Dagger's Edge (Shadow series) (27 page)

I beg that you will allow me to make amends for my unforgivable behavior. Although our temple is busy at this time in preparations for the Grand Summoning, if you will agree to sup with me tomorrow, I will gladly lay aside my responsibilities for that time. If you will only consent to come, it will be my privilege to send my carriage for you.

Jael rolled up the scroll, smiling with satisfaction. Supper with Lord Urien might carry its own complications, but it was one thing certain to distract her from her worries.

Jael drained the goblet; from the taste, it contained the same potion her father had given her the night before, but perhaps a little more concentrated. She was grateful; tonight she wanted all the help she could get to sleep. She touched the stoppered flask once, smiling in satisfaction, and let the potion’s warm strength carry her away.

Aubry rolled the token between his fingers silently. At last he put it down on the table and tipped out the contents of the pouch—a handful of Suns, a dozen Moons, a few coppers. That was all.

“These were his luck,” Aubry sighed, poking the gold earrings with his fingertip. “He never had much money—lived too fancy when he had more than a few Suns in his sleeves. But he was smart, lived within his abilities, didn’t risk himself on marks that were too dangerous for him. He always had a notion that one day he’d take a boat down the Brightwater to the coast towns. I suppose that’s why he always loitered around Rivertown.”

“Aubry—” Jael hesitated. “Mother thinks a necromancer is involved with the murders, because of the blood and the other things that were taken. The necromancers that you spoke of, are you certain they couldn’t be involved?”

Aubry grimaced.

“How can anyone know for certain without a truth spell?” he said wearily. “I’d have said not. One of them came to me, offering her services and those of her associates. If they’d killed the elves and taken what they wanted from the bodies, why would they come to me and say they needed more? And if they were doing it as a bluff, to turn suspicion away from themselves, why come to me? Why not send a nameless message to the High Lord and Lady and work that way? I’d have sworn on the Forest Altars that the offer was genuine.”

“What would a necromancer do with those things?” Jael asked curiously. “All that blood, all the rest.”

“I asked.” Aubry poured himself a cup of wine and raised his eyebrows at Jael, who shook her head. “Blood’s for invocations. That’s common enough, even in ordinary magic. Mages often use animal blood, sometimes their own blood, too. There’s power in blood. But the blood of a victim who’s killed—that’s only used by necromantic sorcerers in dark invocations.”

“Necromantic
sorcerers?”
Jael asked. “I thought a necromancer was a necromancer.”

Aubry shook his head.

“Most necromancers are content with divinations, spirit communion, and the like. The more powerful and less cautious ones may risk a deadwalk—animating corpses. But those are still minor magic in most cases. Necromantic sorcerers use death—parts of corpses, as well as the energy released by violent death—for other kinds of invocations. The blood from one murder, that would be enough for the creation of an homunculus or the summoning of a minor demon. This many victims, more taken each time—it must be some vine-rotting
big
invocation.”

“What could they invoke with all that?” Jael pressed.
Demon,
she thought sickly, remembering Solly’s corpse. “And if they needed that many victims for something that big, why spread out over days? Why not all at once?”

“I don’t know.” Aubry shrugged helplessly. “The necromancer I talked to didn’t know, either, unless it’s some kind of repeated invocation. Why was less left of the body each time? I don’t know. Why only elves? I don’t know. But now there’s Solly. He’s no elf, and no merchant.”

“And he wasn’t killed like the others.” Jael hesitated. “Whatever was summoned up, could that have killed Solly?”

“I think that’s likely.” Aubry sighed. “From the way you described the wounds, it sounds like nothing more than a minor imp or blood demon. Still nothing to wave aside, but hardly an invocation requiring so much death. At least that’s what I’ve been told.”

Aubry reached out and took Jael’s hand.

“I’m pulling my people out of Rivertown,” he told her. “And I don’t want you even wandering the west side of the market or Guild Row. If any of my Guild members see you there, they’ve got orders to bring you away, even if they’ve got to pick you up and carry you; understand?”

