PART IV Absolution

From a practical point of view—and it must be said that Stefan’s approach to Christianity was a pragmatic rather than an impassioned one—Matthew’s intense religiosity had not been a problem in Athelburg, where there had been a priest in residence at the city’s main rectory and he could fit in daily observances along with his duties as the chief trainer for the king’s would-be warriors.

By comparison, Codswallow was a spiritual desert. True, there was a church kept up by a trio of local monks, but with his self-imposed standard of soul-cleansing, the arrival of an ordained priest would naturally send Matthew into a religious frenzy, and without an actual battle or siege to divert him, Matthew would be on his knees for hours.

Stefan’s own religious observations were considerably less time-consuming. While most of the complex theological doctrines included in his boyhood lessons with Brother Lenard had gone over his head, he had understood what seemed to be the main point—that the reason for going to confession (and in fact for being a Christian in the first place) was to avoid going to hell. What he’d worked out on his own was that it didn’t matter how many times in a week or a month or a year you confessed and did your penance; the only thing that really counted was getting final absolution as close as possible to when you died. Do it too soon and you just start piling up sins again; leave it until too late and it’s (obviously) too late.

With that in mind, Stefan made it a habit to seek out a priest at the start of each new battle season, but otherwise left churchgoing mostly to Matthew. That said, he had every intention of being seen in church the next day with all of his men, and to be there taking up the front pews.