Fire of the Inquisitor

“Uncle, may I present General Gaius Maximus and Bishop Julian Alienus,” Helena announced.

“Governor General …” both men started speaking at the same time.

Helena’s uncle quiet the two men with a wave of a hand. “Sit down and let us eat before the bread gets cold.”

After the bishop prayed over the food he added, “And thank you governor general for providing us with such a sizable feast.”

“Oh please,” her uncle said with a mouth full of bread. It was the only solid food he could eat and even then it would be quite the challenge for him. “We can dress it up as much as possible and call it names that sound like what we are used to, but in the end, it all tastes like dirt and shit.”

Helena cringed where she stood behind her uncle.

“Here, here,” Gaius said raising his wine glass that was already half empty. Helena moved to refill it, which the general accepted without so much as acknowledging her. “Just another reminder that our real home awaits us.”

“And how would you prepare our people for that return?” Helena’s uncle asked.

Gaius mauled over the question as he chewed on a large piece of meat. Obviously, the man didn’t have any aversion to eating all the dressed up food. Gaius cleared his throat and took another gulp of wine before answering. “We need to expand our borders of course; we stage more scouting missions, promote high birthrates, rebuild the legion, and find a suitable servant population among the pagans of this land.”

Helena looked to her uncle for a reaction, but his face did not betray what he thought of the general’s plan. Instead, he turned to look in the bishop’s direction. “And what do you think of Gaius plan Julian?”

The Bishop had been very quiet until this point, hardly touching any of the food in front of him or the wine in his glass. Still he spoke calmly. “I think we are enduring something no other Roman has before us and that we must adjust our way of living accordingly.”

“It’s not so different than Britain,” Gaius said.

“I would say it is a little different.” Her uncle laughed, spilling food over the table. “Tell me, Bishop, do you believe like your father that we are indeed in hell?”

“A kind of purgatory maybe,” Julian said. “But I believe Christ has a reason for us being here.”

“To conquer the pagans of course,” Gaius said.

“Or convert them.” Julian shook his head. “But we are very much outnumbered here in this land and we must admit that we would not have survived The War of Ice without the aid of the Umbragoths and their queen.”

Helena noticed that the two generals at the table did not react favorably to that last claim, but to her uncle’s credit, he did not start throwing insults across the room. “And do you have a theory for our exile,” he asked.

“I do, if only a theory.” For the first time that Helena noticed the bishop took a drink of his wine. “I believe we were sent here to wait for a time when the empire is in its darkest hour.” Julian shifted his plate around but did not take another bite. “If we focus on improving ourselves both spiritually and as a community, we will be called to return to restore the empire to its former glory.”

Gaius snorted. “So we just wait here.”

“In no means do I mean for us to be idle in our respite.” Perhaps sensing that he was losing the two military men he chose another direction to explain his approach. “We should absolutely strengthen our army, not for the sake of running it into another war, but to be prepared for when the Lord may need it.”

Gaius did not seem impressed by the bishop’s vision, but at least her uncle seemed to be giving it some thought. Suddenly, the old man turned to Helena and asked, “What would you ask these two men about our people’s future?”

“Excuse me, uncle,” Helena could feel her cheeks blush, “it is not my place.”

“Why not?” her uncle said. “You have been by my side since you were a girl and I could think of no better person to tell us what the people think.”

“But still.” Her uncle gave her one of his stern looks that her he was not going to be very stubborn about this. “I guess,” her voice cracked, “I would ask the bishop if he would give up his position in the church if he became governor.”

“Of course,” her uncle answered for him. “No one man could handle the responsibility to lead the people and the church.”

Julian nodded.

“It would be a shame to lose such a wonderful teacher,” Helena said.

“Thank you, young lady,” Julian smiled. “But the Lord will place me where I need to be.”

Her uncle stared into her eyes for a moment then shifted them toward Gaius. Helena took the hint that it was his turn to answer one of her questions. She tried to think of different questions she could ask him, but one specific one kept coming back to her. For the first time since he arrived the intimidating man looked directly at her.

“General Gaius,” she started, “is it true that you want to ban women from becoming soldiers?”

“Absolutely.” Gaius did not hesitate. Helena noticed a slight frown emerge on her uncle’s face. “It was an interesting experiment born out of desperation, but order should be restored.”

“Do you think the legion has recovered enough?” Her uncle asked.

“It doesn’t matter.” Gaius popped a berry into his mouth. “The longer we wait the harder it is going to be to restore the natural order of things.”

“And what about the woman who are already serving?” her uncle asked.

“They will hand over their swords our be executed,” he said.

“That’s pretty harsh for someone whose own daughter is a soldier,” Julian said.

Gaius pounded his fists on the table. “I think you are mistaken bishop, I have only sons.”

Julian let his mouth hang open and even Helena’s uncle was taken aback by the general’s outburst. “Of course, I’m sorry,” the bishop said.

“I am growing tired,” her uncle announced. “If you don’t mind I think I will retire to my bedroom.”

“Of course governor general.” The two men stood up and parroted each other in the same way they had entered.

“Helena, will you see these two men out.” her uncle asked, already halfway up the stairs.

“Of course uncle,” she said. She waited for the sound of the bedroom door closing before turning to see the two men out of her uncle’s apartment. She was relieved that today’s battle of succession was over for her but knew that it continued for her uncle in his room.