Author’s Note: This story takes place after the events of Inquisitor’s Promise.
It had been about five years since the Grey Globe Crisis. Since then, Lord Inquisitor Aeneas Aquilanus had started a family with his lady knight Galatea de la Mancha.
The first piece of the tapestry was set when the two of them adopted Fyuria, a machine spirit who was once the Commander of the Grey Globe. And the House Aquilanus family continued to grow. Not even a year after the wedding, the couple was blessed with twin boys: Ascanius and Carolus. Two years later, the family welcomed another addition to the family: a daughter named Maria.
Galatea thought that her life would be filled with marital bliss. Indeed, that was the case for the most part. She was living the dream: to live in the lavish Castle Aquila, surrounded by children, and be married to a good man who loves her deeply.
But as of late, Galatea began to doubt the last part. It all started with a rumor. She first heard of it when she was feeding Maria. Two women, castle servants, were chattering in the hallways:
“Have you heard about the Lord Inquisitor?”
“What is it?”
“It’s terrible, Caterina! I think he might be cheating on our mistress.”
“No way! Not Lord Aeneas. I won’t believe it, Giuseppina!”
“He’s been seeing prostitutes!”
“Truly?” asked Caterina.
“I don’t know for sure,” admitted Giuseppina. “But he’s been hanging around Brother Vitalio.”
“The monk who keeps visiting the Red-Light District?”
“Afraid so. It’s been happening in the last few months. Oh, poor Lady Galatea.”
“Now wait just a second,” said Caterina, “I’m sure there’s a good explanation for all this.”
“Like what?”
“I… I don’t know. But Lord Aeneas is an Inquisitor, and a good one too. And I know he loves Lady Galatea deeply. For him to carouse with harlots… it’s… inconceivable!”
Having been eavesdropping, Galatea had heard enough. She ran off quick as she could. Before she knew it, she found herself in the lush gardens of Castle Aquila. But the fresh air and beautiful greeneries were not enough to assuage her distress.
Galatea looked down to the infant she was holding. Maria was sound asleep, completely unaware of what was going on. How she envied her right now.
***
Family dinner was awkward, to say the least. It was all quiet in the dining room. Aeneas was calmly eating his food, his face betraying no emotion. Galatea was busy trying to get the twins to eat their dinner, but she herself hadn’t touched her food. And then there was little Maria who was making a mess of things. As for Fyuria, her holographic figure was sitting in the middle of the table; as a machine spirit, she did not eat human food. Instead, she had been observing.
And she knew something was off.
“Something wrong, mama?” asked Fyuria. “You’d usually finish your plate by now.”
Galatea’s response was defensive: “It’s not easy to eat when you have three little ones to feed, Fyuria. Ascanius! Stop playing with your food! You too, Carolus!”
“Sorry, mama,” both boys said in unison.
“Papa,” Fyuria said to Aeneas. “Mama’s being scary right now.”
“I heard that!”
“Galatea!” said Aeneas, his voice raised.
Once more, silence reigned in the dining room. Galatea’s response was sullen, “Sorry, Lord Aeneas.”
It took longer than usual, but the family was able to finish their dinner. It was a good thing that castle servants were there to take care of the dishes, as both husband and wife had other things to hammer out. And they did so in the comfort of their bedroom.
As Galatea sat at the edge of the marital bed, she looked down, keeping her eyes away from her husband. But Aeneas, next to her, was the opposite; he studied his wife’s face intently, trying to find anything he could infer upon. He found fear, and possibly anger. And he intended to find out why.
“So,” Aeneas began. “Are you going to tell me what that was all about?”
“I heard rumors, Lord Aeneas,” said Galatea. “That you….” She paused, tears in her eyes. “That you have been unfaithful!”
“What!’ cried Aeneas. But he soon calmed down; he knew exactly what his wife was alluding to. He took his wife in a hug and was relieved that she let him. “Galatea, I love you. I would never hurt you like that. Nor would I make a mockery of holy matrimony. That would not be proper for a man, let alone an Inquisitor of the Church.”
Galatea paused, deep in thought. And she finally spoke, “You’re right. Forgive me, Lord Aeneas. I shouldn’t have put stock in gossip.”
Aeneas opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by his wife as she crashed her lips into his.
