16. Alistair #3
“And perhaps eager for some alone time with that necromancer of yours as well?” Kelvin asked, raising an eyebrow.
Alistair stiffened, his heart pattering in his chest. The priest couldn’t know what had happened between them. It was a wild guess, nothing more, or perhaps meant as a pointed barb.
“I’m not sure what you’re implying, but I assure you that my interest in Ignatius is purely related to the success of our mission.
My duty is to ascertain the threat to Singer’s Rest and put a stop to it.
The undead were one small part of that, and they will trouble your town no more.
As for the larger part, as I promised the other elders, I will get to the bottom of it as well. ”
“Duty…” Kelvin reached up to fiddle with the silver holy symbol that hung around his neck. “A core aspect of our faith in the Light, to be sure. Duty to oneself. Duty to one’s fellow man… And above all else, duty to the Celestials and to the Church that serves as their guiding star.”
Alistair’s skin prickled as the priest leaned in closer over the table separating them.
“I’m sure I don’t need to remind you to be cautious.
Even if that necromancer is not solely responsible for this town’s current woes, he remains a practitioner of forbidden magic.
Such evil is poison to those who walk in the Light—as you know only too well.
You father was a great man, and even he could not withstand its corrupting touch. ”
Anger spiked through him. How dare this priest brandish his father’s passing like a cudgel to browbeat him into obeying his will. A rebuttal hovered on his tongue. He could reveal Iggie’s past, argue that if anything it was the Knights who had butchered Iggie’s family who were evil.
Yet, prudence once again forced him to keep quiet. As much as he yearned to defend Iggie, he knew nothing he said would change the priest’s mind. To a fanatic like Kelvin, the world was black and white—his views didn’t allow for the existence of a good necromancer.
“Of course, brother.” He forced out the words, bending his back into the barest hint of a bow. “I will keep an eye on him. You needn’t worry about me.”
Brother Kelvin studied him for a long moment before slowly nodding. “Good. It warms my heart to know that we were blessed with so capable a Knight, despite his relative youth. It would have pained me to inform your superiors that your performance here had been…lacking.”
With one last lingering look, the priest turned and left.
Alistair stared after him, a tremble racking him.
Kelvin’s threat had been plain—put a single toe out of line, and he’d taint Alistair’s reputation in the Order.
It was unlikely that alone would be enough to ruin him or his family, but it could certainly set him back.
His first solo mission might well be his last for years to come.
Some small part of him that had been festering ever since Iggie’s confessions the previous night wondered if that might be for the best, but he shoved it aside. He’d worked too hard, sacrificed too much, to abandon everything he’d spent his life striving toward.
For his own good—and for Iggie’s as well—he needed to remember what was really important here. No more distractions. He’d solve this crisis, help Iggie escape unscathed, and then return to the Order, triumphant in his mission. It was the only logical choice.
He’d barely taken a handful of steps outside when Iggie appeared beside him. He greeted the necromancer with a frown. “I thought I told you to meet me back at the inn?”
“And I thought we were in this together!”
The betrayal in Iggie’s voice brought Alistair up short, a flicker of his previous guilt threading through him. “I defended you to the village elders the best I could.”
“Requesting they refrain from murdering me sets a pretty low bar. You didn’t exactly contradict that priest when he accused me of lying, did you?”
Alistair winced. “I couldn’t risk contradicting Kelvin more directly, not when he already suspected that we…I mean, that I, uh…”
He trailed off, and Iggie’s eyes narrowed, his azure gaze piercing Alistair like twin shards of ice. “That we had sex in a cave?” he declared a touch too loudly for Alistair’s liking.
Alistair checked to ensure no one was in earshot, and Iggie sighed, his shoulders hunching beneath his layered clothes.
“Look, I get it. You don’t want to sully your reputation by consorting with a wicked necromancer.
But you’re the one who convinced me to come here.
I need to know I can rely on you to have my back. ”
“You can. I said I’d protect you, and I will.” Even as Alistair spoke the words, however, a part of him wondered if they were true. If Kelvin or the others demanded Iggie’s head, would he defy their edicts to save the necromancer, even if it meant violating his oaths to the Order?
It won’t come to that, he insisted silently, his stomach churning as they started toward the inn. I’ll find a way to help Iggie and the town both. I must.