An Exaltation of Stars (1973) Anthology

by Terry Carr (Ed. )

  To him His Grace said: When you demanded admission to the Preparatory Interrogations it was denied, Master Graz, in view of the improbability of your story and the fact that the accused disavowed any knowledge of your name. Since then other information has come to us tending to support your claim to be heard. You are sworn; I must further caution you to limit yourself to the questions put to you. I request you to look now on the accused and say whether you know him.

  Master Graz looked on the prisoner and said: He is my brother, Your Grace. He is my beloved brother.

  His Grace then directed the accused to look on the cobbler Jermyn Graz and say whether he knew him.

  The prisoner said: I know him as the man who came to my tent at Gilba on the day I was arrested. If I ever saw him before then, the memory is gone with all my other memories of childhood.

  Master Graz said: He is my brother. He disappeared from the Priests’ School at Nuber in 418. It was the 7th of December.

  His Grace said: Master Graz, when we learned something of this from another source, we spoke to the Headmaster of the Priests’ School. The records do show that a boy Leopold Graz, thirteen (your brother wc do not doubt), did vanish that day. But the Headmaster Father Ricordi was shown the man called Brother Francis at the prison, and would not say with any certainty that he was Leopold Graz, and you have now heard the prisoner testify that he does not know you. Then His Grace asked the accused: Have you any recollection of attending the Priests’ School at Nuber, or any school?

  The prisoner said: I have none, Your Grace.

  His Grace said: But when Father Ricordi described to you the Senior Dormitory at the school a. it would look by candlelight, you remembered this as the place where you had, as you say, waked to life?

  The prisoner said: That is true, Your Grace.

  Master Graz said: He is my brother.

  An attending officer of the Court was then obliged to restrain the witness from climbing the barrier into the dock; the man was weeping and appeared beside himself. Being restrained, he apologized to the Court for his behavior.

  His Grace said: Subject to your dissent, my lords, I think we may accept the probability that the man called Brother Francis is indeed Leopold Graz, once of Kingstone, who has suffered the loss of memory of his childhood, under what divine punishment we know not. There being no dissent, His Grace said further: We have then an identity for the prisoner, and will address him from now on as Leopold Graz. But I point out to you that this does not further our inquiry, unless the history of his childhood produces evidence bearing on the charge of heresy. I will ask you now, Master Graz, if you have recovered control of yourself, whether you are acquainted with a Captain Jon Rohan.

  Master Graz said: I am, Your Grace, or I was. We were boys together, Jon and another friend and my brother Leopold and I.

  His Grace asked: Have you seen Captain Rohan recently?

  Master Graz said: Not for a month or more. I went to see him when I was refused admission to the Preparatory Interrogations, hoping he might be allowed to testify in my place. He told me he believed my brother was dead. As a soldier he hated and despised Brother Francis from what he had heard about him, and refused to consider that Brother Francis might be Leopold. Jon still suffers from an unhealed wound. He was not himself; I should have forgiven it. We parted in anger.

  His Grace said: We have spoken with him, rather our representatives have, and with your other friend Dr. Sturm. You yourself are better known to us than you may suppose. What can you tell us concerning a clay image once in the possession of your brother Leopold?

  Master Graz then appeared startled and confused, stammering and saying he knew of no image belonging to his brother.

  The Earl of Cornal said: You arc under oath, Master Graz.

  Master Graz said: Ah, you mean my little amulet. I had one till lately, the sort I’m sure the Church hasn’t disapproved. But my brother would never have cared for anything like that. He was always deeply religious, Your Grace. He would have found it sacrilegious.

  His Grace asked: This idol is not now in your possession?

  Master Graz replied: No, Your Grace. I lost it some time back.

