The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

This story is mostly revanne's fault, because she's the one who suggested that Jorian de Courcy be canonized.  However, Evie had a large hand in helping me polish it and get it ready for posting, so author's gratitude goes to both revanne for inspiration and Evie for editing help.  ETA:  Aerlys also helped get this story written by answering my questions about saints, as I grew up United Methodist and am therefore pretty much clueless about them. 

There will be five chapters plus a short epilogue.  :)

~DR


10 June 1121, the Cathedral of Saint Senan, Dhassa

   Denis Arilan, Auxiliary Bishop of Rhemuth, was not entirely sure why he had decided to go to the sanctuary in the middle of the night, but when he walked in, he heard what sounded like a muffled sob.  He heard the quiet sound again and followed it to a prie-dieu tucked into an inconspicuous part of the sanctuary.  There knelt a young man, probably no more than eighteen or nineteen years old, apparently praying and crying simultaneously.  The young man looked up, and Denis noted that he was dressed very simply, probably a student at the seminary.  The student had striking green eyes which were presently red from crying, his curly brown hair looked badly in need of a comb, and his cherubic young face was tear-streaked.

   "Why are you so upset, my son?" he asked the young man.

   The student choked back another sob.  "I—I don't think you'd understand, my lord."

   Denis sent out a very gentle tendril of thought and found, to his surprise, shields.  He pulled his mind back so as not to upset the crying young man any further.  "I might surprise you, my son."  Denis smiled much more gently than was his usual wont.  "You might start by telling me who you are."

   The young man took a deep breath and calmed himself.  "My name is John Nivard.  I'm a student at the seminary."

   "If you don't recognize me, I'm Bishop Arilan," Denis said gently.  "And I'd like to know why you're crying at a prie-dieu in the middle of the night."

   John took another deep breath, working on calming himself further.  "I hate to bother you, Bishop Arilan," he began.  "I have a vocation.  Being a priest is all I've ever wanted to do with my life."  He stopped, on the verge of tears again.

   "There's nothing wrong with that, son," Denis said, still gently, hoping to elicit further explanation.

   Just as Denis finished that sentence, John looked over Denis' shoulder.  His green eyes widened hugely.  Denis frowned at him briefly but John did not move.  Denis turned on his heel to look behind himself and was equally dumbfounded.

   There in the sanctuary stood the filmy figure of a young man with plain features, straight brown hair neatly barbered and tonsured, and kind brown eyes.  The figure was dressed in a plain white cassock such as a priest would wear on his ordination day.  Denis recognized him immediately and simply stared at the figure of the long-dead Jorian de Courcy.  The figure's face broke into a gentle smile as he looked first at Denis and then at John.

   "My son," he addressed John.  "You are doing the right thing.  You are the spearhead, and soon it will not even be remarkable to do what you are doing.  In a few years, you will look back on your moments of doubt and laugh in the joy of your faith in God."

   Denis was absolutely floored.  He had seen this figure several times since the execution of the man in life.  Just as the bishop was about to speak, the ghostly form turned to him.

   "My old friend."  Jorian smiled at Denis briefly before his face became solemn.  "I come to warn you.  There are many who would see you brought down and would see this student brought down with many others.  You must be vigilant and you must be faithful."

   The figure of Jorian smiled again.  "Be blessed, both of you, and know that God loves you both, you and others who are not here."  He raised his right hand, made the sign of the Cross over the two men, and disappeared.

   Denis stood, still speechless, watching the space where Jorian had been, but the apparition was gone.  After a time of silence broken only by a breeze from outdoors, Denis turned to John.

   "Since—since he spoke to you, I assume you could see him?" he asked hesitantly.  John nodded, no longer crying.  "Well," Denis said quietly, turning away again.  "That puts an interesting perspective on a number of things."  He paused again.  "I've seen him many times, the night after my ordination being the first time I saw him like this."  He stopped.

   John regarded Denis silently, not wanting to push the older man.  Denis was not looking at John but rather at the place where the apparition had been.

   Denis began again.  "I knew him in life.  His name is Jorian de Courcy, and he was executed for daring to be ordained a priest despite being Deryni."  Denis stopped again, and he heard John make a sound of shock.  "It was a long time ago, before I was even ordained, but we were in seminary together, although he was older than I."

   John took a breath as though to speak, then stopped.  Denis heard the indrawn breath and actually looked directly at him for the first time since the figure had appeared.  "Yes?"

   "Bishop Arilan?"  John began, then stopped again.

   Denis took a deep breath in his turn.  "My son, maybe this will be easier."  He rested his hands on the seminary student's shoulders and brushed his shields with a stronger tendril of thought.  John's tear-reddened eyes widened again, in wonder this time.

