The Silver Wolf by Alice Borchardt

Author:Alice Borchardt [Borchardt, Alice]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 978-0-345-45552-9
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 1998-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

XVIII

THE BOLT WAS A BIT RUSTY, AND IT GAVE A LOUD, metallic screech when Emilia shot the bar into the socket.

It was, Regeane thought, an only-too-familiar sound. She stood and listened to Emilia’s retreating footsteps and the silence descending.

They had been returned to the convent under heavy guard. The pope’s militia rode three deep around the mule litter carrying Regeane, the Abbess Emilia, and Elfgifa.

The whole of Rome seemed to have taken to the streets. A good-humored crowd for the most part, dancing, drinking, and wenching. All the taverns and many brothels were doing a brisk business.

They were ablaze with lights and the frolicking mobs spilled out into the streets at their doors. They cheered the soldiers of the papal militia and parted willingly to let them pass. People on balconies threw flowers, and women blew kisses and sometimes shouted raucous promises of more intimate entertainment if they would care to dismount and tarry for a while.

But Regeane was not fooled for a moment. Twice they found themselves riding through the smoke of burning villas. The screams coming from the flaming houses behind the high walls turned Regeane ice-cold with fear. And she wished herself rid of the wolf. The creature with whom she shared her body could hear only too well.

In the more populous parts of the city, the litter jolted past the gutted ruins of taverns and wineshops that hadn’t opened their doors quickly enough to the roistering throng.

Many private houses and insula were tightly shuttered and dark. The people inside hid, fearing to show a light, cowering behind their barred doors, wondering who the mob might see fit to turn on next.

Abbess Emilia leaned back, her arms protectively embracing Elfgifa, her eyes closed, her lips moving in silent prayer.

Regeane, on the other hand, peered out through a slit in the curtains, terrified yet fascinated and appalled by the spectacle, at the same time powerless to shut out the sensations of pity and fear that surged through her. Feeling all the while the wolf’s silent wonder at this incomprehensible human madness.

When they reached the gates of the Saxon quarter, Emilia opened her eyes, signed herself with the cross, and whispered, “Thank God.” The streets were silent here, guarded by relatives belonging to the households of the Saxon nobles residing near the Vatican.

“These Latins haven’t a scrap of common sense among the lot of them. In my humble opinion, just to show the Lombards they’re not afraid of them, they’re going to pillage their own city and burn it to the ground before their enemies can get around to it,” Emilia said.

The litter came to a stop before the convent gates. Regeane jumped down and Emilia handed Elfgifa to her and followed.

“God in heaven above,” she said, puffing a bit as she hauled Regeane and Elfgifa along. “This wretched city is mostly in ruins already. I see no earthly reason to wreck the rest of it. And His Holiness, God preserve him, is no better than the rest. Half

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