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I dreaded the worst. “And what duties would you assign me instead?”
“None. We release you from the abbey. You are no longer bound to this life.”
My heart leaped. He was releasing me from the clergy?
I frowned. Wait. Was this some kind of trick?
I studied him, waiting for the punch line. And waiting…and waiting…
I scratched my head. Surely he had a hidden motive.
Doesn’t matter. Run for freedom while you can, my lion urged.
Every muscle in my body strained to do exactly that. But something held me back.
“Why?” I asked.
The abbot threw up his hands, exasperated. “You have neither the temperament nor the constitution to be a man of God.”
True, but that had been obvious from day one. It wasn’t as if they’d only figured that out now.
“Further, you are a bad influence on the other candidates.”
Also true, if bad meant trying to get them to see the light — or maybe not to see the light, I supposed.
He motioned to the door. “As I said, you are free to go.”
Now, his tapping foot added.
It ought to have been the best day of my life, but somehow, I couldn’t move. Was this sheer luck, or were evil forces behind this somehow?
Lady Thornton, my lion growled.
She was evil, all right, but I couldn’t imagine how her arrival in Nottingham connected to me.
Then I considered Marian. Had someone discovered my visits to the library?
“Of course, once you depart, you are forbidden from ever returning,” the abbot threw in.
Hardly a punishment — except in terms of Marian. If I left now, how would I see her? How could I protect her? Clearly, she was in some kind of trouble, even danger — danger amplified now that Lady Thornton was around. So, staying in the abbey was my best means of remaining close to Marian.
A double-edged sword, because when she moved on, I would still be stuck here. Forever. No use to her, no use to myself, and definitely no use to the church.
There was only one thing to do. Stall.
“Thank you, sir. I’ll think about it.” I turned for the door quickly.
“Friar Tuck,” he barked.
I halted, slowly turning back.
“This is a one-time offer. If you reject it now — and I cannot fathom why you might — it will never be open to you again. You will take your vows as planned and become a member of the clergy for life.”
I gulped. My life — my whole life — was on the line. But wasn’t Marian’s, potentially?
“Think about it, Tuck,” the abbot warned.
I was thinking about it, dammit. It was deciding that was hard.
