Chapter 17 #2
‘I followed you.’ Kantor Witt grinned at them, his eyes too bright. ‘I’ve heard you talking, at night, and in the morning.’ He cocked his head at Elver. ‘Does he know? What you two get up to at night?’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Artair, but Dalesh was already talking over them.
‘Isnere, please get your priest back on his leash. I don’t have time for this.’
Faceless Isnere sighed and stood up slowly. It was impossible to tell how old he was beneath the regalia of Trilot, but from the way he moved, Elver got the sense of an older man with aching joints.
‘Very well. Witt, you are to be commended on trailing and capturing these two unclean spirits. I am sure it will go some way to mending your connection with our lord. We will take these two to the Faceless House now and they will be disposed of as our lord sees fit.’
‘Hold on now,’ said Dalesh. ‘Ashingdown was built with the blessings of the Bloody Claw, the blood of sacrifice poured into its very foundations. By rights, these two should go to Him.’
‘And I thought you wanted to get back to your dinner?’ said Isnere. ‘No, I’m afraid I must insist, Dalesh. Look at this fool’s face.’ He gestured to Witt, who lowered his head in shame. ‘It’s the direst insult to Trilot and it must be accounted for.’
‘Personally, I think I’ve improved his face,’ said Elver.
‘ You will be quiet ,’ said Dalesh, her voice as sharp as a whip in the small room. ‘Fine. You can take them away, but I want to question them both first.’
‘Question them?’ snapped Witt. ‘What for? I assure you, they are both as monstrous as they come…’
‘Isnere,’ said Dalesh coldly. ‘I won’t be told my business in my own building. The Bloody Claw has sway here, as I’m sure even this branded idiot knows. I must find out what’s behind this sudden influx of jih into Ashingdown.’
The older priest nodded slowly, apparently conceding her point. He turned to Witt, and even through the mask, Elver could tell that the younger man was receiving a severe look.
‘We will have them to ourselves shortly, Witt,’ he said. ‘Let the magistrate work. Dalesh, I will give you a couple of moments, but that is all. Jih are our business, as well you know.’
The pair of them left, Kantor Witt glancing furiously over his shoulder before his superior closed the door behind them. Dalesh blew air out of her nose noisily as she turned her attention to Elver.
‘How are you still alive?’
Abruptly, the day she had been thrown into the sea felt so close she could almost smell the salt, and all at once she was newly furious—this woman had held her arm tightly enough to bruise it, had listened to her questions and her protests and ignored them all.
And then she’d stood and watched while a twelve-year-old child was thrown to their certain death.
She tried to yank her hands free from the manacles, but only succeeded in bruising herself.
‘You killed me!’ she shouted. ‘You threw me in the bloody sea, you and that other smirking shithead!’
Dalesh shook her head slowly, her dark eyes piercing Elver.
‘Yet here you are.’
‘Your mistress tried to sacrifice me, but I belong to another god now,’ spat Elver.
‘And you’re about to be purified by yet another.
’ Dalesh sighed and went back to the table that sat in front of the fire.
There was a black lacquered box there, which she opened and began sorting through.
‘I can’t help you right now,’ she said, ‘because as you know, the Bloody Claw’s magic is costly, and I don’t have that tithe to hand—’
‘Help us? What do you mean, help us?’
‘And the Temple of Trilot is strictly off limits to those dedicated to other gods. They believe the presence of other priests and mages taints their connection. But I will give you this. So you can call me to you, despite their magics. Hopefully, when you use it, I will have the magic to hand.’
She held out a thing that looked a little like a black metal coin. Along the edge of it was a thin line of tiny spikes, and in the middle there was a shape like a cat’s eye, etched in red enamel.
‘Don’t take it.’ Artair was reaching out for the coin. At Elver’s words, he stopped. ‘It’s a trap.’
‘Idiot girl,’ said Dalesh. ‘The Bloody Claw is a demanding god, and being one of his mages often leads us down dark paths. When we chose you, I was young. It was necessary, perhaps, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the weight of that dark path still.
’ She flipped the black token towards Artair, and instinctively he snatched it out of the air before it could collide with his face.
‘Perhaps you crossed my path so I could do something about that.’
‘We had an animal with us, a jih spirit,’ said Artair quickly. ‘We lost him when they took us. You need to get him too…’
At that moment, the door opened, and the faceless priests were there again.
It was clear that Kantor Witt had shouldered it open, and he had more guards with him.
They swarmed in and Elver felt the first of them grab her bicep none too gently as they began to drag them out of the magistrate’s office.
‘Wait.’ Artair had made the coin disappear somewhere. ‘How do we use it?’
‘You know,’ said Dalesh quietly, before turning away. When she spoke again, her voice was full of impatience. ‘I’ve already seen this little serpent’s face more often than I ever wanted or expected to, Isnere. Take it to your prison.’