“I won’t argue,” Jael said, shivering. “I
saw
Solly. You couldn’t give me enough Suns to poke a toe into Rivertown now. Even though I’ve got one to spare.”

“Speaking of Suns—” Aubry glanced down at the few items on the table. “You know the custom—belongings to the finder. It’s yours.”

“I didn’t find him.” Jael looked at the gold and shivered. “I’ll take the earrings. Give the money to his apprentice. I don’t need it anyway.”

Aubry picked up the token.

“We’ll miss him,” he said quietly. “Fair journey, Solly.”

“Fair journey, Solly,” Jael repeated. She picked up the earrings. “My ears aren’t pierced. Would you do it?”

A few hours later, Jael donned one of her new tunics, gazed in the mirror, and admired the earrings sparkling in her still-smarting ears. They didn’t match the necklace Urien had given her, but the gold looked warm and lovely against her bronze hair, and the green stones twinkled prettily. In her new clothing, her short curls as neatly combed as possible and jewels sparkling at throat and ear, Jael was almost satisfied with her appearance for once. As a final touch, she belted on her sword; there’d be no one to challenge her tonight, and the scabbard at her hip looked impressive. Surely Urien would be impressed, at least.

Jael waited until she was almost out of the castle before she caught one of the servants and told him to tell the High Lord and Lady that Jael would not be at supper. It was entirely possible that given the recent violence in the city, her mother and father might actually forbid her to leave, even in the carriage; better simply not to ask. That meant taking no guards with her, but Urien always sent guards with his carriage, so there should be no danger.

Urien’s carriage was waiting for her outside, well guarded, as Jael had expected, but to Jael’s surprise, Urien was inside it waiting for her.

“My lesser priests are at my home, purifying themselves in preparation for the Grand Summoning tomorrow,” Urien apologized. “If you don’t object, we’ll go to the Basilisk’s Eye for supper again.”

“The Eye’s fine,” Jael smiled, more relieved than disappointed. “Mother and Father received an invitation to the Grand Summoning from Ankaras.”

“From High Priest Ankaras,” Urien corrected her. “I’m tentatively returning the robe to him for this ceremony. I believe he’s beginning to adjust to the change in doctrine, and I think his resentment at being deprived of his station is all that prevents him from again becoming a worthy High Priest of the temple. I’ve allowed him to conduct most of the preparatory rituals, and I think this gesture of trust will do much to lessen his hostility toward me. The worshippers will prefer the High Priest they are familiar with to conduct the ceremony, and temple tradition discourages different priests from performing the Lesser and Grand Summonings. If all goes well, I may be able to return him to his station permanently.”

“So you’ll just watch?” Jael asked. “Perhaps you could sit with us and explain the ritual.” She wanted to ask Urien what would happen if he was no longer needed to keep Ankaras in line, but she had a suspicion she wouldn’t like that answer. Most probably he’d simply return to his home.

Urien shook his head regretfully.

“I fear my presence would be an unwelcome distraction to High Priest Ankaras, and convince him of my distrust,” he said. “For the sake of the success of the Grand Summoning, I can’t attend. But here’s the Basilisk’s Eye; let us discuss more pleasant things.”

The supper was, if anything, even more sumptuous than the other time Jael had supped there.

“I hope I didn’t offend you in the market,” Urien apologized as soon as they were comfortably settled at the table. “I was surprised to see you there, and concerned that you had been left alone, and worried that a worshipper from the temple might see us together. I hope you can forgive me.”

“If I didn’t, I’d hardly be here,” Jael said practically. “I was surprised to see you in the market, too.”

“I suppose many nobles would simply send their servants to shop for them,” Urien chuckled, “but no merchant would pass by the chance to assess the local market.”

“Merchant one night, priest the next,” Jael said, grinning. If Urien was interested in the market, perhaps that meant he’d stay in Allanmere in some capacity, even if he wasn’t needed to run the Temple of Baaros. “Which one am I eating supper with tonight?”

“Neither,” Urien said, smiling as he joined the game. “I left the priest at the temple and the merchant in the market, so tonight you’re only supping with simple, secular Lord Urien.

