I bit my lip briefly and amassed all of my fading courage. “I trust him, too. Let’s go.”
We ascended the four steps to the platform moments later, carrying ourselves with a poise that I certainly did not feel. We walked steadily to the wooden benches, and on the way I let my gaze run quickly across the square. There had to be five hundred people present, from nobility to the poorest commoners. I did not have time to pick out any familiar faces, but I did see six members of the Catholic clergy standing to our right, attired in vestments, and to our left, the black-clad Teuton priests of Muniche.
My eyes left our audience behind as Freia and I stepped around the table between the benches . . . and I lifted my gaze to our heathen priest, Augustin von Bayern. He stood with the flaming cauldr
