Where to begin ….? He told me that there were things about the King and the Queen that I did not know. He said that I must tell him everything I knew about the King, so that he could be reassured that the King's actions could be understood. Why was he acting so strangely? I had always thought the Bishop to be a very gentle and kind man. But his manner of questioning made me very uncomfortable. I told him everything. Almost everything. But I would not betray the visit to the woods, in the night - that seemed so long ago - and the King's moment of grief. The Bishop could tell that I was incomplete. He promised that I would be contacted again. And then he told me, "I want your story", and when he said this my heart froze and I knew that preparations must be made.
-Sorren
“This garden of King Sigmus is no ordinary garden. It is infused with some form of magic that is dangerous, and repulsive to the Lord. The careful and systematic installation of known plants that are selected for their special, innate qualities, some of which are important to witchcraft and sorcery, is clearly demonstrated, for rumors penetrate into every crack and fissure of the Church. And so this Bishop Jacob is investigating the same thing . . .or so I surmise from his careful questioning of Sorren. What else is it that the Bishop could be concerned about? It is also certain that the Bishop knows something important about the King that he is unwilling to reveal to the servant. I can think of no political expediency to which the King could be subject to for political gain, and the island is at peace, so I am forced to speculate once again.
Could a theological crisis be brewing on this peaceful island to which the Church is unaware? A Bishop questioning a servant is one thing, but a Bishop questioning the private servant to the King is something else altogether. I also speculate that Sorren may be inventing intrigue here where there is none, for would the Bishop truly ask the servant to hear his story? I have no reason to believe this, but I must consider every possibility. After the things I have witnessed on the continent over the last year however, I am prepared to accept anything, and the Church must remain diligent in all such matters lest it be infiltrated by legions diabolic. I am beginning to like this man, but I cannot allow my personal feelings to weaken my focus.”
Frankly, I do not blame Sorren for seemingly being paranoid here, for I too, share his distrust in authority. In the hands of a Bishop, the servant is no more than a struggling bird within the vice-like grip of a predator. Then, as now, the overarching power of authority can cause absolute terror of one to which the powers choose to examine. The Law can be arbitrary and vicious, but in the time of Sorren, the Church was the Law. Sorren is being manipulated, and he knows it, but I sense his apprehension as he tries to hide the full truth from the Bishop. I like this, and I would hope that I could have the strength to withstand such questioning by a superior that could destroy me so easily.
Sorren has already decided that preparations must be made. His intention is to resist the pressure being applied by the Bishop. He says preparations, but what could that mean? Perhaps he is using his mind to invent an alternate explanation. The colloquial term for that is lying. Sorren is concocting a lie in his head. He is doing something dangerous here, because a Bishop is not something to be played with, and the Bishop has tools too horrible to imagine.