The fourth statue on the left depicted a man also wearing a robe, and he too wore a medallion. Gavin froze as he looked at the medallion and then swept his off to hold it up for comparison; the glyphs in the center of each medallion matched. This statue had no specific posture or expression; he simply stood with his fingers interlaced at his navel. The plaque beneath this statue read, “Marin, God of the Sea.”
The fifth statue on the right depicted a tall, willowy woman in traveling clothes. A knapsack with a bedroll tied across the bottom sat at her feet, and a lute hung on her back. Her hair was shoulder-length, and her arms were folded across her midriff, her left arm against her and her right hand holding her left elbow. Her head angled down just a bit as she frowned at the statue in the center of space, and her expression said, What has that rapscallion done now? Her plaque read, “Nesta, Goddess of Travelers and Bards.”
The fourth statue on the right depicted a man wearing a robe with its hood pulled over his head. He wore a somber expression, and his arms folded across his midriff with each hand inside the other sleeve. This plaque read, “Lilkan, God of Death and the Underworld.”
The third statue on the right depicted a stocky man, barely taller than Gavin’s waist. His beard touched his chest, and his mustache was two braids that extended as far as his beard. Thick gloves extended three-fourths of the way up his forearms, and he wore a blacksmith’s apron over plate armor. A double-edged axe with a haft that reached his waist leaned against his left leg. This plaque read, “Irikos, God of the Forge.”
The second statue on the right showed a woman half a head shorter than Nesta and twice as willowy. Curly hair cascaded below her shoulders, and she wore a hooded jerkin over belted trousers. A full quiver of arrows was strapped to her right thigh, and she wore a bow diagonally across her torso, string in front. Her ears were pointed. Her plaque read, “Xanta, Goddess of Nature.”
The first statue on the right, across from Kalthor, depicted a man. The statue was angled to stand partially turned away from the entrance to the space, and the man looked back over his shoulder toward the door. His arms were folded across his midriff like Nesta’s. He bore a pencil-thin mustache and a ring in his left earlobe. His left eyebrow quirked upward, and his lips curled in a cocky smirk as if to say, I just cut your coin-purse and danced with your wife, but I’ll still shake your hand. This plaque read, “Dakkor, God of Thieves.”
At last, Gavin turned to the statue that stood in the center of the space. It depicted a short man barely tall enough to reach Gavin’s shoulder, and his unkempt hair was in wild disarray to match his scraggily beard. He wore a robe that was tattered and frayed at the hem. His fingers were laced over his navel, too, and his impish grin and uplifted eyebrow seemed say, Who, me? His plaque read, “Valthon, God of Time and Change.”
“What is this place?” Gavin asked, turning to face Kiri who stood by the entrance.
“It’s the Hall of the Gods. Except for Valthon and Nesta, all those you see before you accepted the mantle of divinity at the end of the Godswar.”
Gavin turned back to look at the statue of Valthon. “When I woke up in that alley, there was a crazy, old man standing over me who looked a lot like this.” Gavin stood staring at the statue for several more moments before he shook himself. “Which way to Valthon’s shrine?”
“My ma…I mean, Baron Kalinor…brought me here on occasion,” Kiri said as she started walking to the far side of the room. “It’s this way.”
Leaving the Hall of the Gods, they entered a curving hallway shaped like a horseshoe. For whatever reason, Kiri led them right, and soon, they stood in an open space about fifty yards on each side, and a meandering stream of people entered the open space from a set of doors on their left that led to the space between the sides of the horseshoe.
They walked over to the doors, and the stream of people shifted to one side, so they could enter. Valthon’s shrine was a large, oval-shaped room with several rows of pews filling the two-thirds of the space closest the door, with a wide center aisle and narrower aisles along each curving wall. The space was devoid of smells, without even incense, and the cloth draped across the altar was a simple gray.
Gavin saw Ovir standing near the shrine, speaking with two much younger people. They all wore gray robes, and the younger man and woman nodded as Ovir spoke.
As Kiri and Gavin walked up the center aisle, their movement attracted Ovir’s attention, and he smiled.
“Kiri! Gavin! Good to see you! Give me just a moment to finish here, and then, we can talk.” Ovir turned his attention back to the younger people and spoke for a few more moments before nodding their dismissal.
As the younger people wearing gray robes hustled out of the shrine, Ovir approached Gavin and Kiri.
“How are you feeling, Gavin?”
“I’m well, thank you. A good night’s sleep seems to have removed the last trace of weariness I felt when we left yesterday.”
Ovir nodded. “Good. I’m glad to hear it, and how are you, Kiri?”
If Kiri felt uncomfortable at being addressed directly by the Royal Priest of Valthon, it didn’t show.
“I am well, sir, and thank you for asking.”
“So, what brings the two of you here? How can I help?”
Gavin smiled. “Well, Kiri was the one who wanted to speak with you. I just tagged along to see her safely here. I’ll find some way to pass the time while the two of you talk, if you have the time for it.”
“Of course. If you like, I’ll introduce you to the Temple’s library. I’m sure you could find something interesting to read in there.”
Ovir led them back out of the shrine and said, “This is the concourse. Most of these doors you see lead to small shrines of one god or another. The administration offices for the clergy of Valthon, along with the library and my residence, are on the upper floor. As you already know, the floors below house sickrooms.”
Ovir turned to his right and led them to a stairwell with stairs going up and down and headed up to the second floor. Upon exiting the stairwell, Ovir pointed to a set of double doors a short distance to their left.
“You’ll find the library through there. It’s open to all. Kiri and I will be in the residence if you need us; anyone you see can direct you there.”
“Thanks,” Gavin said and headed for the indicated doors.
Chapter 12
The doors closed behind Gavin with a heavy clack. The Temple’s library looked to be five times the size of Marcus’s library in the suite, so it was fifty feet wide by seventy-five feet long. A thirty-foot square in the center of the room held reading tables, and bookshelves filled the rest of the space. What struck Gavin first was that the space didn’t smell like it was full of old books. A floral scent Gavin didn’t recognize filled the place, and the scent helped Gavin relax.
I have no idea how long Kiri is going to be with Ovir, but I’m certainly not going to joggle her elbow. There must be something here worth reading.
Gavin started exploring the shelves of the library, his steps slow. Most of the texts bore titles that gave Gavin the impression of religious treatises and the like. Gavin was about to explore a different section of the library when he found a book horizontally stuffed into a shelf atop the spines of the other books; it was the first book Gavin had seen placed thus. He removed it from its place with care and turned it to read the cover, “The Registry of Houses, Volume 4573.”