Inquisitor

Chapter 2:

Chapter 2:

Thaddeus slipped his way to the back of the smoke-filled room. The fire was always ablaze this time of year, and the flue was never cleaned until it caught fire and swept the old grease away in a roaring flame. Smoke and ash seemed to fill most public rooms in Venice this time of year. There was no escape from it.

Maria, behind the bar, had some herbs boiling to keep the sickness away. Many might think of this as a form of witchcraft, brewing potions and such. Thaddeus didn’t look for an evil witch behind every action. If pressed for an explanation by the night watch, she would claim it was soup… a dish no one ordered.

Some of the clergy would have questioned the burning of herbs or the use of hot water to keep evil away. To Thaddeus, it was no different from the censers or thuribles the priests burned incense in throughout the peninsula, the plague doctors with their herbal concoctions to keep themselves safe.

How could one be good and the other evil? It came down to those in power controlling some who had no control over their lives, or anything really. He hated the system but had little voice in it. The influential of every city would do what they could, power tight in their grip, against the powerless.

Given his profession, Thaddeus had the ability to have a table waiting for him in this poorer establishment. He enjoyed the solitude that eating alone offered. Even in the crowded room, anyone who knew him would keep away. His black hat would keep the curious at bay as well. His place by the fire assured, this was his favorite place to eat and wait.

The solitude suited him. He didn’t mind being around people, he just didn’t want to speak with them. He spent his life with the worst types of individuals, and he had seen the worst humans could do to one another. A constant watcher, he could sit back in this dark room and observe the actions of others, taking note of the patterns humans would give away.

The last questioning session had taken its toll. It had been a rough night. Out of habit, his hand rubbed over his cheek and chin. It was time to visit the barber. His face was in desperate need of a shave.

Sitting here was his schooling. He could learn the body language and voice inflections of many different people, all at the same time. Unfortunately, he knew from experience that several of these patrons would more than likely end up before the Council of Ten, brought up on some charges, real or imaginary. Life for the poor citizens was hard, the gallows or prison never far away for some perceived transgression.

The lower class rarely got a fair shake when it came to the law. Thaddeus would do what he could to help those brought before the council on charges, but he knew the odds were stacked against them. He worked for the council, not the defendants. The scribes and lawyers that were provided for the poorest defendants were the worst the bureaucracy had to offer. However, if not for the army of civil servants employed by the city, maintaining the vast Venetian empire would become impossible. The Council of Ten might rule the city in the name of the Doge, but the establishment kept the wheels turning.

A woman caught his eye. She was obviously in the late stages of pregnancy and sat with no man at her table. That was strange. Stranger still, she was out in public at all. She should have a husband or at least brother or father with her or be in her home waiting for the baby to come. She didn’t try to hide her swollen stomach. The fact that she sat alone was strange, but she seemed to be whispering to someone. The poor lady was probably lost in her own private world. The insane had little choice in the city. Taken advantage of by most, they had it worse off than the poor.

“What do you want, dear?” Maria the server asked after she stepped in front of him and blocked his view, breaking his concentration on the pregnant woman.

He looked up from his. His eyes followed up the woman’s body. Her breasts pushed out more than normal for a respectable woman, but she was probably not a prostitute. She was just used to using what she had to her advantage. “You know the normal, a bowl and a cup of wine.”

The older woman nodded and hustled off to fill his order. Thaddeus found it hard to take his eyes off the woman who sat alone. Not that he feared for her. He knew from experience that normal women could take care of themselves as well as any normal man. No, his concern was the small-minded people, mostly men, that made up the population he watched so closely. Specifically, the reactions of the men nearest the seemingly addled woman.

Something caught his eye: the front door opened and in walked his case in point. The narrow-minded scribe who bothered him so much today had pushed his way into Thaddeus’s quiet place. It was his own fault. He should have never told him where he was going to eat. He would ascribe this bad decision to lack of sleep and sustenance.

Pity the man had found him before he had his meal. He could have ignored him easier after his food and drink. One spoonful after the other made it difficult to speak.

Thaddeus held up his hand when Geovanni approached. “Before you say a word, I have not had my meal yet. Please do not disrupt my time, or I might have to charge you with a crime.”

Geovanni pulled out a chair and seated himself, most rudely uninvited. “What crime could you possibly charge me with?”

“Keeping an officer of the court away from his appointed duties, specifically the care and feeding of said officer.”

Maria arrived with his bowl and cup. She set it down in front of Thaddeus. “Can I get your friend something?”

Geovanni looked up, but Thaddeus cut him off. “No, he was just leaving.”

“I’ll have what he has,” Geovanni said, pointing across the table. He lowered his voice after Maria left. “The Council of Ten wish to speak with you. There is some question concerning your report.”