***
In the weeks that followed, Galatea thought no more of her husband’s troubling association with Brother Vitalio, or at least she tried to. Whenever she caught the castle servants gossiping about it, she was quick to put an end to the chatter. Rather than gossip, Galatea focused herself on her duties as a wife, on the domestic arrangement of House Aquilanus. And there were plenty to do:
First were the children. While it was common for noble houses of 74th century Earth to hire a governess, the women of House Aquilanus had always preferred to take a more hands-on approach to childrearing. With two toddlers and an infant, Galatea had gotten used to the sound of crying babies.
At least she had Fyuria to help out.
Next was Castle Aquila itself. When Galatea married into the prestigious House Aquilanus, she did not expect to be given a lot of leeway with the huge Castle Aquila estate. As Galatea was still getting used to life in Nepoli, she let everything be. The only major thing she did was to bring in her wyvern, Sancho Panza, to live in the castle. The gargantuan silver wyvern was a reminder of her home, the mountainous San Felipe. More importantly, it was a reminder of her time as a knight in service of her beloved Aeneas.
It had only been five years, but it felt like an eternity when she and her beloved fought side by side to save Earth and all Christendom from the Grey Globe. And now, she stayed behind in Castle Aquila while her husband was away on missions for the Inquisition.
Not that she regretted the life she had chosen. Nor did she begrudge her husband for being a dutiful man.
What she begrudged him for was his carousing with strange women. Or at least, the likelihood of such.
For Galatea, one name had been haunting her: Camilla. Lately, Aeneas had been saying that name in his sleep. Who could this Camilla be? Perhaps a harlot he was seeing?
***
The domestic issue which had been haunting House Aquilanus would finally reach its flowering.
It was late evening; Aeneas had just gotten home. As he entered into the main foyer of Castle Aquila, his wife rushed from the living room to embrace her husband. But she stopped short, a look of terror, quickly replaced by that of anger, was on her face.
“Galatea?” asked Aeneas. “What is it?”
“You… two-timing… jerk!”
“Excuse me?”
“Look in a mirror! See the proof of your infidelity!”
Aeneas wanted to say something in return, but he caught sight of Galatea’s hands forming into fists. He decided to do as she said. On the Inquisitor’s left wrist was his nav-comm; he activated its mirror function. And what he saw horrified him:
On his right cheek was a bright-red lipstick mark. Aeneas had completely forgotten about that.
“It’s not what you think,” said Aeneas.
“What is it then?” responded Galatea. “Tell me!”
“I can’t.”
“What?”
“I can’t tell you, Galatea! Believe me, I wish I can.”
At this point, Galatea’s face was awash in tears. “Liar,” she said softly.
Aeneas responded by clasping Galatea’s wrists in his hands. “Listen to me!”
“Let go of me!” Galatea said, looking down. She struggled to free herself, but her husband was much too strong for her.
“Not until you hear me out. Now look me in the eye… Good. Let me tell you once more: I would never hurt you like that; nor would I make a mockery of holy matrimony. Are we clear?”
Galatea nodded, having calmed down. As for the tears on her face, Aeneas wiped them away for her.
Aeneas sighed in relief. “Worry not. At some point, I will tell you the whole truth. But I’m going to have to get the Grand Inquisitor’s permission.”
Galatea smiled. “I see, so it’s about your work. I understand.”
Unfortunately for the couple, resolving this crisis was not going to be that easy. Suddenly, Aeneas’ nav-comm beeped. The Inquisitor desperate wished to ignore the call, yet he couldn’t.
“Camilla?”
At the mention of that name, Galatea’s face contorted. And her anger, having been expunged, returned with a vengeance. Aeneas, for his part, was unaware.
“Alright,” Aeneas said. “I’ll be there. Don’t worry.”
The Inquisitor looked at his wife apologetically. It took every bit of his restraint not to cringe as he saw her face – clear and utter fury.
“I’m sorry, but there’s an emergency. I’ll be going.”
“No, you won’t!” cried Galatea. “I forbid you!”
“Sorry, love.”
“Where do you think you’re going, Aeneas Aquilanus?! Come back here! Aeneas!”
***
Galatea was seething. She still couldn’t believe that Aeneas had left her, his wife, behind like that. And she decided that she wouldn’t let her husband make a fool out of her.
At the lower levels of Castle Aquila was a spacious cell where Sancho Panza was being held every night. In the day, the wyvern was allowed free rein until sundown in which he would return. The enclosure was cozy, as shown by the wyvern sleeping soundly. But the beast’s slumber was interrupted by the sound of the bars shifting to open.
The serpentine creature growled groggily.
“Wake up, Sancho Panza,” Galatea said. “We’re going out.”
Sancho whimpered.
“I know it’s night. This is important, I need to get to Lord Aeneas.”