  The Bishop of Nupal would then have questioned him, but His Grace intervened, saying: My lord, whether or not he is lying about possession of the image, he has perjured himself on another count, as testimony that follows will show, and we cannot permit the Court of the Ecclesia to be contaminated by a perjurer. Attendant, take this man Jermyn Graz to the anteroom, strip him, and search him for the possession of any sort of charm or amulet. If any is found, he is to be committed to the prison for examination. If not, he is to be conducted to the border of the Holy City of Nuber and warned not to return within a year, and he is to consider himself fortunate in the leniency of this Court. Master Graz was removed, and His Grace addressed the prisoner: Leopold Graz, I note that you have become very white. Do you wish the help of a physician?

  The prisoner said: No, Your Grace, a physician cannot help me.

  His Grace asked: You do admit, then, that you may stand in need of help for your soul’s sake? And when the prisoner appeared unable to answer, His Grace gently inquired: For your soul’s sake, what can you tell us concerning a clay image, male and female, in a box of applewood fastened to a silver chain?

  After much hesitation, the prisoner said: Your Grace, I have no knowledge of any such thing.

  The Earl of Cornal said: Have you lost your memory for recent events also? Did not that man Jermyn Graz show you such an image in your tent at Gilba?

  The prisoner said: No, my lord. No.

  His Grace then called Captain Jon Rohan, who came from the west anteroom with the assistance of an attendant, and was sworn. His Grace asked: Captain Rohan, you are a veteran of the battle of Brakabin Meadows, wounded in the service of His Majesty the Emperor?

  The witness replied: I am, Your Grace.

  His Grace asked: You testify here willingly, under no duress, Captain Rohan, and in accordance with our previous conversations at the time you volunteered to appear before this Court?

  The witness replied: I do, Your Grace.

  His Grace said: I will ask whether in former years you were acquainted with a boy named Leopold Graz, son of the cobbler Louis Graz of Twenyet Road in Kingstone?

  The witness said: I was, Your Grace. He was five years younger than I, and I was a playmate of his elder brother when he was born. I knew him until his thirteenth year, when he disappeared from the Priests’ School at Kingstone.

  His Grace said: Look on the accused, Captain Rohan, and say whether you know him.

  Captain Rohan looked long on the man called Brother Francis and said: Yes, that is Leopold Graz, though greatly changed.

  His Grace then directed the prisoner to look on Captain Rohan well and say whether he knew him. The prisoner said with apparent indifference: He is quite unknown to me.

  Captain Rohan said: He knows me. He has betrayed his country and his people. He cannot hide behind mystery. He knows, Your Grace, he knows I understand him.

  Bishop Sortees said: You are not here to judge, Captain Rohan. I pray Your Grace will instruct him to limit himself to the question.

  His Grace said: You must do that, Captain Rohan. I ask you now to tell what you know of the childhood of Leopold Graz.

  Captain Rohan said: He possessed great charm, as a boy, but he was what people call fey. Strange, ungovernable, given to outrageous fancies. He became fascinated by an obscene clay image, an object indecently representing both sexes in one body, that his brother secured for him from a Gypsy when Leopold was about seven, and which I think was never out of Leopold’s possession until he disappeared from the Priests’ School.

  His Grace asked: And this obsession with a clay image, was it associated with any other thing that you recall as unusual?

  Captain Rohan testified: It was, Your Grace. Very soon after his brother gave him the image, Leopold was speaking of an invisible companion who gave him guidance. />
  The Lord Bishop of Nupal said: Captain Rohan, is this not quite a common thing in childhood? A child, especially a lonely one, is often given to such fancies, surely.

  Captain Rohan said: But this did not pass away as we expect childhood fancies to do, Your Reverence. Yes, my own little daughter chattered of such a thing once, and I corrected her, and soon heard no more about it. But this boy Leopold continued to believe in his spectral companion—and does so still, I understand. We others, being ignorant boys, were much impressed by his talk, and I am sorry to say we encouraged it awhile. I stopped doing so when I realized that it bordered on idolatry, or perhaps passed the border.

  The Earl of Cornal asked: Do you say that he in fact worshiped this idol, this image?

