Prince of Darkness

it was cool, moist, reeking of the soil and something more corrupt. The clerk closed the door behind him. He felt the menace of death pressing against his own spirit. He jumped as a bat, startled by the noise, spread its dark wings above the rafters and screeched in annoyance. One small window high in the wall afforded some light. Curiously enough two candles had been lit, slender beeswax ones, and placed at the head of the two plain elm-wood coffins, each resting on its own trestles. Corbett went over to the nearest, lifted the gauze veil and stepped back at the sight of the wrinkled old face which stared up at him. The eyes were half-open, the lips parted, showing a red-black mouth. In the flickering candlelight it looked as if the old woman lying there was on the point of rising. Corbett remembered the Prioress telling him about the old nun who had died early that morning. He took a deep breath, replaced the veil and moved across to the other coffin
    As was customary, the lid had not yet been put in place; this would be done just before the funeral service. The veil had already been drawn back and Corbett caught his breath at the ice-cold beauty of the young woman lying there. She had Maeve's silvery-gold hair and flawless features. Corbett reflected that, as Lady Eleanor had been dead for six days, the priory must have spared no expense in hiring the best embalmers to preserve her body for burial. He said a short prayer to the Madonna, hoping the dead woman's shade would accept he meant no blasphemy. He pulled the veil further down, picked up the candle and examined the dead woman's throat At the base of the throat on each side, was a small yellow bruise. Corbett then removed the veil completely and almost screamed with terror as a voice suddenly boomed out
    'Man, what are you doing?'
    Corbett turned. At the foot of the coffin, a friar, who had been kneeling there all of the time, was now standing, his hands clenched tightly on the rim of Lady Eleanor's coffin. The friar's face, a mask of anger, looked ghastly in the flickering light His head was tonsured, his eyes deep-set under furrowed brows. His mouth and chin were fixed in a determined expression. He glared at Corbett
    I asked, man, what you were doing?'
    Corbett's hand went to the knife as the priest came round me coffin.
    'Leave your dagger alone!' he rasped. 'Or I'll give you a rap across the head you'll never forget'
    Corbett kept his hand on the knife hilt
    I am on the King's business here. My name is Hugh Corbett.'
    I couldn't give a devil's fart who you are and why you are here!' The friar pointed down to the corpse. 'A whore she may have been, and her sins as scarlet as those of the Great Whore of Babylon, but you'll treat her with respect.'
    The friar paused as Corbett drew his knife. Behind them the door was flung open and a breathless Ranulf burst into the room.
    'Rest easy, Ranulf!' Corbett shouted as the friar spun round. 'Father and I have business here.'
    His man reluctantly closed the door.
    'Father,' Corbett continued quietly, I mean no disrespect. I am here on official business to examine the corpse. Who are you?'
    The friar drew a deep breath,
    'Father Reynard, parson of the local church, and by episcopal authority, Chaplain to this benighted place.' He nodded, his eyes never leaving Corbett I suppose you had better finish.'
    Corbett returned to the head of the coffin and lifted the veil, pulling it down again, paying special notice to the bruises on either side of the woman's neck. He noticed the marks on the finger of the right hand where a ring had been pulled off. He went to the bottom of the casket, lifted the veil there and pushed back the dark gown in which the corpse had been dressed, noticing the yellowing bruise on the right leg mid-way up the calf. Behind Corbett the friar breathed heavily. The clerk, as tactfully as possible, examined the rest of the body and, for the first time, despite the oils and unguents of the embalmers, caught a whiff of corruption. The clerk softly said the Requiem and moved back to the corpse of the old nun He stood looking down, the friar still watching, before carefully replacing the veil and walking wordlessly to the door. Behind him the friar snuffed the candles and followed him out. Despite the golden sunshine, Corbett felt a cold shiver run down his spine at what he had seen.
    'Aye, it's the Valley of Death,' Father Reynard intoned, watching him intently.
    Corbett stared at him. Reynard did not