The wyvern growled once more, this time more energetically.
“No, he’s not in danger. Except for maybe his soul. Anyways, he owes me an explanation. Don’t you think, Sancho?”
Sancho shook his head.
“Oh, what do you know? You’re a lizard!” Galatea shook her head and took a deep breath. She couldn’t believe she had been arguing with her wyvern. And worse, that she was losing. “That’s enough! Now get over here so I can put your harness on.”
***
With her ride ready and waiting, Galatea still needed to know where to go. She made her way to Fyuria’s room. It was a custom-made room; surrounded by metal walls, it was tiny and cramped. Galatea, despite her petite figure, struggled to fit inside. Of course, the main occupant of this room was a machine spirit and didn’t need much physical space.
The holographic figure of that occupant appeared in front of Galatea. Fyuria was frowning. “As you request, I was able to track down where papa was going by pinpointing his nav-comm’s location.” She looked at her mother in the eye, her lips quivering. “Are you sure about this, mama?”
Galatea paused, hesitating. “I just have to know.”
“But don’t you trust papa?”
“Of course I do! But I can’t ignore his friendship with Brother Vitalio. I’ve heard terrible tales about him. How he’s been frequenting the Red-Light District, procuring the services of harlots every day of the week. What kind of monk is that? I can’t believe Lord Aeneas would associate himself with such a character!”
“You don’t trust papa, then,” Fyuria said accusingly.
“There is a saying back in San Felipe,” responded Galatea. “Trust but verify.”
Fyuria puffed her cheeks and shook her head. “Fine. I’ve sent the tracker data to your brick. But I’m only doing this because I believe in papa!”
“But of course,” Galatea said dismissively. “Watch your siblings for me, Fyuria.”
***
Prochyta’s Red-Light District was located around the geographical center of the island. This was where Fyuria had tracked Aeneas to be, sort of. The Inquisitor was not actually at the brothels, though he was within walking distance.
Atop her wyvern, Galatea could see Nepoli City from afar. It was dark outside; the towering hive city’s bright lights acted as an eastward compass. Otherwise, the lights came from the buildings below and the stars above; and they were dim in comparison.
Galatea’s flight to her destination was slow and cautious. It had been a while since she flew on her wyvern. But more than anything, it was psychological. What if Aeneas really was carousing with harlots? What if he was cheating on her? A part of her did not want to find out. The evidence was stacked heavily against her beloved.
Of course, Fyuria believed in Aeneas’ innocence. Very strongly. But Galatea took little stock of that. Indeed, she dismissed it as the product of a naïve young girl who thought her father could do no wrong.
Throughout her flight, Galatea had been deep in thought, allowing her anger to cool off. It was a moment of weakness, that’s all. Perhaps I had been too harsh on Lord Aeneas. Maybe I did something to provoke this… I’ll track him down and get the truth. Then, I will forgive him.
But her thoughts were interrupted by loud noises from below. They were sounds of men, arguing and shouting. Galatea quickly recognized one of the voices, it was Aeneas’. As she looked down, she saw an angry mob accosting three people, her husband being one of them, the other two was a man and a woman.
With the ongoing shenanigans below, Galatea was able to land with her wyvern without anyone spotting them. She did so about a block away from the scene of interest. Having told Sancho Panza to go back into the air, Galatea snuck through the narrow backstreets and got close enough to overhear the conversation:
“Give us to him, Lord Inquisitor,” a member of the angry mob said. “Give us that dirty old man! We will not ask again.”
Aeneas responded, “You have no right to judge him.”
“Why do you insist on protecting this philanderer?” another mob member asked. “Give him to us so we can do your job for you!”
At this point, the woman behind Aeneas stepped forward. “Please, you have it all wrong.”
But the mob had had enough of words. One of them threw a stone, which struck the woman in the head. She fell down to the ground unconscious.
“Camilla! No!” Aeneas cried. He wanted to make sure she was fine, but the mob threw another stone, forcing the Inquisitor to take out his sword to deflect the attack.
Having seen enough, Galatea sprang into action. Having put one hand in her mouth, she whistled. Then with another hand, she pointed towards the angry mob. With quick speed, Sancho Panza flew from the sky down towards the angry mob. The force of the wyvern’s charge was such that the angry mob was scattered all around the ground.
Then, the wyvern quickly flew towards his mistress, which allowed her to ride once more.
“Lord Aeneas!” said Galatea. “Let’s go!”
“Right,” responded Aeneas. The Inquisitor still had questions for his wife but knew this was not the best time to ask them.
