Free Deryni Checkmate by Katherine Kurtz Page A

“There’s worse. Frankly, if it were only the suspension, I don’t think I’d be so worried. I find that the more I function as a Deryni, the less important my vows seem to become, if it means denying what I am.” He reached into the saddlebags beside his chair and withdrew a folded piece of parchment, which he placed on the table between them.
    “This is a copy of a letter now en route to your bishop, Ralf Tolliver. A friend of mine who’s a clerk in Corrigan’s chancery risked a lot to get it for me. The gist of the letter is that Loris and Corrigan want Tolliver to excommunicate you unless you recant your powers and ‘take up a life of repentance. ’ Those are Archbishop Corrigan’s words, I believe.”
    “Me, recant?” Morgan snorted, an incredulous half grin on his face. “They must be jesting.” He started to slide the letter across the table and pick it up, but Duncan held his wrist.
    “I still haven’t finished,” he said quietly, holding Morgan’s gaze with his own. “Unless you do recant and comply with their orders, they’ll not only excommunicate you—they’ll put all of Corwyn under Interdict.”
    “Interdict!”
    Duncan nodded and released Morgan’s wrist. “Which means that the Church will effectively cease to function in Corwyn. There will be no Masses, no marriages, baptisms, burials, no last rites for the dying—nothing. I’m not sure how your people will react.”
    Morgan set his jaw firmly and picked up the letter. He unfolded it and began reading, and as he read, his gray eyes went cold and steely:
    “ ‘To His Most Reverend Excellency Ralf Tolliver, Bishop of Coroth . . . Reverend Brother, it has come to our attention . . . Duke Alaric Morgan . . . heinous crimes of magic and sorcery contrary to the laws of God . . . if said duke does not recant his Deryni powers . . . excommunicate . . . Corwyn under Interdict . . . hope that you will do this . . . sign of good faith . . .’ Damn!”
    Furious, Morgan half crumpled the parchment and threw it down on the table.
    “May maledictions pursue them to the utter depths of Hell-slime! May lyfangs devour the last of their line, and thirteen devils forever haunt their sleep! Damn them, Duncan! What are they trying to do to me?”
    He sat back in his chair and exhaled explosively, and Duncan smiled mirthlessly.
    “Do you feel better?”
    “No. You realize, of course, that Loris and Corrigan have me exactly where they want me. They know that my influence in Corwyn is based not on pro-Deryni feeling but on my people being pro-Morgan. If the Curia of Gwynedd declares me anathema because I’m Deryni, they know full well that my people will go along rather than see Corwyn put under Interdict. I can’t ask my people to give up their faith for me.”
    Duncan sat back in his chair and gazed across at his cousin expectantly. “So, what are we going to do about it?”
    Morgan smoothed the crumpled letter and looked at it again, then pushed it back across the table as though he had seen enough of it.
    “Has Tolliver seen the original of this letter yet?”
    “I don’t see how. Monsignor Gorony sailed aboard the Rhafallia two days ago. If my calculations are correct, he should be arriving sometime tomorrow.”
    “More likely, about three hours from now, when the tide turns,” Morgan retorted. “ Rhafallia ’s been sighted. Gorony must have bribed my captains to pile on extra sail. I hope they made him pay!”
    “Is there any chance of intercepting the letter?”
    Morgan grimaced and shook his head. “I don’t dare. If I do, I’m violating the immunity of the very Church I’m trying to protect in Corwyn. I have to let Gorony get through to Tolliver.”
    “Suppose I get there first, then? If I were to show Tolliver our copy of the letter and explain your concern for the situation, he might agree to delay for as much as several weeks before he takes action. Besides, I don’t think he’s going to like being dictated to by Loris