This interruption was not going to sit well on Thaddeus’s digestion. He knew his stomach would ache after his meal. This scribe needed to learn his place. “If you wrote down what happened, there should be no question. Now please be quiet while I say my grace.” Thaddeus rarely prayed before his meals, but he knew this man across from him was an ass-kisser, waiting to turn someone in to raise his station at the expense of others. He witnessed the signs too many times before to trust the younger man across from him. This one would need to be watched.

“Why do you frequent a place with such strange… patrons?” Geovanni asked.

“If you must wait for me, do me the favor of sitting quietly while I enjoy this slight repast.” Thaddeus scooped a large bite of the gruel into his mouth. “If you must be here, watch the people and their reactions to us as we eat. Try to learn something of others.” He spoke around the mouthful of food.

“Like who?”

After he swallowed. “Like the man and woman that sit to your right.” Thaddeus motioned to the strange couple with his eyes. He had kept an eye on them since he entered the place. Not that they dressed too oddly, but the woman hid her face with a veil, and her black eyes were the shape of almonds. Most exotic for this tavern. “Or the woman who might deliver her child at any moment. The couple to your right has watched her the entire time you have been here.”

“Do you always watch others so intently?”

Maria brought the younger man his food and drink. After she left, Thaddeus spoke with his mouth mostly hidden by his next scoop of food. “Always, it is the only way to truly learn about human behavior, by observation.”

The scribe picked at his food with the spoon. “Should I ask what you have learned about me?”

“Only if you want your feelings hurt.”

Before Geovanni could say another word, the pregnant woman let out a scream and grabbed her stomach. “I burn! The devil is coming out of me!” She quickly stood clear of the table in time for her water to break, sending the clear liquid showering down her legs and onto the floor. The nearest patrons scrambled out of the way from the deluge.

Thaddeus watched in awe as people scattered back from the spectacle and Geovanni spit his mouthful of food back into his bowl. Most in the city were unaccustomed to such displays. Thaddeus didn’t see that coming either. He just handled it with more composure than most, however the sight shocked him.

“Now, you don’t see that every day.” Thaddeus watched as the woman fell to the ground, her body twisted in pain. He could see the agony in her movements and the twisted look on her face. Each move sent ripples in the filth on the floor.

People spread farther afield, the gore flowing from under her dress sending people running for the door. A brave few lingered and watched on in morbid curiosity. Strangely enough, screams began from other parts of the inn.

Thaddeus’s attention was drawn to the other shouts in time to see the gossamer threads of spider silk as hundreds of spiders dropped from the ceiling. He picked up his wine, only to find a spider perched on the edge of his cup. He dislodged it with a blow of his breath.

Geovanni screamed like the pregnant woman when a spider landed on his face. Fear froze the man mid-signing of the cross over his heart. The few brave patrons who had stayed now left. They scattered for the exits. Doors, windows, it didn’t matter. They left by the nearest opening to the outside.

The inquisitor grabbed his scribe by the collar of his leather doublet and dragged him from the hoard of spiders that infested the tavern.

“What the devil?” Once outside, Geovanni screamed while he did a little dance, trying to remove the spiders from his long curly hair.

“I’m sure it has nothing to do with demonic incantations. They are simply spiders,” Thaddeus said, brushing the creepy crawlers from his long-sleeved coat.

“And the woman?” Geovanni asked.

“Which one?” Thaddeus wasn’t playing coy, he was interested in both the strange women at this happening. First, the lone pregnant woman who fell to the floor and, even stranger, the woman with the veil who didn’t seem at all surprised by the infestation of spiders. A quick glance and Thaddeus found the veiled woman had disappeared. That in itself was not surprising. Most of the patrons beat a hasty retreat before the watch arrived.

“What about the poor Mistress Sophia? She is still inside the room.” This came from Maria. She had wasted no time running from the waves of spiders when they descended from the ceiling. Now she moved to Thaddeus’s arm and begged him.

Thaddeus grabbed a torch from a watch who appeared when the commotion started and headed back inside the inn.

He found the space deserted, the spiders disappeared. Near the table where the woman fell, her body lay huddled in a ball. The lights had extinguished, so the only reliable source of light came from the torch in Thaddeus’s hand.

He reached out and touched her leg with the tip of his boot. Before his eyes, it erupted in a wave of spiders, and her body disappeared. The woman vanished as the spiders scurried for the cracks in the floor.

Thaddeus scanned the room to see if there were any other witnesses to this strange event, but unfortunately he was alone. His wine cup still in hand, he emptied the contents before stepping out into the narrow alley.

He wasn’t surprised when he found most of the patrons now gone. No one wanted to be around when the hard questions would be asked, like where the hell did all those spiders come from and where did they go? Who was the pregnant woman and where did she go? Who was the veiled woman with the almond eyes and was she somehow involved? These were important questions, but the one that raged in the inquisitor’s thoughts: Was that witchcraft?