Joan.
- What have you done when they began to whip her and to break her fingers? Why didn't you speak up?
The nun couldn't help but look at her hands and she would probably have avoided an answer when she was saved by Joan's awakening.
- Que se passe-t-il ? (What is happening?)
Jane turned around and smiled at the young girl facing her. She was not a beauty but her eyes were full of a force she had never seen before. Charisma she knew! That? That was something else.
- Vous êtes réveillée, ma chère ? Bien ! (You are awakened, dear, Good!)
- C'est le bon Roi Charles qui vous envoie ? (Is it the good King Charles who had sent you?)
Since French was a language they would all understand, Jane went on using it.
- No, the King Charles has chosen to get you out of here by using nonviolent and more religious methods. He is as we speak praying for your Soul's safe arrival in Heaven. The rescue mission la Hire and Xaintrailles are, as we speak, organizing would have been launched without the King's agreement.
Here Jane shrugged.
- And, if you look at it under a certain light, Charles was right since he's about to get what he prayed for without risking his men's lives.
Not sure, though, that he will like everything that his prayers will have provided him with.
She forced herself to focus on the mission at hand.
- Now that you are up and awaken, we will be moving as soon as you are equipped.
- Equipped?
Jane pointed at a backpack at Joan's bed end.
- Ignoring your size, I've brought two sets of clothes. Take the one that suits you best and put the clothes on. We will probably have to do some rather exotic moves and you'll need to be comfortable. Even the small ones will, if I estimate your real size correctly, be a little bit too wide for you. But then better too wide than too tight.
She smiled in the nun's direction.
- And yes, there could be a set for you, too. And to give you a fair warning they could be looked-at as reinforced men's clothes. Because to climb walls it is easier to wear trousers, boots and a vest than skirts and petticoats.
- It is a crime for women to use the other gender's clothes. Those who trespass risk at least a whipping.
- Nobody under my protection will ever be whipped for a bad choice of clothes, answered Jane.
And her tone was, for once, devoid of any warmth.
- Clothes are clothes, added she, and believe me God has no preference at all about who wears what whatever its gender or profession. Would God frown at men wearing women's clothes the whole Catholic Priesthood would have to be punished, wouldn't you agree? So, no, you risk nothing.
- What you wear is important. It does define you…
- That is probably true, and it is even truer for women, but I must admit that in more risky circumstances, I do prefer to wear practical man shaped clothes to beautiful women shaped ones. Most women's clothes even quite beautiful have been created to enhance their wearers' beauty and shapes, but they often fail to be practical. Add to that that because of certain cultural habits they end up often quite restraining and you will easily understand why, for certain activities -like invading and taking over a keep to liberate an envoy of God-, practical, a.k.a masculine garb, is better.
While speaking she helped Joan to stand up and find her balance.
- You should be alright, dear. I healed you and the weakness you feel right now is only due to your lack of food. Which is easy to overcome thanks to the smaller bag on the top of the bundle of clothes which contains what we call field rations. What looks like an overgrown biscuit is, believe me, quite nourishing and what's even better really tasty. So, don't hesitate to eat one if you are hungry. And if you need help to put on your new clothes, just ask.
Joan shook her head and opened one of the rations. It didn't look very appetizing but at least it smelled good.
She bit into it and could only notice that it did also taste good and has a sweet honey component which she quite liked.
While Joan ate, the nun made her decision.
- I won't risk wearing men's clothes, said she finally. The Bishop has used that pretext to have her whipped and to maintain her in prison when, in reality, he had otherwise no proof of any real wrongdoing. He won't hesitate to use the same arguments against me.
- Apart from the fact that you should really stop being afraid, I can already confess that what the Bishop will still be able to do after the evasion of his most famous prisoner, will be a lot less than what he can right now.
Here Joan looked up.
- Evasion? You really are here to get me out? And it is not His Majesty who's sent you?
- No, answered Jane while smiling in Joan's direction. His Majesty has been for a few days, like often, quite full of hesitation…
And shit…
- He swings between two emotions. Unsatisfaction because the Burgundians have sold you to the English before he could make his offer. And relief to have you out of his way.
The last part of the sentence got Joan's and the nun's whole attention.
- Relief?
- Of course, relief! He is like every ruler who pretends to have earned its position because of God's direct blessing. He prefers God to be mute and as far away as humanly possible. Having somebody around him who seems to have a direct line to God is a very dangerous situation. At the very least it is not what he prefers. Imagine that you had begun to give him advice about his habits and his way of ruling?
Clearly Joan had never thought about that before.
- I only provide the King with what the voices ask me to convey…
- And, believe me, it was a good idea for said voices to restrict their advice to military and religious matters.
She looked Joan into the eyes.
- And what are the voices saying now?
- They have stopped speaking in my head a few weeks ago. Just after the coronation I got my last message.
- And what did the voices say?
- That my mission had been completed and that I was, from there on, freed to do whatever I wanted. I spoke about the voice's last message with the King who asked me to stay with his armies to show his men that God was still on their side. At least until the time that we could overcome the English superiority in Manpower and supplies.
- But since the coronation, you've got no further guidelines?
- My mission was accomplished and since the King wanted me to go on serving him, I was happy to be at his men's side.
Here she smiled and her look became caring.
- I quite like them, you know, they are ruthless, reckless and sometimes rude, but they have always respected me. And they listen when I ask them to show mercy to captured and injured soldiers. They even listen to me when I ask them to stop harassing peasants. I am a lot more useful at the armies' side than in court where most of the courtiers dislike me… And since the King approves…
Of course, he would approve. Only advantages to have you far away from the court and on the army's frontline. But for the fact that you could have been killed. Not a great signal to see your battle standard destroyed in front of your troops. Much more profitable to have you captured, condemned by the ugly English, burned alive and canonized. A dead Martyr Saint is so much more useful than a living Prophetess with a direct line to God. And the armies would be so much more motivated to avenge your awful death…
Jane who had even less sympathy for the French King than she had for the Lancaster Clan whose politics would push her country into an ugly civil war, forced herself to pull out of her growing resentment.
Back to more trivial matters.
She frowned, lightly, at the nun.
- Stop procrastinating, decide. You will have to admit that there are clothes that are better suited for certain tasks, and that's it. Tonight, since those clothes have been created to maximize survival, practicality will be privileged.
Jane pointed a last time at the door.
- Last possibility to come with us…
The nun shook her head.
- My life is here, at least it is with my sorority.
- As you wish, I won't force you even if I think it is foolish to believe in those people's sanity. They will lash out the moment they discover their prisoner's disappearance. And they won't listen to what you have to say…
Maureen and Sun have just finished with the four guards who had climbed upstairs. They are arriving.
Jane smiled in Joan's direction who was looking at her boots' scratches with a frow.
- Posez les languettes noires sur la partie brune et appuyez (just push the black strips on the brown padding). Il est temps de nous mettre en route (It's time to move).
I
-°-oOo-°-