Free Matt Reilly Stories by Flyboy707 Page B

very short investigation indeed .
    ‘Why
do you say that?’ he asked.
    ‘The
Dauphin was a brat. Of the most spoilt kind. He drank to excess, he blasphemed
with abandon and he was utterly wanton in his depravities.’
    De
Christo nodded at that. The young Dauphin’s sexual appetites were well known.
It was not uncommon for a rural noble to discover a few months after a visit
from the Dauphin that one of the servant girls was with child.
    ‘We
are all sinners in our own way, Brother Michael. Was he worthy of death for
those sins?’
    Brother
Michael leaned forward, lowered his voice. ‘For what he did whilst he was here
at the Mount, he should burn in Hell, Master Builder. He—’ the old man seemed
pained to say it—‘ deflowered  some of the younger nuns here at the
abbey.’
    De
Christo looked up from his notetaking. ‘He what ?’
    Brother
Michael’s eyes had filled with tears. Hawkish and protective he may have been,
but a murderer he was clearly not.
    Besides,
the crucifixion of the Dauphin had required strength and Brother Michael was
incapable of such an exertion.
    De
Christo tried another line. ‘You live in an apartment adjoining the cathedral,
do you not, Brother?’
    ‘I
do.’
    ‘And
you cherish your cathedral, do you not? After all, you watched me like a hawk
for the whole time I was working in it.’
    ‘I
love that cathedral, Master Builder,’ the old monk said. ‘It is a most sacred
place, blessed by the Archangel Michael himself.
    Indeed,
I cherish it.’
    ‘If
you cherish it so, and knowing how diligently you watch over it,’ De Christo
said, ‘how did it come to be that you did not witness the murder of the Crown
Prince in your precious chapel?’
    Brother
Michael scowled. ‘We all must sleep sometime. It was while I slept that the
crime took place. My brothers will vouch for my whereabouts last night.’
      Just
as you will vouch for theirs, no doubt , De Christo thought.
    ‘Thank
you, Brother Michael. That will be all for now.’
     
    * * *
     
    SISTER
MADELENE
     
    The
young nun sat before De Christo, sobbing. It had only taken one question for
her to break down.
    Like
many of the young nuns at the Mount, she was a country girl of little
education, for whom the cloisters of a monastery like Mont St Michel offered at
least some kind of life.
    ‘Yes!
I did it!’ she cried. ‘I gave myself to him! He gave me wine, muddling my
senses. Then he confused me with his clever tongue—he told me that the King of
France is only king because God wills it. And since he was to be the next King
of France, he had been chosen by God. And since he desired my body, that
meant God  desired that I give it to him. And so I lay with him and
Sister Arabelle.’
    ‘You
lay with him and Sister Arabelle? At the same time?’ De Christo coughed.
    ‘Yes…’
the young Sister Madelene seemed unsure if this was an unusual thing to do.
‘While his brothers lay with Sisters Phillipa and Margarita on the other side
of the Crown Prince’s bedchamber—’
    She
bowed her head with shame, her voice trailing off.
    De
Christo—who had seen many things in his life—swallowed.
    ‘So
it was…an orgy?’ he said.
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘How
many nuns were present?’
    ‘Four.’
    ‘And
how many of those nuns engaged in the debauchery?’
    ‘All
did, my Lord.’
    ‘And
how many of the Dauphin’s people were there?’
    ‘Only
three. He and his two brothers. Well, on the first occasion.’
    ‘There
was more  than one time?’ De Christo asked.
    ‘Three
nights ago, the Dauphin invited we four to his bedchamber, where we partook in
the depravities. On the second occasion, it was myself and Sister Arabelle
only—shared between the three princes. And on the third night, last night, it
was the largest gathering of all—twelve nuns, the three princes and two of
their young stewards.’
    De
Christo could only stare.
    ‘How
did you feel afterwards?’ he managed to ask.
    She
bowed her head. ‘I felt terrible, sire.