   "Bishop Arilan?"  John said again.  "You're—"

   Denis nodded and slid his shields down so that John could brush his mind.  John barely dared to breathe but very tentatively reached out his mind to touch the bishop's.  John abruptly dropped the contact and fell into tears again.  Denis allowed his shields to return to their normal position but left his hands on John's shoulders, allowing him to cry for a few minutes.

   "A bishop?  A Dery—"

   "Shh," Denis whispered.  "It's not safe to say it, even quietly in the middle of the night."  Denis paused.  "Suffice it to say, I agree with my friend.  You're doing the right thing.  If you have a true vocation, then there is nothing for you to do but become a priest.  As to the other thing, I think we can assume from tonight's—visitation that you have God's blessing, even if man is a few steps behind."  The bishop paused.  "And you have mine."

   John smiled through the remains of his tears.  "That makes me feel better.  Immeasurably better."  He paused.  "I have a question for you, but I'm afraid it's going to sound very forward of me."

   Denis smiled.  "Go ahead."

   "What happened to Father Jorian?"

   Denis' smile disappeared.  "Do you want to know how he died, or how they knew?"

   John hesitated. "Both, if it's not too much bother for you."

   "Do you know what merasha is and what it does?" he asked John, who nodded.  "There was merasha in the wine at his ordination.  That's how they knew."  Denis stopped and frowned in old pain.  "He was...he was burned at the stake." 

   John sharply drew in his breath.  "Oh, God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to—"

   Denis raised a hand to stop him.  "I think, from tonight, he'd have wanted you to know."

   John managed a wan smile.  "I guess so."  He paused again.  "I have another forward question, my lord."

   Denis smiled in response.  "We're long past the point of shyness, my son."

   "Does it make you uncomfortable?" he asked hesitantly.

   "Does what make me uncomfortable?"  Denis returned, somewhat confused.

   The young seminarian paused again.  "Being noticed by a saint," John finally blurted.  Denis' blue-violet eyes widened as hugely as John's had when the apparition first appeared.  He did not speak for a few moments, and when he did, his voice was extremely quiet.

   "I never—I never actually thought of it that way.  Before tonight, I—well, I thought it was my imagination or wishful thinking or something, that my friend was somehow still with me, but you obviously saw him."  John nodded.  "In any case, he's clearly taking an interest in me—and in you.  And you, do you feel better now?"

   "As I said earlier, immeasurably," John said, almost on a laugh.

   "Then I think it's time you went back to your bed, and I'm going to go to mine.  Just remember you have friends—some in very high places, from tonight."  Denis smiled and John did laugh this time, quietly.  John straightened his back and rose from the prie-dieu, and Denis extended his hand as if to shake hands.  John dropped to his knee, this time on the floor instead of at the prie-dieu, and kissed Denis' amethyst ring.

   "Good night, then, my lord bishop, and thank you.  More than I can ever say," he said, his head still bowed over Denis' hand.

   "You're very welcome, my son, and good night to you," Denis replied.  The young man stood then and disappeared in the direction of the seminarians' dormitory.  Denis returned to the guest room in the bishop's palace where he was lodged, but it was a long time before he slept that night.

Loud singing of the Hallelujah chorus is heard over Birkenhead

Desert Rose this is awesome and I am so glad St Jorian came to reassure John for whom I've always had a soft spot.

I love too the moment when Denis registers that his friend is now a saint.

*jumps out of bed singing*

Thank you, revanne.

This was actually rather fun to write, although Saint Jorian was very insistent about the whole process.

Confession:  This story is not completely edited; Evie and I are still working on the last two chapters and the epilogue, but Saint Jorian was insisting that his story be made public.  :)  For a saint, he's exceedingly bossy.

This is beautiful.  Thanks.

Quote from: DesertRose on March 25, 2015, 08:32:17 AM
For a saint, he's exceedingly bossy.

LOL!  Yes, that seems to be true for main characters in general, apparently even saints.   ;D

Thank you, Elkhound.

Evie, I agree; when a character gets in your head, s/he does have a tendency to take over and do whatever s/he wants.  :)

I'm glad Father Jorian decided to be bossy and nag you to post this - I enjoyed it very much.

And I am looking forward to the next chapter.  :)

Thank you, Jerusha. :D

Quote from: DesertRose on March 25, 2015, 08:32:17 AM

This was actually rather fun to write, although Saint Jorian was very insistent about the whole process.

  :)  For a saint, he's exceedingly bossy.

