The Outlaws of Ennor: (Knights Templar 16) by Michael Jecks

God.
    Attempting to balance her feelings and desires in this way, Tedia had driven herself almost into a brain fever. For two days she felt as though she was floating on a cloud of happiness high over all her troubles, and even tried to invigorate her husband again, but then she sank into the pit of despair once more. It was while she was deep in a depression on the fourth day that she had sought out Luke, the chaplain. She needed spiritual help.
    At once he had seen her misery and asked what the matter was. After a lot of snivelling and sadness, she confessed that she had no idea what to do, explaining her predicament.
    ‘My child, the solution is easy,’ he said with that gentle smile of his. ‘You must divorce him.’
    If Isok was unable to service her, he was failing in his duty to God and to her. She must find a new husband so that she wouldn’t fail in
her
duty. That meant she must divorce her Isok.
    She listened with her mouth agape. The idea was shameful! Terrible! But there was a certain elegant logic to it. Divorce was less bad than continuing life without sex or children. That was unbearable. It was an insult to God, Who had commanded that men and women should multiply.
    When Luke explained it to her, it seemed so clear and logical, she was overwhelmed with gratitude. He told her that she must findanother man. That it would only be doing God’s will, were she to find a lover; she should find a man who could satisfy her, and whom she could also satisfy, while also producing the children which God desired above all else.
    Of course, she thought. That is natural. And then Luke reached forward, and kissed her so kindly, she had felt her heart leap in response. She had risen, thanked him and explained that she must return to her husband or he would wonder where she was. There was a slightly petulant expression on his face when she said that, but she hadn’t thought much of it at the time.
    So she had made her choice. Her lover was to be Robert. Last night she had hoped to consummate her love for him, and then, when the divorce was granted, she would go to Robert and be his wife. They would live at the castle behind La Val and would have many children as God wished.
    Except Robert had not arrived the night before. It was no surprise. He was a man of authority. His face was known across all the islands, and he could have been called away to deal with a problem somewhere else. Or maybe he was simply intimidated by the weather. He could well have rationalised that her husband might have turned back from the sea as soon as he saw the storm approach, just as Isok actually had. In which case, Robert might be coming to see her today to apologise.
    With this thought in mind, she left her home and walked down to the beach.
    It was smothered in driftwood and weeds. The sands which had been so clean and white the day before, were now cluttered with pebbles and dirt. Sections of the grassed banks at the top of the beach were rent asunder, the rich soil spilling out and staining the sand. When she continued along the seashore, she saw huts and houses with their thatch blown apart, and in one case a house had lost its entire roof. The peasant who lived there was standing on an unstable ladder trying to make the best of it he could. Tedia thought that she should offer to let him stay with her in her house, but then a certain rectitude told her that it might be a bad idea while her husband was away in his boat, as he had said he would be.
    Isokhad been acting oddly ever since she had said that she wanted a divorce. It appeared not to surprise him, but had sent him into a sulky mood that hadn’t gone away. She wanted to comfort him, but it wasn’t possible. He resented her, as though she was disloyal in desiring a divorce. She could understand that. Still, she didn’t
dislike
him. Perhaps her love had dwindled over the long barren years, but she was still fond of him. If they had managed to have children, she was sure that he