Chapter 86 - Burn the Witches!

The people of Holstein were already gathering in the square, this time not because of a party, but because of a witches trial by fire. When Alexa, the priest and the bird arrived at the cathedral, the posts were already standing on top of the platform. There were five. Priests and soldiers circled the scaffold, finishing the final details for the execution.

"Did the priest know that?" asked Alexa for Blue Eyes. He confirmed, "I knew that investigations into the profane sacrifice in the villa continued and that they had found suspects. The information you gave about the deformed big guy took Gunnar and the bishop straight into the family of a certain butcher, who had a son like that. It seems to me that he was obsessed with being an executioner, despite his malaise. Investigations continued from there. They poisoned the soldiers' water. A day earlier, the coven had taken over the villa, and they killed the servants, as well as the family."

"So did they catch those responsible?" Alexa was surprised. In fact, she imagined that they were not making progress, when in fact they were just acting quietly.

"I don't think they took them all, and this demonstration will only make the others withdraw or flee," said the Italian priest, looking annoyed. The news of the trial by fire had certainly taken him by surprise. "The captured witches only revealed that they would defile the Bride to destroy the Von Wuttenfal family."

Alexa shivered, remembering everything she passed and witnessed in that villa.

"Does the Holy Office really burn people?"

"No. It's only the secular power that judges heretics by fire, Your Highness. If they confess their crimes and repent of their sins, they will be returned to the Church. If the confession is true, they will escape purifying death, and will be kept in prison for the rest of their days."

Alexander, in a somber tone, said to the maiden,

~ The Church accused my mother of witchcraft when I was about a year old. She was quickly tried and convicted, according to the records. My father should keep my mother in prison, as she confessed to being a witch in the past, and asked for Divine Mercy. ~

The Princess was thoughtful, trying to understand how things happened. Alexander barely remembered his own mother, unlike Magnus, who had known both his mother and his stepmother. Even so, the Second Prince carried the stigma of being the son of a heretic.

They continued in the carriage, where they could see everything without being seen.

Turning to the priest, Alexa asked,

"As I understand it, this region has had several cases of witchcraft in the past. The people call Prince Gutard a 'Witch Hunter'. In my travels, I heard that the Holy Office hardly works anymore, and the penalties are light, chasing common heretics. Witches are rare. But not here."

"Heretics exist in droves, Alexa. Demon worshipers, apostates and blasphemers. Only, Holstein's cathedral was erected to purify a previously cursed place," revealed the Florentine priest.

~ When he told me this story, EVEN I didn't sleep for several nights. Don't let him continue, Alexa! ~

Despite the advice, Alexa was very curious and did the exact opposite,

"Is Holstein cursed?"

"Yes, hundreds of years ago Romans conquered and colonized this region. They didn't know the Gospels and worshiped their old false gods. There were several temples here for these gods. The natives here had their pagan beliefs, too. The entire coastal region and forests were inhabited in the past by people who had come from Jutland and Denmark. With their gods and demons, and their barbarian customs. Getting them to accept Christ has not been an easy task, apparently. For centuries secret cults to pagan gods, and witches, have had a lot of power here. Until the Von Wuttenfal came to power. For three generations they have actively fought pagan customs and heresy in these lands. But the climax was during the reign of Otto Von Wuttenfal, Prince Gutard's father," said Blue Eyes at once, while looking out of the carriage window. "That was when his eldest son earned his epithet of Witch Hunter. Reports say that he killed many heretics and sorcerers throughout the kingdom and even in neighboring kingdoms."

Alexa had more questions, but her attention was drawn back to the outside of the carriage. At that moment, the nightingale escaped through the window, flying towards the cathedral, without the Princess being able to stop Alexander.

Women, who were only identified as human beings because they wore white robes, were taken to the scaffold. One of them could not even stand on her own, and when they tied her to the pole by her feet and hands, she hung in a grotesque manner.

"This is a horrible sight!" she exclaimed. Whether or not they were to blame for that slaughter, the sight disgusted Alexa. She could have been there at that moment, according to Magnus' words earlier.

Prince Gutard and the Bishop, accompanied by officers from the clergy and also from the kingdom, went up to the scaffold. On one of the posts, they tied a bundle in the best way possible. Blue Eyes murmured, puzzled,

"What is that?"

To which Alexa replied, as she now realized what was taking place,

"Father, that is Princess Gisela. Today the Prince has recovered her body, and now he will burn her as a heretic."

'I just don't think he should do that,' she mused, watching black clouds form quickly over the square. The wind blew strong, raising dry leaves and dust.

Blue Eyes took a deep breath, saying, "We need not be prophets to know that they will not win this war with a victory in this battle. Once again Gutard underestimates the malice of his worst enemies,"

Alexa, however, didn't answer, just opened the carriage door and left towards the cathedral. Alexander was perhaps not well, with all the twists and turns about his mother today. She didn't have a good feeling. It was better to catch and protect him, before something happened under that stormy sky.

The sudden and frightening change in the sky impressed even the citizens and the curious people gathered in the square. And something even more frightening happened as Alexa walked with the strong wind lashing her body.

A flock of crows went round and round until they descended to the high spots of the square. They perched on posts, adjacent buildings, and even in the cathedral.

"What the hell is going on here?!" she murmured to herself, realizing that those ominous signals only anticipated something much worse coming.