He really does want his story told doesn't he? He walked right into my head when I was starting to write about Duncan's ordination and although it normally takes for ever for me to write, Sacerdos in Aeternum just flowed - although with two Saints involved I guess I didn't stand a chance.

And Jorian comes across as so unassuming in life - but then "He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the humble and meek". I feel justified in quoting the magnificat on Lady Day. :)
                                                             
I am very eagerly awaiting Chapter 2

Yes, once you planted the idea, he got right down to business.  :)

Bravo! Looking forward to more.

I guess your USB woes were a boon...for us, at least!

Thank you, Aerlys.

You helped, too, by answering my endless clueless questions about saints.  I forgot about that in the author's gratitude section. I'll go fix that.  :)

No problem. I don't mind being in the background. In fact, I hadn't given it a second thought, but I appreciate the mention.

You're very welcome for the mention, and thank you again for being so helpful.  :)

Wonderful, wonderful!
I can imagine the heart wrenching of John; feeling something so strongly, yet knowing it was against what others thought should be the rules.
I am glad Denis found him there, and I am so glad Jorian has made his presence known before both of them.
This follows Revanne's story very well indeed.
I look forward to the next chapter.

Thank you, Laurna!  :)

ETA:  revanne and I are working in conjunction a good bit lately.  Her story in progress is going to include elements from this one, and if I say any more, I'll give away spoilers.  :D

Nicely done!  And it's always fun to see Denis thrown a bit off-kilter....   ;D

Thank you, my lord bishop.  :)

I loved seeing another side of Denis, gentle and kindly even before he knows John is Deryni. We so often see him at points of conflict or when he is pushed onto the defensive and so comes across as arrogant this is the pastor able to emerge..

Denis can be a bit high-handed at times (c.f. the time he read Duncan the Riot Act over publicly revealing himself to be Deryni at Dhugal's knighting), yes, but very rarely is anyone single-faceted.  :)  I found him rather arrogant in my initial reading of the Kelson-era books, but the older I get, the more sympathy I have for him.  (I was somewhere in my twenties when I first read KK, and I'm now just shy of forty.)

Of course, I re-read "The Priesting of Arilan" before and in the process of writing this story, because I needed to know what Jorian had been like in life and because I needed to revisit Denis' temperament and behavior.  That scared kid learned well to hide his fear and charge forward despite it, and I think that left a mark on his behavior later in life.  I think the reason he went off on Duncan so hard at the aforementioned point after Dhugal's knighting was repressed (justified) fear.  Duncan could have screwed up all manner of things for a lot of people by doing what he did, and Denis knew all too well the potential consequences.  But that same fear that generated Denis' explosion at Duncan is another face of the gentleness and kindness he shows John.  By the time he goes off on Duncan, Denis has been walking a life-and-death tightrope for a good number of years, and that will wear on a person's nerves.  :)

I'll quit pontificating on Denis now.  He (and his motivations) figure largely in the rest of this story.  :)

The first time I read Denis's dressing down of Duncan I was so mortified because of course it is POV Duncan ( who is anyway "Our Duncan") and to some extent Dhugal. Now I want to slap Kelson for the whole thing , have a quiet, though stern word with his majesty, for setting the whole thing up in such an exhibitionist way with no thought for any of the consequences. As you say Denis had been walking a tightrope and it could all have still gone terribly wrong. Fancy having to deal with both Loris and Vivienne, anyone?

Well, Kelson definitely set up the impromptu knighting of Duncan, but did Duncan actually confide in him about his plan to reveal his Deryni identity when he knighted Dhugal?  If so, that would have been an equally unplanned conference just prior to the fact (immediately prior, as Duncan had no idea he was even going to be knighted!), I imagine, more of a brief accord reached primarily by eye contact and a swift rapport as Duncan got ready to give the accolade to his son, leaving Kelson little time to think through the potential consequences. I need to re-read those books again, as it's been some time, but am I misremembering the scene? I got the impression it was a rather spontaneous decision, and that was part of the problem, since it was far too important a decision for either of them to have made at a moment's impulse, without thinking the matter completely through.

Dhugal is fairly new to the idea of being Deryni and he really has no idea what the consequence could be for being found out. Duncan too, in a more subtle fashion, has been protected all his life from the severest consequences of being Deryni. His mother protected him, Alaric protected him, and then Denis protected him by getting him past what would have brought him to Jorian's fate. All the while Duncan only had second hand stories of what could happen. Denis knows first hand what can happen. And even Alaric knows first hand because he has seen it, and had people hate him all his life for who he is.
Kelson had been on the throne only 4 years by Dhugal's knighting. That really isn't very much time for the change in attitude of the people after 200 years of fear and hate. So on this I will agree with Denis's dressing down of Duncan. It was gallant of Duncan and Dhugal, but fool hardy.