  Captain Rohan testified: My lord, he would hold it in his hands, and often close his eyes and appear to be listening; and then he might give us advice on matters of which he could have known nothing. It was, I remember, advice much more mature than belonged to his years.

  His Grace asked: And what, if you know, became of this clay image?

  Captain Rohan said: The boy Leopold left it behind when he disappeared from the Priests’ School. I believe Sidney Sturm brought it back to Leopold’s brother Jermyn, and it was still in Jermyn’s possession a month ago when he and Dr. Sturm came to see me.

  His Grace said: Leopold Graz, under oath before God to tell the truth, do you say you do not know this man Captain Rohan?

  The prisoner said: I know his nature from the way he speaks.

  His Grace said: You evade. Do you remember him from the past?

  The prisoner said: I cannot answer that.

  His Grace said: What? You cannot?

  The prisoner said: I took the oath with reservations of which I made no secret. I cannot answer the question.

  His Grace said: And you deny any knowledge of a clay image?

  After hesitation, the prisoner replied: I do.

  His Grace asked: This you say under oath?…Leopold Graz, you must speak so that we hear you, and stand upright if you are able. You declare under oath that you know nothing of any clay image?

  The man Leopold Graz called Brother Francis said: The light of the City is the light of understanding and love, the two inseparable.

  His Grace the Archbishop then said: There need be no more testimony, no more questioning. The rest, my lords, is for discussion among us three, in camera. We insist that there be no loose discussion of this troublesome case by those privileged to attend this hearing as spectators. The Court is now adjourned.

  Final judgment and sentence will be pronounced on the opening of this Court tomorrow.

  ∫3

  Letter from Mgr. Wilmot Breen, Magister Theologiae, Director of Examiners under the Patriarchate of Pretorius IV, to His Beneficence Alesandar Fitzeral,

  O.S.S., Abbot of St. Benjamin’s at Mount Orlook, November 29, 465.

  To Your Beneficence, Greetings.

  Speedily and with the help of God we have reached a decision in the question of the blessed Francis of Gilba, and have communicated our finding to His Holiness Pretorius IV by the Will of Heaven Patriarch of the World. It is now our great pleasure to convey to Your Beneficence also the substance of our findings, with gratitude for the assistance so graciously granted us by Your Beneficence in securing the document by Jermyn Graz, which in spite of its dubious nature sheds much light on the childhood of the blessed Francis.

  We find that beyond doubt Francis of Gilba was divinely inspired in his teaching (so unfortunately never committed to writing) and that in particular his insistence on truthfulness, divine understanding, and divine love as the essence of the everlasting Brownist Faith is a great contribution toward the salvation of mankind. We feel confident that when sufficient time has passed, this noble spirit will be declared sanctified. In the meantime Your Beneficence will be pleased to learn that the arm bone of the blessed Francis preserved at the Cathedral in Albani continues its work of healing to the manifest glory of God.

  We have found that the Companion who appeared to the blessed Francis in his visions was no other than the blessed St. Lucy of Syracuse, martyred in ancient time and venerated throughout the centuries. Understanding in this mat In was granted to us in a dream, wherein it was made plain that in speaking of the City of Light, Francis of Gilba was approaching as nearly as God permitted him to explaining the identity of his sacred benefactress: LUCY from ancient Uitin LUX. meaning LIGHT. After this guidance it was a simple matter to consult the records, wherein we found that Francis of Cilba, vulgarly known as Leopold Graz, was born on December 13. St. Lucy’s Day since time immemorial. Thus all doubt was dispelled: the dross of argument and conjecture fell away and the intention of the Lord was made plain.

