Memories—her father’s words and Bishop Wilmer’s, the latter more akin to threats than caution—filled her mind. They came like a deluge, flooding her senses. When Martin Luther had first nailed his ninety-five theses to the church doors in Wittenberg, Christyne had been curious. Why would a monk and scholar make such statements against the Church? Instead of explaining doctrines that felt beyond the grasp of her feeble mind, her father and Bishop Wilmer had woven a picture for her. Of a man preceding Luther. Another man who thought to reform the Church.
Jan Huss.
With vivid detail, they recounted how the rector had been stripped naked by the executioner. Jeers and lewd remarks lashed him from the gathered crowd. His hands had been tied behind his back and a chain wound about his neck, binding him to a stake. Wood and straw piled around him until only his head remained visible. They taunted him until the imperial marshal offered him one last opportunity to recant, which he declined.
Christyne shuddered as she recalled the sensory descriptions Bishop Wilmer seemed to enjoy prodding her with. The smell of burning flesh. The cries of a dying man.
The warning had been clear. Any person who dared defy the mother church would receive their just punishment.
She slid her eyes shut, picturing Jesus upon the cross. For her transgressions He was wounded. For her iniquities He was bruised. Rejected. Despised. Acquainted with grief. Her punishment upon His shoulders.
Did she wish to lay down her life? To be cast beneath the flowing currents of a nearby river, never to rise again?
Nay. But if she must die to this world, then she would cling to the hope of everlasting eternity with the Prince of Peace.
Following Nikolaus’s lead, she stepped forward. “I, too, wish to be baptized.”
Lorenz’s hand stilled midair, his motion to set the pitcher upon the ground halted by her declaration. He turned toward her, slow and intentional. His muscles seemed to simultaneously tighten and go slack.
Clare laid a hand on her shoulder. “Your father has already declared the deaths of any dissenters he finds on his lands. Herzog Kampff waits with his landsknechte to mete out fatal punishment.” She glanced around their small circle, eyes wide and pleading before she settled her gaze back on Christyne. “What you propose will surely be the end of you, for you, daughter of the land, can neither hide away nor escape during your father’s marriage ceremony.”
Christyne met Clare’s earnest regard. She straightened her spine. All the fears she had been carrying around since first she donned Hette’s kirtle and sneaked past the castle walls drained from her shoulders. Then, she had been spurred on by a sense of duty; now, she stood in rightness. Though simply a woman, God had used her. To save Lorenz. Betzyl, Peter, and Katherine as well. And in the midst of the rescuing, she herself had been ransomed. Was there any greater purpose in life than that? To be used by God?
And if He could use her in death as well as in life, who was she to argue with God? Jan Huss’s physical end did not silence his influence. If she be silenced, then may her blood cry out.
Holy, holy, holy is the name of the Lord.
“Nor can you,” she reminded Clare.
“'Tis true. However, Prince Ernst is already aware of my beliefs and mistakenly thinks he can curb my mind and bend my will back to the Church. You cannot claim the same.”
She could not. But life was not worth living without conviction. “I am aware of the consequences, same as Nikolaus.”
Clare stepped away and Lorenz took her place. The dark stubble upon his jaw had thickened over the days he had resided under the same roof as she. He raised a hand, and she noticed the fading ink stains on his fingers as he reached to cup her neck. Though his stature was not thick and broad like that of the men tilling the soil or those wielding weapons, he stood strong before her.
Her breast sank as air pushed out of her chest. Expanded as it filled. Never had she been so aware of what her body did without thought. The beats of her heart. The sensitivity of her skin. Everything heightened as he drew near.
“Never have I felt such a mixture of joy and fear before a baptism,” he confessed. His thumb trailed along the underside of her jaw. “I wish I could promise to protect you, but I have been unable to save even myself.”
She swallowed, working her tongue past its thickness. “You have already saved me. There is more than this mortal world holds.”
His features softened, and he moved his hand to lay it on her crown. After a prayer, he poured water in a gentle stream over her head.
I am thine, O Lord.
Chapter Twenty
Germany, Present Day
It was a two cups of coffee type of morning. Blame the phase of the moon or charged particles in the air, the kids had taken two huge steps back in progress that morning. They were grumpy, didn’t want to listen, and had an attitude that brought the consequence of running laps until their legs were too weak to take another step.
Seth had called a fifteen-minute water break, but Amber needed to zip into the center for something with a little more fortification and a lot more caffeine. Hopefully Yasmin would be busy with a phone call or helping a patron. Already Amber had fielded knowing glances from Mila that morning with her first cup of coffee. She didn’t want to have to endure the subtle smiles, or even worse, the straightforward questions from her friends.
It was there, written plainly across everyone’s faces. How did the date go? What did she think of Seth? Were they officially a couple?
They meant well, and she couldn’t blame them since they’d all, in essence, been on the date together. But even though she’d shared the experience, she wasn’t ready toshare the experience.If that made any sense.
Their connection was too new. Too special. She wanted to keep it close to her heart, bathe in the memory of the moments she and Seth had spent together walking along the river, talking and simply being together. They were in a private little cocoon that, at the moment, only had room for the two of them. Invite too many people in too quickly and who knew? Maybe the growth of their relationship would be stunted, their wings never strong enough to fly.
