A shadow slid across Julith's eyes.
Keph's heart felt as if it had stopped. Variance drew a slow breath and lifted her hands away from the priestess, then turned back to him.
"So," she said, her gaze as cold and as hard as her voice. "You disappoint me."
"Variance…" Keph gulped.
"Be silent!" Variance snarled again.
She reached down and clenched his hair in one fist. Keph gasped, then gasped again as a cold force wrenched him into swirling shadows.
"Julith!" he shrieked. The priestess's gaze didn't even flicker. "Jul-"
Darkness closed around him, choking his scream into silence.
CHAPTER 13
It was time to go. The sun would be rising. Moonshadow Hall would be stirring. Did Selune's faithful need to know what had happened in that cramped little room? The last dark depths of the High Moonmistress's madness?
Feena eased Dhauna's frail body out of her embrace and laid her on the torn linens that covered the floor, turning her on her side and drawing her cooling limbs up into a childlike huddle. She clenched her teeth as she stood Dhauna's body told the comforting lie of a peaceful death, a mercy to ease the mourning of the faithful.
The truth would be a terrible, secret burden for her to carry alone.
Feena bolted the iron-banded door behind herself. It was reasonable to assume the spell oi moonlight that had lit the infirmary had ended with Dhauna's death. There would be no reason for anyone to guess she had been back to Moonshadow Hall.
Outside the infirmary, she paused. The sounds of a new day were drifting through the halls of the temple. She might still be able to slip out before too many of the remaining priestess and acolytes were up and about. Against the savory scents of Idruth's kitchen, however, she was suddenly aware of the foul smell that clung to her robe. She stank of urine and death. There would be a fresh robe in her former chamber, but in the extra minutes it would take her to retrieve it, there was also a greater chance of getting caught.
Her fists clenched with a sudden need to be rid of the tainted garment.
She turned and darted down a dark corridor. The mossy pillar in the kitchen garden wasn't the only secret she remembered from her playful days as a novice and an acolyte. Exploring Moonshadow Hall's unused passages and dusty storerooms was a rite for every child entering the temple. Beyond the infirmary, a steep, narrow ramp led up to the second floor and a series of dim rooms that smelled of mice. Beyond those rooms was an abandoned library, walls lined with empty shelves. Beyond that was a long, curved passage with dust so thick on the floor it held the footprints of countless novicesand one stealthy priestess. Feena walked quickly, the hem of her robe stirring up little clouds of dust in her wake. At the end of the curved passage was a narrow door. Feena thrust against it. Hinges squealed.
She stepped out beneath the ramp leading up to the archives. Leaving the narrow door ajar, she trotted past the ramp and peered down the long corridor that connected the clergy's quarters. The morning sounds of the novices' and acolytes' dormitories echoed from its distant end.
Just ahead, sunlight burned a bright path across the dim corridor.
Feena trotted up to Dhauna's chambers and peered inside. The broken door remained where Mifano had left it, leaning against a wall. Someone had pulled open the heavy curtains that hung over the big window, though. Morning light streamed in. On Dhauna's desk, the ancient tome that recorded the fall of the New Moon Pact shone in the sunlight, white leather gleaming like a lie. Feena looked away and darted past.
Her former chamber was only a short way along the corridor. Its door stood open as well, though the curtains remained drawn. The torn strips she had used to bind Jhezzail were scattered on the floor. Feena stripped off her fouled robe and kicked it under the bed, then opened the wardrobe. A clean robe hung insideright next to the silver-embroidered gown she had worn to Ammanas Aumleagarr's garden party. She brushed the moon-pale silk regretfully before tearing her hand away. Swiftly donning the robe, she stepped back into the corridor and ran for the ramp that led down to the temple's ground floor.
A shadow fell across it from below. Someone was coming up.
Feena pulled away quickly. Could she hide in her chamber? No. With the door open, anyone passing could see insideand soon the novices and acolytes would be pouring past on their way to breakfast. Closing a door that had stood open all night would only draw attention.
But there was a chamber nearby that had been deliberately placed so that no one passed it. Feena scrambled silently back down the corridor and ducked into the brilliance of Dhauna's chamber. Holding her breath, she strained her ears to catch the steps of whoever was climbing
The wail that tore across the courtyard outside struck her like a blow.
"She's dead! Mother Dhauna is dead!"
Someone had visited the infirmary. For a heartbeat there was silence, then chaos erupted as the news spread Feena could hear shouts and screams from the dormitories, cries and exclamations from the few priestesses who had remained in the temple. She could imagine the confusion amid the heat of the kitchensthe New Moon Beneficence would suddenly become a funeral feast. For a moment, all of her own grief threatened to come crashing back yet again. Memories of Mother Dhauna in better times, wise and gentle before madness claimed her…
Feena squeezed her eyes shut and sagged back against a wall.
"No," she snarled under her breath. "Enough." No more tears. Not now.
She reached up and clenched her hand around Selune's medallion, gripping it so hard that the edges of the holy symbol bit into her flesh.
Bright Lady of Night, she prayed in silent anger, how could you let this happen to someone who loved you?
Her arm tensed. The chain of the medallion strained against her neck. One tug would tear the holy symbol free
She forced her hand open and let it fall back to her side. Rejecting Selune wouldn't change what had happened. She opened her eyes. Her gaze fell on the white book on Dhauna's desk.
Was that how the New Moon Pact had felt as their sisters and brothers turned on them? Had they questioned Selune, too?
Out in the courtyard, chaos was giving way to order as elder clergy took charge of the situation. Feena couldn't hear running or shouting anymore, but her chance to slip out of Moonshadow Hall unnoticed had passed. Whoever stood sentry at the gate would be alert. She would need to find a place to hide and wait for the right time to make her escape. She forced herself away from the wall and started to turn to the doorthen stopped and turned back to the white book.
One good thing had come of Dhauna's madness, hadn't it? The New Moon Pact, condemned by jealousy and lost for centuries, had been rediscovered. Feena lifted her chin, stepped forward, and scooped up the massive tome.
If nothing else, she was going to have time to read.
By our authority in assembly, these are the heretics who shall face Selune's own judgment:
Tyver Thomdrove, called the Peacemaker, of Berdusk.
Niree Swifthands of Elmwood.
Brant Hallower of Candlekeep.
Qualise Domo of Turmish.
Rode of the Farsea Marches (died in capture).
Enshu Venerun ofChondath (died in capture).
By our authority, a bounty is also placed on any servants and close associates of them, and on the wolf called Halftail, companion of Niree Swifthands. They are cast out of Selune's grace in body and in soul. May Selune's face turn away so that their souls walk in darkness until the end of time.
Feena's head jerked. She blinked sleep from her eyes, sat back, and stretched. A night spent walking and running without rest was trying hard to catch up with her and her chosen hiding place wasn't helping. Moonshadow Hall's archives had seemed like an ideal refuge: all but abandoned, no windows to give away the small magical light she conjured, a table and chair at which to read, easy concealment among the tall shelves in case someone should happen to come by…