  We find further, having questioned the benign and ancient woman Mam Lora Stone at the nunnery of St. Ellen at Nupal, that the birth of Francis of Gilba must have been miraculous. St. Lucy, be it remembered, is a patron of women in childbirth. We need not presume any event so marvelous as a virgin birth, but simply that the mother of Francis was gotten with child by an angelic visitation. A clue to this is unwittingly provided in the manuscript by the man Jermyn Graz, in the passage recording the obscure saying of the boy Francis that he was “born unto the Vine.” The Vine, as we know, is sacred to the Archangel Dionysus, the Male Principle, and now that the identity of the Companion is known, the conclusion is obvious.

  This brings us to a delicate matter wherein we must rely on the discretion of Your Beneficence. The manuscript of the man Jermyn Graz, which we had hoped to return for the archives of St. Benjamin’s, has disappeared, owing, we believe, to the criminal dereliction of some minor member of our clerical staff; all of them are to be put to the question, and no doubt the truth will emerge. In the meantime, by the grace of God, a fair copy of the manuscript had been made, from which the gross errors and perversions of the man Jermyn Graz were eliminated; thus we now have a record that is reliable for all time, and if the original manuscript should be recovered, it will probably be the consensus of the Examiners that it ought to be destroyed, not preserved.

  The miraculous generation of the blessed Francis of Gilba is rendered even more clear by the fact that Francis could not logically have been whole brother to this man who for many years has been precentor at St. Benjamin’s, and who appears to have wormed his way into the affections of Your Beneficence, and whose opinions as they appear in the uncorrected manuscript are tainted with gross heresy and sinful pride and willful error. Your Beneficence will understand that this man Jermyn Graz must be instantly removed from any position at the Abbey, and held in close custody until the Examiners shall have had opportunity to study his literary output—collected stories, legends, commentaries on Old Time, we know not what—and determine whether to place them on the Index Expurgatorius and burn all copies.

  Finally—and this is a matter of the utmost urgency—any amulet or image or the like found in the possession of the man Jermyn Graz is to be confiscated and turned over to us for exorcism and disposal. If no such object is found in his possession, lie must be persuaded by any approved means to explain his disposition of it. The blessed Francis of Gilba himself repudiated this miserable idol with horror; other implications, we feel sure, will not escape the consideration of Your Beneficence.

  Accept, we pray, the assurance of our continual esteem.

  Wilmot Breen, M.T.

  ∫4

  Note from unfrocked prisoner Jermyn Graz to

  His Beneficence Alesandar Fitzeral, O.S.S.,

  Abbot of St. Benjamins.

  My dear Lord Abbot:

  Pray accept my gratitude for the kindness of Your Beneficence in transferring me to this cell where an eastern window permits me a little morning light, and for allowing me these writing materials, and for permitting me to make this communication to Your Beneficence.

  I will first take this opportunity to recant whatever confession of error I may have made under physical persuasion, and second, t
o repeat as clearly as I can that which I said to my examiners and which they would not accept, concerning my disposal of the two-faced clay.

  After I had committed to the hands of Your Beneficence my Memorandum on the life of my brother Leopold, reflection made it clear to me that the discovery’ of the image on my per son, considering the present temper of the times, might result in peril to the clay figure as well as to myself. I remind Your Beneficence that I have been and still am a historian, ‘lb me, in this ugly little dab of clay, there is a beauty and a wonder that I cannot describe to you: these faces have seen eternity . Why it was rejected by my poor brother, if indeed it was, I shall never know; but I cannot repudiate it: these faces that have seen eternity are the faces of my own kind.

  Therefore on leaving Your Beneficence I took myself for a long walk into the woods outside the monastery’ grounds, or perhaps beyond the woods, and I buried the image. It is in the applewood box that my beloved Sidney made for it, the silver chain is wrapped around it, and it lies in a place where it will not be found by any search—for even I, having smoothed the natural cover and moved away heeding no landmarks, could not find it again if I would. The Examiners and their servants cannot overturn all the trees and boulders or dig away all the earth in all the places where I might have buried it.

  Let it lie there and be discovered again—maybe by a child, or a poet, or a wanderer, in a time when the passions of our day are no more remembered than those of Old Time.

  Jermyn Graz