Piers glanced at Laedron, then did a double take and drew his sword. “You’ve brought him here?”
“Shimmering Dawn!” Greathis shouted, reaching for his blade.
“Wait, calm down.” Laedron waved his hands, the chains of his shackles jingling. “Just calm down. We’re here to talk things out, not to make trouble, right?”
“You should have told me we were coming to the Shimmering Dawn-traitors, brigands, and thieves.” Greathis spit on the floor, then extended his hand to the priest. “Come, Jurgen. They shall hold you prisoner no longer.”
“They do not hold me hostage, Dalton,” Jurgen said. “I am a guest of these traitors, brigands, and thieves, as you put it.”
“A guest?”
“Yes, of course.” Jurgen wiped his hands on a rag and approached Greathis. “By your presence here, I can only assume you’ve been told the truth. Ah, but I can tell by the look in your eye that you don’t believe it.”
“What this sorcerer has said is impossible. It cannot be,” Greathis replied. “How can you be so quick to believe his lies?”
“You never knew it, but I’ve maintained correspondence with the Shimmering Dawn of Sorbia for quite a long time. Don’t you see, Greathis? Training priests with miracles of war, outfitting vessels with weapons, hoarding supplies, and restricting our borders? The Drakars knew war was imminent, but they claimed the Sorbians were responsible. Meklan Draive sent this sorcerer and his knights to me for help, to aid them in ridding the world of one Gustav Drakar.”
Greathis’s eyes widened. “You, Jurgen? You helped them kill the Grand Vicar’s brother?”
“Draive wouldn’t have set his people on such a task without cause.” Jurgen sighed. “I helped them for my own purposes. I wanted to leave this land. I just wanted to get away after what the Drakars had done to me and to our people.”
“And you thought it best to aid these assassins with their task? There’s no honor in that.”
Brice and Caleb entered from one of the side rooms. Upon seeing Greathis, Caleb drew his sword, but Jurgen held up his hand and said, “No need for that. We’re only talking.”
Caleb replaced his sword, but continued to eye Greathis warily.
Jurgen continued, “You speak of honor? It was honorable to attack and kill innocent people in Morcaine? To start a war and keep an entire nation-our nation, Dalton-blinded by lies? No one wanted to believe me, but the Drakars are the poison in our cups. Now you see what they have done, but you do not believe it because you have been conditioned by their treachery for so long.”
“What has gotten into you, Vicar? I’ve never heard you speak so forcefully,” Greathis said.
Jurgen took a deep breath. “I apologize if my tone was harsh. Nearly being assassinated must have put me in a volatile state. Tristan shall have to try harder next time.”
“That’s a serious charge, Jurgen. Have you any evidence of that fact?”
“We found letters.” Brice walked over and stood next to Jurgen. “In Vicar Forane’s house. They’ve been trying to kill him for quite some time.”
Greathis extended his hand. “The letters, you have them?”
“Sadly, no,” Brice replied. “So as not to draw suspicion, we left them there.”
“Then my men shall readily find them upon a search of her residence, yes?”
Brice nodded. “Of course. In her private office on the second floor.”
“Why didn’t you come to me, Jurgen? Why the secrecy, the plotting?”
“We didn’t know on which side of the fence you stood,” Jurgen said. “We had to be sure, and I’m glad that you’re willing to do what is right.”
“This will have to be handled delicately.” Greathis closed his eyes and massaged his eyelids with his fingertips. “We will go to Forane, search her residence, and arrest her. You’d better hope the evidence is there.”
“And Tristan?” Jurgen asked.
“That will be up to you, Vicar. My men will escort you to the Vicariate on the morrow, and you will be allowed to present your charges to the consulship. Only by the will of the assembly can we detain a Grand Vicar, and I shall not impede upon the law. Without the law, we have nothing.”
Jurgen took Greathis’s hand in a firm embrace. “Thank you, Dalton. You’ll be remembered as the man who saved the church from utter destruction.”
“No, that honor belongs to you, sordid as the path may have been to get to this point. Remain here, and I shall send a detachment of guards for you.”
Laedron held up his manacled hands. “Care to take these off?”
Greathis produced a key. “Come to the headquarters within the hour and retrieve your things.”
“I’d like to come with you to arrest Forane,” Laedron said.
Greathis raised an eyebrow. “After all that has passed?”
“Yes, if it’s the same to you. If she and her friends have been studying offensive spells, it’d be best if I came along.”
“You’re probably right.”
Marac joined them outside. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
“Me, too,” Brice said, closing the door behind them.
Laedron gave them a broad smile, then followed Greathis to the headquarters.
* * *
Within the hour, Laedron, Marac, and Brice stood in a hall with Master Greathis and a handful of militia. The hour was late, and Laedron could feel the tension like a thick cloud of anxiety hanging over their heads.
“Men,” Greathis said. “Tonight, we are going to search Vicar Genevieve Forane’s residence for seditious documents. An anonymous witness has told me letters detailing an assassination attempt are inside her house, and we mean to locate them. If we should find anything indicating wrongdoing, she shall be arrested.”
Greathis’s words must have struck a nerve in the guards because they gave one another disconcerted looks.
“Steel yourselves, men. We have a secret weapon with us, one who has joined the militia only recently. More recent still, he told me of his abilities, his prowess with magic.”
“Magic’s condemned by the church,” one of the guards said. “If a mage be among us, Azura won’t.”
“Silence!” Greathis glared at the men until their whispers ceased. “If what I am told is true, we will need his help. Azura will be with those who serve justice, so we have no worries.”
“I won’t let you down,” Laedron said, stepping forward. “I will show all of you that not all mages are to be feared. Some can be useful and even helpful, regardless of how you may feel about us.”
“He brought me back to life once,” Brice said. Laedron surmised that Brice’s support hadn’t benefited them because the guards’ faces were riddled with bewilderment.
Laedron glared at Brice. “Why do you keep bringing that up?”
Brice grimaced. “But… it was important to me.”
“Fine, yes. I’m glad that you’re with us, and we’ll leave it at that,” Laedron said, turning to the door.
“Is that true?” Greathis asked.
Laedron replied with only a nod, then left. The others joined him in the street, and they traveled to Forane’s residence in the Ancient Quarter.
11
Outside Vicar Forane’s house, Greathis ordered, “Cover all the exits, men. Take her alive, but defend yourselves if she attacks.”
Laedron watched the guards surround the residence, then turned to study the building. Fresh yellow paint had been carefully applied to every brick, and the lacquer on the exposed wooden frame still sparkled in the torchlight. On either side of the heavy wooden door stood well-trimmed bushes covered with white flowers. Not a single crack could be found in the steps leading to the front door.
Greathis walked toward the door, seeming either unafraid or careless of the possibilities of what might happen. He knocked three times, each rap of his iron gauntlet against the wood producing an echo.