Kelson was certainly a bit heedless in that scene, but in Kelson's defense, he was only, what, seventeen?  Eighteen?  (Something like that.)  Kelson had to grow up fast and in the public eye, but he's still a kid at this point, so a certain heedlessness (or at least lack of forethought) is somewhat forgivable.  But Kelson is a Deryni king of a land very divided on the matter of Deryni at this point in the story, and it's his job to know better.  I just find it hard to assign to a seventeen-year-old (regardless of rank and position in life) quite the level of culpability that I assign to a thirty-something, for example. 

Duncan, on the other hand, much as I love him too, is in my mind a bit more culpable because he's significantly older at that point in the story.  (I can't remember Duncan's exact age at this point, but old enough to know better certainly applies.)  A lot of Denis' point in the reading of the Riot Act is that Denis expected Duncan to give a little more forethought to his actions.

As to Kelson knowing what Duncan was about to do with regard to revealing himself publicly to be Deryni, I'd have to go re-read the scene.  If Kelson knew beforehand, it was immediately beforehand, as Evie pointed out, and Kelson may not have had time (leaving aside inclination for the moment) to think it through and stop Duncan from doing something ultimately a bit irresponsible at best.

And I said above, I have more sympathy by far for Denis now that I'm in early middle age than I did in my own heedless youth (or young adulthood anyway).

If I remember rightly Duncan sends his intention immediately prior to the knighting so there is no time for anyone to think anything through. I can't remember the wording but I have been left with the impression that Kelson (and Morgan) give their enthusiastic approval. My objection to Kelson's behaviour is that Duncan is deliberately trying to keep a low profile, not to draw attention to the unusual situation of a Bishop with a son and Kelson orders him to the dais. Ok from there they are all flying by the seats of their pants but if someone who has at least two tricky bits of history to negotiate - a son whose legitimacy has only just been declared (but I bet that didn't stop the rumours), and his half suspected but carefully unacknowledged and unchallenged Deryni identity - is trying very sensibly to keep a low profile maybe it's sensible to let him. I guess Kelson is just on a high and wants to affirm his affection for both Dhugal and Duncan and Lord knows he has had few enough occasions to wholeheartedly celebrate but my sympathies are now with Arilan.

Maybe it's just because I am getting older and grumpier ;D

Quote from: revanne on March 26, 2015, 02:03:47 PM
...my sympathies are now with Arilan.

Maybe it's just because I am getting older and grumpier ;D

If you're getting older and grumpier, so am I.  :D

And I am definitely at the curmudgeon stage. 

Then I am now venerable - Bede there, done that.  :)

For all it could have gone terribly bad, perhaps Duncan's revelation pushed the question of Deryni priests to the point it could now be dealt with.  I was never in agreement with Denis's plan to ordain Deryni priests secretly for the long term - to get a few in to pave the way, fine.  But at some point you have to quit living the lie or you perpetuate the problem.  At this point we know Deryni can be knights and kings for humans and Deryni.  Perhaps it was the right time to push it one step further to the priesthood.

Though I can't blame Denis for being a angry - he is not the type to not want to control the situation, and this time he couldn't.

Quote from: Laurna on March 26, 2015, 01:49:29 PM
Dhugal is fairly new to the idea of being Deryni and he really has no idea what the consequence could be for being found out.

While I wouldn't go quite this far (even if Dhugal had ever been that naive, I'm pretty sure having to rescue his Deryni father from a burning stake just months earlier would have cured any such ignorance!), it's certainly true that Dhugal was primarily raised in the Borders, and his view of Deryni would have been shaped accordingly. Even with his page years spent in King Brion's court, Dhugal is through and through a Border lad, and the novels state several times, IIRC, that the virulent anti-Deryni sentiment of the lowlands didn't fully catch on in the Borders, with its easy acceptance of such things as dowsing, village "wise women," and the Second Sight.  Deryni powers wouldn't have seen as all that different by comparison. So while there might still have been a bit of apprehension towards Deryni based on the rumors spread about them (especially any of lowland origin and fostered by the anti-Deryni sentiment of various churchmen), Borderers were probably apt to take a kinder, or at least a less antagonistic, view of a Deryni minding his own business and not using his powers against them than they would of some meddling, arrogant Lowlander like Conall.   ;D

Yes, Venerable Jerusha, I think it was a good thing in the long run, but I still don't blame Denis for losing his cool, even if poor Duncan bore the brunt of the Arilan temper.  :)

And yes, Denis can be a bit of a control freak, as we say in modern parlance.

