© 2012 Marvin E. Fuller
Father Louie listened with half a long ear as Lord Mountte talked with Ol' Bill and Bert about the future of the town guards in Pyrinth, while Coonacutty and the other two town elders stood nearby, probably relieved they weren't the focus of the cougar lord's attention. Louie focused the rest of his mind on watching Skady as the mink lay curled up in his bunk, a broken husk of a person.
He pitied the mink, regretting the need for the fake hanging. He had not expected the townsfolk to humiliate Skady so thoroughly. Louie shook his head, silently reprimanding himself to at least be honest to himself. When one gathered otherwise rational people together and fired up their emotions, a mob mentality was virtually guaranteed. He couldn't very well blame them for what they did when his own paw had been one of those stirring the pot of their anger. No, he could not – would not avoid the truth, not like some of those fire and brimstone priests who saw nothing wrong with denying their own sins as they loudly condemned others'. He had hoped the townsfolk would act exactly the way they had, his desire fueled by some lingering anger over his own unjust imprisonment and near execution. He refused to accept any excuses otherwise, especially not from himself.
"...This Skady," Mountte's mention of the mink's name brought Louie's mind back to the discussion. "I admit I am disturbed by what I witnessed. While I have no doubts as to his guilt, do you not think you allowed the charade to go too far?"
"I humored your request to teach Skady a lesson, but I want an explanation now." Father Louie didn't need any of Winterfur's spells to catch the meaning behind Mountte's mild words.
"Ah, well, m'lord," Ol' Bill coughed uncomfortably. "That would be my fault, I reckon."
"No," Louie broke in before the opossum could continue. "Let the blame lie where it should lie. My lord, if I may explain?"
"Are you sure, Father?" Ol' Bill looked worried. Louie appreciated him for trying to take the fall, but, all things considered, it would be best if the blame fell on Louie. As a member of the cloth, he could get away with more wiggle room in the eyes of the law than Ol' Bill could.
"Let us have complete honesty in this at least, my lord," Louie held up a paw to forestall any further comments from the aging opossum. "While Ol' Bill and his friends here helped with the planning and execution of today's false hanging, I am the one Skady should blame for his humiliation, not them."
Mountte stared in astonishment at Louie as if the rabbit had sprouted another head and started to gibber in some heathen tongue. Louie waited as the cougar pulled himself back together.
"Do go on, Father," Mountte finally managed to say.
"Ol' Bill did consider the idea for some time, but," Louie raised a finger to remind them there was more to it than that. "He had no intention of interfering with your judgment on the law, my lord. Nor did any of the other townsfolk. Were this anyone other than Skady, I would not have meddled in this way either."
The others sat silently as Louie turned his attention back to the mink. Louie studied Skady for a moment, but he couldn't tell if the mink had snapped out of his shock enough to listen. He prayed to Pax and the AllCreator that Skady could understand him.
"This was not about usurping your authority, my lord," Louie continued. "But there is an authority higher than yours, nay, higher than the king's, whom all of us must answer to. Rarely does He leave signs so blatant but–" Louie pinched the bridge of his muzzle as he realized he was starting to ramble.
"This was about Skady's very soul, my lord," Louie tried again. "Two days after the undead attacked our town, I received a dream about the hilltop the black witches had used for their unholy rite. I didn't fully comprehend its meaning at first, but when I went up there the following morning with Ol' Bill and Winterfur, that wizardess we told you about, I realized the AllCreator had been telling me I needed to stay in Pyrinth. The townsfolk needed me, especially after the losses they had suffered from the black witches. I don't regret my decision to stay.
"However, as we turned to leave, a bizarre sight met our eyes. The skeleton of a human monk had appeared on the hilltop and wished to speak to Winterfur. At first, I thought this another undead monster left behind by the black witches to trap anyone who dared seek them out, but when it spoke, it became clear this was no undead. This was a creature beyond anything the black witches could ever have summoned, much less controlled. It – he called himself Hessaman and claimed to be a djinni here to assist Winterfur.
