The Lost Son Returns as the Duke novel · Chapter 20 of 24
Chapter 20: The Church Door
"Break it," the captain said.
"No."
"It's a door, your Grace."
"It's a church door, and the whole village is standing in front of it."
The church green was full again, with the riders drawn up in a loose line at the foot of the steps.
Osgar's voice had gone quiet in the tower, and the bell had stopped.
A mule came up the lane at a walk.
On it sat a small, damp man in a black gown, with a leather satchel across his knees.
"The bishop's clerk," Hild muttered. "Come for the Martinmas dues. Worst luck of his life."
The clerk dismounted, looked at the riders and the barred door, and made the sign of the cross.
"I am told," he said, in a thin voice, "that a man of this parish claims sanctuary."
"He does," I said.
"Then he is safe from violence until the coroner hears him. He may confess and abjure the realm, and go."
"No hanging?"
"None. The Church shields him."
A growl ran through the village.
It was not loud.
It sounded like forty people deciding at once.
"He'll walk," a man said. "He'll walk out of England on the king's road with his strongbox."
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of The Lost Son Returns as the Duke are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
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