The Accidental Heretic
Coming Soon
Spanish Inquisition Emblem on the wall of the Carrer del Comtes in Barcelona
The story is inspired by a real-life Spanish Inquisition trial from 1756.
In 1756, Enlightenment ideas sweep across Europe, and the Spanish Inquisition struggles to remain relevant. There are fewer prosecutions, but those that do occur are conducted as ‘a terror and example to others.’ Into this world arrives Antonio Albrono, a man from a noble Genoan family, on a mission to recover a century-old family debt. But he is naive to the politics of the country, the enemies he may create, and what might happen if he offends the wrong people.
No surprise then, that Antonio fails in his mission, and loses everything – including (he believes) Luisa, the woman he loves. Out of options, the self-named 'Lord of Lost Causes' enlists as a soldier in the garrison of Valencia. Popular, clever, and respected, when asked by his commanding officer to help uncover a thief, he devises a clever ruse. Too clever. The thief is dealt with leniently, but disaster follows for Antonio when he is reported to the Spanish Inquisition for necromancy, and falls into the hands of a powerful adversary. While Antonio is subjected to imprisonment, interrogations and trial, Luisa assembles an unlikely group of conspirators in a bid to save him - only realising too late that saving Antonio means exposing corruption at the heart of the Inquisition itself.
Quotes from The Accidental Heretic:
Sometimes he thought of life as a board game he’d played as a child: The Game of the Goose. A lucky throw of a die and he’d land on a goose and advance. An unlucky one and he’d meet a hazard, knocking him backwards.
So, if I plead innocent, and am found guilty, so is my lawyer?
Antonio intrigued me. No, more than that. He reached me, the way sunlight reaches through a canopy of leaves in the forest.
A large bug scuttles before me, its hard carapace iridescent, antennae quivering. A scarafaggio. Raising one leg, it begins to clean itself. The creature has no fear of me and it can only be because I am dying. I may as well close my eyes and enjoy it.
I never anticipated the physical nature of fear, the way it hammers inside your chest bruising your heart and lungs, and the cold… Dio mio. The cold.
If only we planned as well as we loved.
How had the world become so small that six or seven high-ranking men had decided a prank in the cellar of a tavern could warrant so much attention, and perhaps even his death.
Mercy is the divine purpose of the Inquisition. There is no greater mercy than to return a lost soul to grace. Get thee behind me Satan. I will not save his body so you may take his soul.
Surely, in all of mankind’s history, there has been no armour more unbreachable, nor more cruel, than religious zeal.
And there were ledgers, there must have been thousands of pages listing the values of assets seized from individuals deemed ‘heretics’, ‘conversos’, ‘masons’, and ‘sodomites’. Easy to see how the Inquisition made its money, and, looking at the opulent office with its mahogany desk and polished floor, they’d put it to use.
The die rolled and now he flew over rats, insects, a cell. Yet he prayed to be set down, even there, because he knew. Ahead were worse squares.
He flexed his fingers, marvelling at how they still obeyed, how blood still pulsed through his veins. Life clings to its victims long after they beg for release.
Had it really been so close all this time? How many times had he glanced that way when they brought him back to his cell? He’d had no idea hell was inside.
I do not want company. Yet they come: Marta, Rafael, Jean-Pierre, Enzo. An endless parade of solicitations and exhortations. Eat, Luisa… Rest, Luisa… Drink, Luisa… Walk, Luisa…
One foot in front of the other. As long as one can manage a step, one can manage the next.