Between Two Fires
by Christopher Buehlman
Contents
Thirty-Five: Of the Doctor
Overview
Haunted by nightmares, the papal physician de Chauliac secretly forges a writ and extracts the tortured “Comte d’Évreux” from the dungeon. Delphine intercepts them at the Rhône and summons Thomas’s true body from the river. Thomas transfers his soul back, regains strength, and abandons the comte’s corpse, escaping under the doctor’s cover.
Summary
Tristan, the physician’s boy, wakes Maître de Chauliac from a violent nightmare. Troubled by changes in Pope Clement, de Chauliac prepares a clandestine writ by grafting a papal seal onto fresh text, deciding to act despite the risk.
He leads Tristan into the reawakened dungeons, now run by the brutal gaoler Sournois. There they find the broken prisoner identified as the Comte d’Évreux. Brandishing the forged order, de Chauliac compels Sournois to release the man into his care, warning that the prisoner will otherwise die.
De Chauliac wheels the maimed Thomas—still in the comte’s body—through service passages, giving him warmth and urging him only to live. Thomas senses he narrowly escaped a worse fate below and drifts in and out of consciousness.
By the Rhône, Delphine appears, silently sending de Chauliac and Tristan away. She steadies Thomas and points to the river as a figure in rusty armor emerges: Thomas de Givras’s true body, moving like a sleepwalker.
The revenant Thomas bends and shares breath. Thomas’s soul leaves the comte’s ruined frame and rushes into his rightful body. Revived and strong again, Thomas dons the doctor’s robes over wet armor, while Delphine blesses the dead shell and consigns the comte’s corpse to the river.
Who Appears
- Thomas de GivrasTortured while inhabiting the comte’s body; regains his true body by breath, recovers strength, and escapes.
- DelphineArranges the rendezvous at the Rhône; summons Thomas’s true body and oversees the soul transfer.
- Maître de ChauliacPapal physician; forges a writ, removes the prisoner from the dungeon, and facilitates the escape.
- TristanDoctor’s young assistant; witnesses the night mission and Delphine’s unsettling presence.
- SournoisDungeon master; resists but complies with the forged order to release the prisoner.
- Pope ClementOffstage; implied changed and cruel, his name and seal enable the forged release.
- Comte d’ÉvreuxBody Thomas had worn; expires after Thomas returns to his rightful flesh and is given to the Rhône.