"Let's not worry too much about her," Louie chuckled ruefully. "She not only dealt with him, but also had the wits to not like doing so. While they talked, this Hessaman revealed to us that the souls of Ringers and Skady's two confederates are now bound to that cursed hilltop until they can work off their sins. He called it a nicer fate than what had been in store for them otherwise. He also told Winterfur that, had she not involved herself in the recent troubles plaguing the town, Skady too would have joined them. However, Winterfur had given Skady a chance to escape their fate if he so chose to take it. You remember, Ol' Bill?"
"Yeah, I remember something along those lines," the opossum patriarch nodded thoughtfully. "'Course, I was too busy tryin' to not piddle my trousers for it to make any sense at the time."
"So was I," Louie gave a dry snort of amusement. Ol' Bill had wet his trousers anyway, but Louie saw no point in embarrassing the opossum by mentioning that fact. "Do you not see, my lord? While Hessaman didn't spell it out directly, I realized that Skady had a chance to save himself from such a fate. As a servant of the AllCreator, I can't turn a blind eye when I can save a soul from damnation. Winterfur gave Skady his chance, and I have to do what I can so that he can make the most of it.
"Therefore, if anyone must be blamed for what happened, I should be the one, not Ol' Bill nor anyone else gathered here," Louie sighed. He couldn't be sure, but did Skady seem to be listening?
"I see," Mountte tapped an unsheathed claw against his knee as he took Louie's confession in.
"If I may, m'lord?" Ol' Bill spoke up. Mountte nodded permission at him.
"As I told you earlier, m'lord, we never intended to kill Skady," Ol' Bill said. "We had someone bring him a rope, but that was so he could choose for himself whether he wanted to go or not."
"As a test to see if he was indeed worthy of saving," Louie's ears flattened against the back of his head. That had been another necessary thing he hadn't liked.
"Right," nodded Ol' Bill. "Not that it made a difference, m'lord. I'd plumb forgot he couldn't have hung himself even if he wanted to. But if he proved he wouldn't take his own life, we were never goin' to really hang Skady. Whatever he's done, he ain't no killer, and I've got to admit he was a bloody good guard when he wasn't workin' for Ringers. The fact he made this gaol hangin'-proof shows that.
"But he's got to answer for all those girls he raped, whose last hours he made a livin' hell before his sister killed them. Yeah, this was humiliatin' for him, but I figure it don't hold a candle next to what he did to those girls. At least he has some inkling of what they felt like."
"I pray that he can now truly repent his sins, my lord," Louie added. "Perhaps he shall find solace in the Light of the AllCreator or perhaps not. At the very least, I hope he will truly and honestly regret what he has done and try to make whatever amends he can in the days remaining to him."
"An interesting line of reasoning," Mountte mulled that over. His audience waited as the cougar weighed their words.
"This is a most unusual case," Mountte finally said. "Normally, I would either order him executed or send him off for a lifetime of hard labor, however short that may be. However, considering the testimony of the local representative of the Church, I think a different sentence will be appropriate. I shall make a proper proclamation later, but the gist of it is I shall order him hung and, should he survive that, he will be remanded into Father Louie's care for the foreseeable future. Should he violate his sentence, he will be executed or sent off to hard labor anyway, whichever is appropriate.
"Seeing as he has already been hung and managed to survive the experience," a hint of merriment twinkled in Mountte's eyes. "I am now leaving him in your care, Father Louie. As you have expressed an interest in saving Skady's soul, I feel it is my duty to give you that opportunity. Do you accept these terms?"
"I do, my lord," Father Louie felt relief flood through him, the tension trapped in his body washing away before it. He had not realized how uptight the day's proceedings had been making him.
Looking once more at Skady, Louie saw the mink hadn't moved, but there seemed to be a difference in his expression, as of realization dawning upon him. Louie hoped so. He still wanted to help Skady save himself.
"Ah!" Mountte said, standing up from his chair. "Old Bill, I think my time here with you will be a most interesting one indeed. Thank you for indulging my curiosity."
Louie bowed to Mountte with the others, but a niggling doubt squirmed in the back of his head. Skady's humiliation had needed to be done, but Louie still felt troubled by it. Would the All Creator forgive him for what he had set in motion? Could he forgive himself?
"'I ask for Your mercy, AllCreator, according to Your everlasting love. I ask my transgressions be washed clean according to Your divine compassion,'" Louie quoted the Libri Paxi under his breath and left it at that.
