Brother Cadfael 04: St. Peter's Fair

them.
    "But I must start my draught brewing," said Cadfael. "You may talk to me while I do it. I shall hear you within, and I'll be with you as soon as I have it stirring. What's the news from the great world? Is King Stephen secure on his throne now, do you think?"
    Beringar considered that in silence for a few moments, listening contentedly to the soft sounds of Cadfael's movements within the hut. "With all the west still holding out for the empress, however warily, I doubt it. Nothing is moving now, but it's an ominous stillness. You know that Earl Robert of Gloucester is in Normandy with the empress?"
    "So we'd heard. It's not to be wondered at, he is her half-brother, and fond of her, so they say, and not an envious man."
    "A good man," agreed Hugh, doing an opponent generous justice, "one of the few on either side not grasping for what he himself can get. The west, however quiet now, will do what Robert says. I can't believe he'll hold off for ever. And even out of the west, he has kinsmen and influence. The word runs that he and Maud, from their refuge in France, are working away quietly to enlist powerful allies, wherever they see a hope. If that's true, this civil war is by no means over. Promised enough support, there'll be a bid for the lady's cause, soon or late."
    "Robert has daughters married about the land," said Cadfael thoughtfully, "and all of them to men of might. One of them to the earl of Chester, I recall. If a few of that measure declared for the empress, you might well have a war on your hands to some purpose."
    Beringar drew a long face, and then shrugged off the thought. Earl Ranulf of Chester was certainly one of the most powerful men in the kingdom, virtually king himself of an immense palatine where his writ ran, and no other. But for that very reason he was less likely to feel the need to declare for either side in the contention for the throne. Himself supreme, and unlikely ever to be threatened in his own possessions by either Maud or Stephen, he could afford to sit back and watch his own borders, not merely with a view to preserving them intact, rather to extending them. A land at odds with itself offers opportunities, as well as threats.
    "Ranulf will need a lot of persuading, kinsman or no. He's very well as he is, and if he does move it will be because he sees profit and power in it for himself, and the empress will come a poor second. He's not the man to risk anything for any cause but his own."
    Cadfael came out from the hut to sit beside him, drawing grateful breath in the evening coolness, for he had his small brazier burning within, beneath his simmering brew. "That's better! Now fill me a cup, Hugh, I'm more than ready for it." And after a long and satisfying draught he said thoughtfully: "There were some fears this disturbed state of things could ruin the fair even this year, but it seems trade keeps on the move while barons skulk in their castles. The prospects are excellent, after all."
    "For the abbey, perhaps," agreed Hugh. "The town is less happy about the outlook, from all we heard as we passed through. This new abbot of yours has set the burgesses properly by the ears."
    "Ah, you've heard about that?" Cadfael recounted the course of the argument, in case his friend had caught but one side of it. "They have a case for seeking relief, no question. But so has he for refusing it, and he's standing firm on his rights. No way round it in law, he's taking no more than is granted to him. And no less!" he added, and sighed.
    "Feelings are running high in the town," warned Beringar seriously. "I would not be sure you may not have trouble yet. I doubt if the provost made any too much of their needs. The word in the town is that this may be law, but it is not justice. But what's the word with you? How are you faring in the new dispensation?"
    "You'll hear murmurs even within our walls," admitted Cadfael, "if you keep your ears open. But for my part, I have no complaint. He's a hard man, but fair, and at least as hard on himself as on others. We've been spoiled and easy with Heribert, and the new curb pulled us up pretty sharply, but that's the sum of it. I have much confidence in the man. He'll chasten where he sees fault, but he'll stand by his own against any power where they are threatened blameless. He's a man I'd be glad to have beside me in any battle."
    "But his loyalty's limited to his own?" said Beringar slyly, and cocked a slender black brow.
    "We live in a contentious