Deryni Checkmate Read Online Free

Technically, Duke Alaric Morgan did not fall within the jurisdiction of either archbishop, but both were hopeful that the letter on the table would shortly circumvent that small technicality.
    Loris made a steeple of his fingers and gazed across at Corrigan evenly. “Probably not,” he admitted. “But his people may. Rumor has it that dissidents in northern Corwyn even now are preaching the overthrow of their Deryni duke.”
    “Humph!” Corrigan snorted derisively, picking up a quill pen and dipping it into a crystal inkwell. “What good can a handful of rebels hope to do against Deryni magic? Besides, you know that Morgan’s people love him.”
    “Yes, they do—for now,” Loris agreed. He watched as Corrigan began carefully inscribing a name on the outside of the letter they had written, watched with a hidden smile as the tip of his colleague’s tongue followed each stroke of the rounded uncials. “But will they love him as well, once the Interdict falls?”
    Corrigan looked up sharply from his finished handiwork, then vigorously sanded the wet ink with pounce from a silver shaker and blew away the excess.
    “And what of the rebel band then?” Loris continued insistently, eyeing his companion through narrowed lids. “They say that Warin, the rebel leader, believes himself to be a new messiah, divinely appointed to rid the land of the Deryni scourge. Can you not see how such zealousness could be made to work to our advantage?”
    Corrigan pulled at his lower lip in concentration, then frowned. “Are we to permit self-appointed messiahs to go gallivanting around the countryside without proper supervision, Edmund? This rebel movement smacks of heresy to me.”
    “I’ve given no official sanction yet,” Loris said. “I’ve not even met this Warin fellow. But you must admit that such a movement could be highly effective, were it given proper guidance. Besides”—Loris smiled—“perhaps this Warin is divinely inspired.”
    “I doubt it.” Corrigan scowled. “How far do you propose to pursue the matter?”
    Loris leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his waist. “The rebel headquarters is reputed to be in the hills near Dhassa, where the Curia meets later this week. Gorony, whom we send to Corwyn’s bishop, has been in touch with the rebels and will return to Dhassa when he finishes his current assignment. I hope to arrange a meeting with the rebel leader then.”
    “And until then, we do nothing?”
    Loris nodded. “We do nothing. I do not want the king to know what we are planning, and—”
    A discreet knock at the door heralded the arrival of Corrigan’s secretary and an older, nondescript-looking man in the traveling garb of a simple priest. Father Hugh lowered his eyes and bowed slightly as he announced the newcomer.
    “Monsignor Gorony, Your Excellency.”
    Gorony strode to Corrigan’s chair and dropped to one knee to kiss the archbishop’s ring, then rose at Corrigan’s signal, to wait attentively.
    “Thank you, Father Hugh. I believe that will be all for tonight,” Corrigan said, starting to wave dismissal.
    Loris cleared his throat, and Corrigan glanced in his direction.
    “The suspension we spoke of earlier, Patrick? We had agreed that the man must be disciplined, had we not?”
    “Oh, yes, of course,” Corrigan murmured. He rummaged briefly among the papers piled at one corner of the desk, then extracted one and pushed it across the desk to Hugh.
    “This is the draft of a writ of summons I need as soon as possible, Father. When the official document is drawn up, please return it for my signature.”
    “Yes, Excellency.”
    As Hugh took the paper and headed for the door, Corrigan took up the sealed document and returned his attention to Gorony.
    “Now, this is the letter you’re to deliver to Bishop Tolliver. I’ve a barge waiting to take you to the Free Port of Concaradine, and from there you can take ship with one of the merchant fleets. You should be in