With the angry mob still reeling from the wyvern attack, Aeneas, carrying Camilla, went up to the wyvern. The other man did so as well. And with that, Sancho Panza flew away with four people onboard.
***
Brother Vitalio was much older than Galatea had expected. Furthermore, she had imagined the monk to look a little more sinister, befitting of someone who had led her husband astray. And then there was Camilla; her beauty was painful. But despite everything, Galatea was glad that the other woman was not badly hurt.
Camilla had regained consciousness. At the moment, everyone was staying at her humble home. It was here that Galatea caught sight of a young boy, Camilla’s son. He was about the age of Ascanius and Carolus. And she was cut to the heart.
“I now see the truth, Lord Aeneas,” Galatea said, tears in her eyes. “I’m not happy, but I forgive you for this moment of weakness. All I want is for us to be a family. I will even raise the boy as if he was my own, like Fyuria.”
“What?” Then, Aeneas’ eyes widened. “No! Listen to me! Don’t you remember what I told you?
“But…”
“The Lord Inquisitor tells the truth,” Camilla interjected. "Rest assured, Lady Galatea. Your husband is faithful.”
Galatea was flabbergasted. She opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come out.
Aeneas took his wife in a hug. “Don’t you believe me, Galatea?”
“I want to believe! It’s just that…”
At this point, Brother Vitalio stepped forward. “As I appear to be the source of this domestic discord, I shall tell the truth of myself.”
And so, Vitalio told Galatea of his mission: to rescue the prostitutes of Prochyta from their lives of sin. To this end, he procured their services in the Red-Light District almost every night. But rather than fornicating with them, he instead prayed over them, if not with them. He did this over and over again with the allowance given to him by his Monastery. It was a success. So many prostitutes had quit their lives of sin. Vitalio, for his part, worked to find these women a way out, whether it be a marriage, an honest job, or a monastery willing to take them in. Unfortunately, people got the wrong idea and was scandalized.
“Why didn’t you tell the truth of what you’re really doing?” Galatea asked.
“If I did so, then the pimps would never have let me near the Red-Light District,” said Vitalio. That’s why I told everyone to keep quiet about this.”
At this point, Aeneas interjected, “Of course, this became such a scandal that the Inquisition got involved. I was tasked to ascertain the truth behind the lurid tales of Brother Vitalio. And once I got the real truth, I asked the Grand Inquisitor permission to help the good brother’s mission. The Red-Light District of Prochyta is stain upon our island. As Fief Holder, I want it gone. But if I shut it down, what will happen to the prostitutes? Many would have gone to the pornographers, the headache of the Domain Censors.”
Galatea was deep in thought. “This is a lot to take in.” She then turned towards Camilla. “And I take it you are one of the prostitutes that Brother Vitalio rescued?”
“I am,” responded Camilla. “When my husband died, my body was the only thing I had left to support my son. But Brother Vitalio convinced me to leave that life behind. He even found a man, a widower, to take me as his wife.”
Once again, Galatea’s eyes were flooded with tears, a common occurrence as of late. But these were tears of joy. “Wow, Camilla. That’s beautiful.”
***
With everything now settled, husband and wife flew back towards Castle Aquila. As they entered the main foyer of their home, they could feel sleepiness.
“I’m bushed,” Aeneas said, yawning.
“Me too,” responded Galatea. “I still have one question, though.”
“Shoot.”
She pointed to her cheek. “The lipstick mark?”
“Oh, that? When Camilla’s fiancé proposed to her, she was so grateful that she gave us all kisses. Me, Brother Vitalio, and her future husband. Unfortunately, she was wearing lipstick,” Aeneas explained.
Galatea nodded. “Right. That happened earlier today, right?”
“Yes,” Aeneas said. “I thought that was it for the day, but Camilla caught wind of the angry mob gunning for Brother Vitalio. I had reason to believe they were ginned up by the pimps who knew we were driving them out of business. She didn’t know who to turn to, so she called me.”
“What will happen now?”
“Brother Vitalio had dealt a great economic blow to the pimps of Prochyta. It’s only a matter of time before the Red-Light District withers to irrelevancy. And don’t worry about him, Galatea. I contacted the Republican Police to protect him and keep an eye on the situation. But never mind all that, I need some sleep first.”
Aeneas moved to leave but Galatea clasped her hands on his wrist. A grin was on her face. “Not so fast, Lord Aeneas!”
“Let go of me, Galatea! I’m going to bed.”
“Oh, we’re going to bed all right.”
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