The Husband Poisoning Society, Chapter 36

The sky was a sea of snowflakes. The night looked like static on a TV. My hands bloomed bright pink from the cold. The wind picked up. And the sound of the rushing wind absorbed all other noises, and even the sound of my breathing was lost. The snow whirled into tiny slicing blades against my skin. My skin stung from the cold and prickled up and down my neck and arms. 

We are out in Hyperborea in the dead of winter. We weren’t dressed for the cold. We were pursued by the enemy and we had lost two members of our group already. I didn’t like our current status, if I was honest with myself.

“Where do we even go now?” I asked as we stumbled through the cold night. 

Laila looked back at me. She had stopped dragging Amy, who now trudged beside Laila and Ada. 

“The only thing I can think of,” Laila said, “Is that we head to the church and declare sanctuary.”

I raised my eyebrows and then nodded. Declaring sanctuary would protect us from arrest. It was heresy to violate the church’s sanctuary. But doing so would also trap us in the church. And Hyperborean churches weren’t spacious or comfortable. Still, I had no other ideas. 

“How far is it?” I asked.

“Far enough to be a problem for ladies not dressed for the cold. Far enough to be spotted by the soldiers.” Ada said. 

“But aren’t we just giving up if we declare sanctuary?” Amy asked. “We can’t save Leon if we’re trapped in the church.”

“We aren’t giving up.” I said. “We’re regrouping and buying time to find another path.”

We pushed on. The snow piled up as we went. My feet vanished into the snow drifts. My fancy kitten heels were not built for dirt roads. And they weren’t built for snow. We plowed paths through the snow. And as we struggled forward, one by one, my shoes vanished into the snow and remained there as I carried on forward. I found myself walking barefoot through the slush filled streets. My toes grew numb. But we plodded forward. 

Amy noticed that my limp had grown more pronounced. I struggled with my cane, which kept sticking in the mud beneath the growing snow drifts. I would plunge the cane through the snow and lean on it to gain the leverage to pry my feet from the freezing mud. And then I would try to pull the cane free and hope I didn’t fall over in the attempt. Amy moved to my side and put and arm around my waist to help steady me. 

“Thank you,” I said.

“You’re all I have left. I’m not losing you too.” Amy answered. 

“We are not losing either of them,” I said. “We are getting through this.”

Amy didn’t answer. I noticed tears streaking her cheeks. This would be difficult if everyone lost hope. I didn’t say anything further. And we struggled on in silence. 

I couldn’t feel my toes by the time the church was in sight. I didn’t want to get hypothermia again. Not that I had much control over that. My only option was to push on and hope. 

We reached the door of the church and pounded on the door. After several minutes the door opened and a wide eyed priest answered.

“What are you doing up so late and out on this vile night?” He asked. 

“We request sanctuary,” Ada said.

The priest blinked and looked us over. Then he stepped aside and let us in. 

  * 

“So what do we do?” Amy asked. 

“We don’t have much time until they realize where we are,” Ada said. “There are not so many places to hide.”

I nodded. Hyperborean cities were not metropolitan affairs where one could disappear. Compared with the sprawling Victorian cities of Ys, they were impoverished spartan affairs. It was hard to square the squalor of the city with the threat that the Hyperborean Empire posed to Ys. 

“Our goals haven’t changed,” I said. “We need to get the antidote to Leon, and then we need to clear our names.”

“Except that we have no allies. We’ve lost our fighters. And we’re being hunted as we speak.” Laila said. 

I nodded. 

Amy hung her head. “Have we lost?”

I considered our options. I didn’t see many. Were we doomed to failure? I couldn’t see a way out. But I also wasn’t willing to consider giving up and giving in. I didn’t want to be executed. I didn’t want Amy or Fiona to be executed. I didn’t want Lynn or Vincent or Leon to be executed. But I couldn’t see a way around the problems before us. 

I realized that everyone was staring at me. They were waiting. 

I was at a loss for words. I struggled to find something to say when a priest in a more elaborate set of robes approached us. He was a muscular older man with a white beard. He leaned on a silver crozier staff as he approached. 

“That looks like the bishop.” Ada said.

“Why do I think that this isn’t a good thing?” Amy asked. 

The bishop bowed to us. “Ladies. Am I to understand that Lady Karen Octavian, the She-Wolf of Ys is among your company.”

“Lady Karen Myrddhin now, and I prefer Ren to Karen, but yes. That’s me.” I said. 

“The king is seeking your arrest, Lady.” The bishop said.

“I know.”

“Your use of sanctuary puts the church in a dangerous position. His Majesty does not enjoy being thwarted. I cannot throw you out. But the longer you stay here, the more his majesty will resent those of us in this church. And he will take his revenge upon us. I hope you will take that into account, and surrender yourself to the authorities.”

I closed my eyes and sighed. I rubbed my hands over my face. 

“You know I didn’t do what they’ve accused me of doing.” I said. 

“It doesn’t matter. What he majesty wants, his majesty gets. It is only a matter of time.”

“People are dying because of their lies.” I said.

“And you can stop those deaths by your surrender.”

“They will use me as a pretext to declare war on Ys. Nothing will cause more death than war between Hyperborea and Ys.”

The bishop didn’t answer. He glowered at me and then turned away, hands clasped behind his back. 

Without turning back, the bishop spoke. “I have a duty to protect the priests under my jurisdiction. The longer you remain here, the greater risk of them facing reprisals. I understand the risk of war. But war always hovers over Hyperborea and Ys.”

“Is that a trade that you’re willing to make?” I asked.

“Are you?” The bishop answered. 

Neither of us spoke. As we stood, the bishop still facing away from me, a priest ran up.

“Your excellency, Bishop Grippson. The army is outside.”

“How many soldiers?” The bishop asked. 

“All of them, your excellency.”

I hobbled to a window. The night was awash with torch light and lanterns glowing. Light shone on swords and spears. 

“Have they made any demands?” The bishop asked.

“No, your excellency.” The priest answered.

“They know that you have claimed sanctuary. But they aren’t willing to let you remain free. That’s every soldier for fifteen miles. What will you do?”

“People are going to die, unless we think of something very clever.” I said. 

“You think that there is a way out of this?” Amy asked. 

“I’m not willing to let this come to war.” I said. 

I stood, staring out at the soldiers, when the bell in belfry chimed. 

“Who’s ringing the bell?” The bishop asked. 

“Nobody, your excellency.” The priest.

The bell clanged a second time.

“Something is up the belfry.” The bishop said, looking up towards the offending sound. 

A dark shape dropped from the belfry, wings extended. 

“An immortal!” The bishop gasped.

“An assassin.” I said. 

“A problem.” Lynn said.

“Die for Hyperborea!” The bat-shaped immortal cried. 

I looked around. No Fiona and no Vincent stood beside us. I was weak from my visions. None of us were warriors. And they were willing to violate church sanctuary to get us. 

“We’re doomed.” I muttered.