Knight Errant by Rue Allyn

source of the foul smell. Her arms above the mutilated hands were swollen and streaked with red beneath the skin.
    “Dear God in heaven, what did they do to you?”
    “Nothing,” came the raspy answer.
    Juliana jerked her head around, searching for the speaker, until her gaze was caught by fever-bright brown eyes.
    “You do not sleep.”
    “
Non
. I pretend for
Sorella Beatrice
’s sake.” Angelina’s voice was weak and rough, and even that short speech left her panting for breath.
    “Don’t speak.”
    “Did you come from Ghent?” Angelina ignored Juliana’s order.
    “Yes.”
    “Praise heaven, my prayers have been answered.”
    “Hush now. Save your strength. We have much work to do to get you well.”
    The injured Beguine gave a little smile. “I will be well in heaven.”
    “But . . .”
    “No, do not make me waste my breath or time with protests. I want you to hear my confession before anyone else comes.”
    Juliana opened her mouth to object. Beguines did not believe in the necessity for confession, although they recognized the benefits. Angelina would rest easier if Juliana did as the dying woman requested. “I am listening.”
    “When I was a young woman, I was seduced by a married man of my village. We became lovers, but eventually we were discovered. The man’s wife, and of course the villagers, believed that I had led the man to sin. He denounced me and was forgiven. I was stoned from the only home I had known. I confess to hating the man and his wife so bitterly that I wished them both dead. I learned a few years later that within a month of my stoning, sickness spread through the village. The man’s wife died, and he became a hermit. Even though I knew I could not have caused the sickness, I carried tremendous guilt because of my evil wish. For years I prayed for forgiveness and peace. When I became a Beguine, I went on pilgrimage to Rome where the man now held priestly office because of his piety and good works. I spoke with him. He gave me a letter absolving me of all guilt. At the same time, I forgave him. We became good friends and exchanged letters privately. In one of his letters to me, he recognizes the Beguines as a holy order of priestesses in the church.”
    “But the pope alone can do that, and we are women. Women cannot be priests. This is according to Saint Paul and supported by letters to the first bishops written by Saint Peter himself.”
    “
Si
. The man who wrote the letter to me is now the pope, and in the letter he explains that the church has many more epistles from Saint Peter than the ones sent to the first bishops. Those epistles were held back because they show that, among other things, Saint Peter changed his mind, disagreeing with Paul about the work the priesthood should do and who should be allowed to do that work. The pope included a copy of Saint Peter’s most emphatic epistle with a papal seal to verify authenticity.”
    Juliana sat back on her heels. If true, this shocking news would change everything. Women would be the equals of men in the laws of the church, and the laws of men would follow those of the church. Men like Basti could no longer persecute the Beguines or other innocent Christians whose beliefs differed. Then it hit her, and she inhaled sharply.
    “Basti knows of this letter?”
    Laboring for breath, Angelina nodded. “
Si
, he has the pope’s ear, and the pope may have regretted his letters to me. I believe Basti’s deputies stirred the weavers’ guild to anger against us, for that anger arose very suddenly and with little apparent cause.”
    “Did his deputies get the letter?”
    Angelina smiled broadly. “No. The anger they stirred in the weavers got out of control, and the beguinage was burned before anyone could find an excuse to search it.”
    Juliana slumped. “Then the letters are gone.”
    “No. I have them still.”
    “How? Where?”
    “When the weavers attacked, I was away with
Sorella Beatrice
tending to the sick in a