On her way back to Sapientia, she saw Ivar standing in the doorway to the residence where Margrave Judith had taken up quarters. He saw her, beckoned, and ducked inside. She followed him over the threshold. “Ivar?”
“Hush!” He drew her into a small storeroom where servants’ pallets lined one wall. The closed shutters made the room dim and stuffy. He embraced her. “Oh, Hanna! I thought I would never see you again! I’m not allowed to speak to women.”
She kissed him on either cheek, the kinswoman’s greeting. “I’m not just any woman!” she said unsteadily. “I nursed at the same breast. Surely we can speak together without fear of punishment.”
“Nay,” he whispered, opening the door a crack to see out into the corridor, then returning to her. “Rosvita wanted to see me, but it was forbidden, though she’s a cleric, and my sister. But she would only have scolded me anyway, so I’m glad I didn’t see her!”
Hanna sighed. He was as passionately thoughtless as ever. “Well, you’ve certainly filled out through the shoulders, Ivar. You look more like your father than ever. But are you well? Why aren’t you at Quedlinhame?”
He still shook his head the same way, red curls all unruly, face gone stubborn. He always jumped before he measured the ground. “Is it true? That the king means Lady Tallia to marry? They mustn’t despoil her! She must remain the pure vessel of God’s truth.” He wrenched away from her again, clapping his hands to his forehead in an attitude of despair and frustration. “They’ll do to her what they did to Baldwin! They care nothing for vows sworn honestly to the church!”
“Hush, Ivar. Hush, now.” She drew his hands down from his head and pressed a palm against his forehead, but he wasn’t hot. His voice had the fever in it, not his skin. “Why aren’t you at Quedlinhame? Did your father send for you?”
He made a strange gesture, left index finger drawn down his chest over his breastbone. “If you’d seen—”
“Seen what?”
“The miracle of the rose. The marks of flaying on her palms. You’d believe in the sacrifice and redemption. You’d know the truth which has been concealed.”
Nervous, she pulled away from him and bumped up against the wall. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ivar. Is this some madness that’s gotten into you?”