However, in defense of Denis' loss of temper at Duncan, Denis, in the moment, was not thinking of what good could be done in the long run; he was, I think, thinking of the damage Duncan could have done not only to Duncan himself, but to Denis, John Nivard, and the other nameless young Deryni priests Denis had been mentoring along all these years.  Denis was afraid of a lot of truly fearsome, horrible things--not to insult Bishop Arilan's courage, because on one of my many re-reads of "The Priesting of Arilan" during the composition of "Miracles," I think one of the bravest acts I've ever read was Denis going through with his ordination.  I've seen courage defined as not the absence of fear but action in the face of fear.  He went forward in the face of very justified fear.  Knowing all too well what would happen to him with the merasha-tainted wine, he gave it up to God and took that sip out of the Chalice in full comprehension of what he was doing and all possible consequences.  It's not battlefield glory, but that's courage.

Can you tell I've come to a great fondness for Denis Arilan?  :)

Quote from: Jerusha on March 26, 2015, 07:12:35 PM
I was never in agreement with Denis's plan to ordain Deryni priests secretly for the long term - to get a few in to pave the way, fine.  But at some point you have to quit living the lie or you perpetuate the problem. 

I don't think Denis' long term goal was for all of his fledgling Deryni priests to remain silent about their identity forever, though.  I think what he was aiming for was, as the "old guard" folks like Loris began to die out (and if you look as far back as DC and HD, it's mainly the older bishops who are ultra-opposed to Deryni; the younger bishops tended to be more neutral if not fully pro-Deryni), was to keep moving those Deryni priests into positions where they were most likely to move up in the Church hierarchy.  Once enough Deryni priests had been ordained, with their openly more moderate views, then they would begin to soften societal resistance to Deryni by their circles of influence.  At first this might just be due to noticeably not taking the hard line anti-Deryni stance (or any sort of anti-Deryni stance, obviously!) whenever the question came up, and stepping down hard on the persecutions that had become so much a way of life in cities and villages. But once the hardliners had become a thing of the past in the Church, and the society had started to calm down due to not having the anti-Deryni paranoia constantly whipped up by those in religious power (plus, seeing how well Deryni were working out in secular Court circles would also have caused some trust of Deryni to be raised, although in Denis's earliest days, he probably didn't foresee that side-benefit),  I think that's when Denis would have felt the time was right for the Deryni priests (by this time, many of them bishops) to repeal the Statutes of Ramos and allow the next generation of priests to be ordained openly.

Granted, had that happened, that would have been much longer series of novels with a whole bunch of behind the scenes political machinations....  :D

Returning momentarily to the topic of Duncan and Dhugal's knighting, I think Kelson intended merely for Duncan to truly share in the moment of Dhugal's knighting, watch Dhugal close at hand and experience all the joy of that.  Things just...snow-balled from that point when Kelson decided it was high time Duncan should be knighted, given all his service to both Kelson and Gwynedd (I can't argue with that reasoning). Morgan clearly agreed.

And high on the emotion of being newly knighted and knighting his own son, Duncan for once, threw caution to the winds. None of it was really planned and all of them were acting on impulse on a joyful day for all four of them.  I think.... that had it still been Brion's Court with Brion still being stuck with Loris and Corrigan, Duncan wouldn't have even DREAMED of doing what he did.  Part of the reason he felt even close to being secure is because he knows both Cardiel and Bradene to be far wiser, better men and Archbishops who do not react out of unreasoning fanaticism, fear or hatred. 

  The extreme shakeup of the Church when Kelson became King and having Loris openly defy him, with the Curia being split apart freed Kelson to act far more boldly than Brion was ever able to do. As a result, he has two far better Archbishops and two better Privy Council members, and the Church of Gwynedd has evolved significantly because Kelson was able to get rid of his two very reactionary Bishops.  But as Cardiel said,  "Until I can get the bloody law changed, Goddammit, man!" Duncan  DID break a law of Ramos that was still in effect, and a pretty significant one. The leaders of the church of Gwynedd have changed, it doesn't mean the whole church is suddenly holding barefoot services on the grass instead of High Mass at the Cathedral, so to speak.  Cardiel doesn't want to see Duncan burn, but he can't afford to ignore what happened.

Denis, who has been keeping his nose clean, very much aware of the danger and consequences of discovery ever since  he was ordained, was understandably furious that Duncan abandoned all caution and so publically. So I  understand both their motivations.  Since Duncan is back in everyone's good graces barely a month later I have to forgive Kelson for not thinking things through on the day of his knighting when he's all of 18. It makes him more human to make some impulsive mistakes, once in a while.

Melissa