When the Saints by Dave Duncan Page B

worker will be hailed as a saint, and saints are a threat to the pope’s authority. They might disagree with him and the bi Cim oes! A mirshops. They might start a new church of their own. So Speakers must be denounced as agents of the devil.”
    “The Church confines them and trains them to obedience?”
    Justina clicked her mouth shut stubbornly. “That’s enough for today.”
    “Does Bishop Ugne know about the Church’s use of Speakers?”
    Justina dismissed Bishop Ugne with a snort. “Cardinal Zdenek is one of the Wise. Abbot Bohdan of Koupel is. Archbishop Svaty may be. Offhand, I can’t think of anyone else in Jorgary except the Speakers themselves, their cadgers, and their close family, if anyone, who knows. It may be that even the king on his throne doesn’t.”
    Being privy to a secret that one’s king might not know was a mind-bending thought. The Hound of the Hills knew, but the Vranovs were as talented as the Magnuses.
    “Can a Speaker cure pestilence?”
    Justina drew in her breath sharply, then studied him carefully to see if he was serious. Finally she nodded. “One case or two. But not an epidemic! If you broke the first commandment on that scale, you’d be hailed as the Second Coming of Our Lord. Why do you ask?”
    He rose. “I must go back and help my brothers.”
    She made no move. “Sit down. I don’t want to do this, but you are a babe in arms. I haven’t told you the other two commandments.”
    Wulf sat down.
    Justina stared around for a moment—at the broken wheels, the vines—but she did not seem to be seeing them. He wondered if she was Looking elsewhere, or even consulting someone.
    Madlenka and her mother were in the great hall of the keep, shouting orders to a mass of servants, mostly female, but some male, all running to and fro with burdens of cloth or furniture. Obviously they were organizing the great hall as an infirmary for the wounded, with baskets of bandages, buckets of water, and pallets laid out in rows. Nursing was traditionally a women’s duty, and tradition would be strong in a border castle like Gallant.
    Justina raised her dark eyes to stare right at him. “The first, I told you, is to keep your talent secret! All Speakers are shy as field mice and now you know why. Never forget it! The second commandment is: Thou shalt not tweak! ”
    “Tweak?”
    “Tweak. Tweaking is using talent to change a person’s mind—workadays’ minds, of course; it won’t work on Speakers. It’s a crime and it’s dangerous, because you can drive people insane. Havel would have brought a Speaker w Ct ark ith him to the banquet to protect him from being tweaked. But why they made such a display when they left, I cannot imagine.” She scowled. “Certain, the pope himself will hear of that.”
    “And the third law?”
    “It’s not so much a law as a warning: Two’s company, three’s dangerous. I honestly did not know Sybilla was here. I was not laying a trap for you, I swear. But when she appeared with her nimbus, you should have left. Instantly! Your precious Cardinal Zdenek employs Speakers. He has one in attendance at all times.”
    To detect other Speakers, of course. Wulf nodded impatiently to show that he understood that much.
    “One Speaker is defense,” Justina continued. “Two are aggression. Always, unless you’ve agreed beforehand. Two Speakers can almost always overpower one. Remember that. Morally, you were right to go to your brother’s aid last night. By sending two Speakers after him the Church was being aggressive. It should have just sent one, or else waited until you were present also. It will never admit that, of course. If a monk has second thoughts about his vows, he should speak to his confessor, his abbot, the archbishop, even the pope. He can ask to be released. No Speaker will ever be released, but the abbot should have sent a brother monk to reason with him—one Speaker, not two! So Marek was being assaulted, and law everywhere recognizes a