Lord of Slaughter by M. D. Lachlan Read Free Book Online Page B

said nothing, just gave a little bow. The eunuch was trying to intimidate him, and the wise course of action was to let him. No point standing up to such men. Better to allow them to intimidate you with long silences than with their soldiers.
    ‘With your wife. Who is higher born than you, it appears.’
    Loys remained silent still.
    The chamberlain puckered his lips.
    ‘I’m impressed,’ he said. ‘Silence is a talent and a precious one.’
    After that Loys didn’t really feel he could speak until asked a direct question.
    ‘What do you think of magic, scholar?’
    ‘Sir?’
    ‘Your theory of magic, what is it?’
    Loys rocked from foot to foot.
    ‘The Church tells us it is the devil working through malicious and envious men.’
    ‘But what do you think?’
    ‘I am bound to think the same. Though I can consider and understand heresies, even rehearse their arguments the better to prepare our priests to know them, then—’
    The chamberlain held up his hand to silence Loys. He reached inside his tunic, took a coin out of a pocket and laid it on the table.
    ‘Study it and tell me what you think.’
    Loys picked it up. It was an ancient Roman coin from the time of the founding of the city. On one side it showed Constantine along with his mother St Helena, on the other a picture of Christ on the Cross. It had been drilled to allow it to be worn as an amulet.
    ‘It is a charm, sir,’ said Loys, ‘probably for good luck or power.’
    ‘Yes, it is. And I would say it’s an effective one. From where does it derive its power?’
    ‘From the image of the True Cross.’
    ‘Is that the same as from God?’
    ‘A difficult question, sir. There are many drunken old women who babble the name of Christ in their spells. It would depend how it was used. And, of course, by whom. Contemplation, proper contemplation, of the image of Christ can lead us closer to God, whatever the iconoclasts would have had us believe. The Cross is an inspiration to faith, and it is through faith miracles are achieved. Yet the devil has many disguises.’
    ‘Spoken like a philosopher,’ said the chamberlain. ‘Which is to say you have given no answer at all. What if I told you the power of the coin came from the image of the emperor?’
    ‘Then that would make it no more than a pagan icon. A channel for the evildoing of demons.’
    ‘Our founder and ancestor Constantine a channel for demons?’
    ‘I did not mean to imply …’ Loys was very hot. ‘It is the image of a man. The likeness of a good man, an excellent man, can still be used for evil. I refer only to what the saints and scholars tell us. There are sympathies and antipathies in nature. The image of a powerful man might be able to manipulate these. Demons might fear him and so the amulet might bring good luck. Sorcerers could use it to do more.’
    ‘To alter the future?’
    ‘Anyone can alter the future, sir – it’s as simple as choosing to buy an apple at the market or to pass by the stall.’
    The chamberlain smiled. ‘Don’t be clever with me, scholar. Could it be used to magical effect?’
    ‘I believe so, yes, if my reading is correct. But it would not be holy to do so. That is the province of wonder workers and I curse their names.’
    The chamberlain tapped the table. ‘Could you tell a sorcerer from a saint, scholar? Their actions are often very similar.’
    ‘I believe I could.’
    ‘How?’
    ‘The saint’s powers come from his faith. The image of the Cross, as on the coin, simply provides a focus for that faith. So it is not exactly true to say the image of the Cross holds power in itself. It is, rather, the power of faith it unlocks inside us, as we see in the Gospel of St Mark. There a woman touches Christ’s robe and is cured of the affliction of the issue of the blood. But Christ tells her it is her faith, not the touch of his robe, that has made her well. A sorcerer works through demon-infested objects, not faith. And a sorcerer must fail. Any