17. The four Abbesses bowed before the seated Cardinal. Each of them held out a crown of thorns, which he blessed with a disinterested wave of his hand. Meanwhile the monks relieved themselves of the burden of four heavy crosses, which hit the polished stone floor of the nave with loud clunks and clatters.
Taking center stage, the Very Reverend Bishop Wragg, cleared his throat to address the assembled, "Ahem. May I have your attention. I have the honor of announcing the 'performance points' just recently awarded by His Eminence at the conclusion of the scourging. Crosshageul Abbey received 18 points, but was penalized 5 for immodesty; its novice Eulalia having lost the cover of her loincloth in the course of her scourging. This gives the Scottish Abbey a cumulative total of 27 points."
Abbess Ailsa raised her hand in vehement protest over the penalty, but was studiously ignored by the ambitious bishop, who intended to avoid any trouble with the Cardinal, at all costs, especially any trouble over those troublesome Scots!
"Our French visitors from Mont St. Michel," he continued," have turned in an exemplary performance. Sister Judith's stunningly impressive wielding of a Roman whip with lead-ball studded tails, along with the terrible but exquisite anguish inflicted on the lovely young novice Messaline, have earned their team a near perfect 19 performance points for this phase of the Competition ... giving them a total of 31 points and first place in the Competition!"
Polite applause rippled through the audience, few of whom were French.
"Our own team from Cruxton, led by a very strong-armed and determined Sister Hilda, also turned in a strong performance earning a score of 16, which makes a grand total of 28, enough to edge ahead of the Scots and claim second place."
All eyes turned to Hilda, who stood beside me as I hung from my right wrist, my ragged whip-scored back scraping painfully against the blood smeared sandstone column every time I moved. Beaming with pride, Hilda reached over to raise my head by the hair as though I was some kind of trophy, only to drop it carelessly as soon as Wragg had moved on to the last team.
"Threepwood Abbey remains in last place, largely due to a weak showing in endurance and a lack of fortitude on the part of its young and inexperienced novice Thessela; earning only 8 performance points for a total of 16.”
Murmurs of speculation could be heard among the assembled nuns, monks and priests as to the appropriateness of this weak English Abbey being placed in the Competition in the first place, as well as a running debate on whether Sister Judith or Sister Hilda was the most proficient and brutal nun with a whip.
Meanwhile, the four Abbesses descended the steps and made their way over to their respective novices for the ritual placing of the crown of thorns. My head, which had sunk to a position in which my chin rested on my chest, was raised once again by Hilda who still retained a firm grip on my hair. The Abbess’ face came blurrily into view, followed by sharp intense pain as she pressed the crown of thorns down on my head and then twisted it back and forth until the thorns broke skin, causing trickles of blood to appear on my brow and in my matted hair.
“Get her down!” commanded the Abbess, “and be quick … it’s time to carry the wood!”
Ethelbert and Tuck jumped to the task, releasing my wrist, catching my limp body and dragging me over to where they had laid my cross. They let go and I sprawled on the cool marble floor, too weak to move, vaguely aware of the half comatose bodies of the other three novices being tossed on the floor nearby.
“Revive her!” shouted the Abbess, eager to get me up and ready to bear my cross before the competition could do so.
Sister Hilda promptly emptied a bucket of ice cold water over my head.
TO BE CONTINUED
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