But after supper, I thought I’d show you the temple while it’s decorated for the Grand Summoning, and while all the priests are gone. I’m certain you’ve been wondering what the temple looks like.”

Jael could hardly tell Urien that she’d already been in the temple several times.

“I’d like that,” she said shyly.

Jael was surprised and pleased that Urien made no effort to hurry supper. He flirted with her, but on a comfortably light

level, feeding her choice tidbits, blowing in her ear to startle her. Urien tickled Jael until she shrieked with laughter and dropped the leg of roast fowl she was holding, and Urien seized her greasy hand, slipping a bracelet around her wrist. When Jael got her breath back, she stared in amazement at a stunning gold band whorled and gemmed to match the pendant he had given her.

“I realize you mustn’t wear this openly,” Urien said softly. “But I wanted you to have it, nevertheless.”

“It’s beautiful,” Jael said, tracing the intricate designs with her fingertip. “Thank you so much.”

“I didn’t bring the matching earrings,” Urien apologized. “I thought your ears weren’t pierced.”

“They weren’t,” Jael admitted, wiping her hand and touching her earrings self-consciously. “A friend just pierced my ears today so I could wear these earrings.”

“Ah, a rival for your affections?” Urien asked, frowning in mock ferocity. “I’ll cut the knave in two.”

“No, just a friend,” Jael said, chuckling at the thought. Gods, Aubry was almost
family.
Then she sobered. “Another friend of ours was killed. These were his earrings, and I wanted to wear them.”

“How sweet.” Urien ran his finger around the edge of Jael’s ear, making her shiver. “Then these are the rings you must wear. But I’ll give you the others, and someday you may have occasion to wear them. Are you finished here? There’s something at the temple I’m eager to show you.”

“Yes, I’m finished,” Jael said, pushing her goblet away. What in the world could there be to see at the temple?
And don’t touch anything while we’re there,
Jael reminded herself sternly. If she did something to ruin the Grand Summoning somehow, Ankaras could likely use that failure against Urien.

Urien seemed quieter on the carnage ride to the temple, his arm affectionately around Jael, stroking her hair as she rested her head on his shoulder. When the carriage reached the temple, however, Urien rose quickly, motioning to Jael to stay where she was.

“Wait here while I make certain none of the other priests are in the temple,” he said apologetically. “I’d be giving An-karas a sharp sword to use against me if he learned I brought an unbeliever into the temple right before the Grand Summoning. I’ll only be a moment.”

Jael nodded understandingly. It wouldn’t do her reputation any good, either, to be seen going into the Temple of Baaros with Lord Urien.

It took Urien longer than Jael had expected to return, long enough that she had begun to worry. At last, however, he opened the door of the carriage, carrying a plain gray cloak with a hood. He handed the cloak to Jael.

“There’s no one about in the temple,” he said, “but there are plenty of folk in the streets. It might be best if you aren’t recognized here.”

Touched by his thoughtfulness, although it was as much for his benefit as hers, Jael squeezed his hand warmly and donned the cloak, pulling the hood up around her face. Urien took her hand, helping her down the steps of the carriage, and she took his proffered arm as they walked into the temple. It was rather exciting, Jael mused, to have an illicit moonlight meeting with a priest in his own temple. The carriage moved quickly away, and Jael supposed that Urien must have told the driver to return for them later.

“Come in here,” Urien said, leading Jael into the main hall. “Quickly, it’s almost moonrise.”

The main temple was much as Jael remembered it before the Lesser Summoning, although there were more ornaments and decorations, and the ceremonial runes had not yet been drawn. Jael wondered whether the additional ornamentation was due to the importance of the Grand Summoning or the additional funds Urien had brought to the temple.

Urien led Jael to the altar, then turned her around so that she faced out to the open area where the worshippers would sit. He folded his arms around her from behind.

“What am I supposed to see?” Jael asked confused. The empty hall was silent and still.

“Just wait,” Urien told her. “It should only be another moment or two.”

Jael leaned back against Urien contentedly, enjoying the warmth of his arms around her. The night had turned unexpectedly chill.

Gradually Jael saw a light growing in the room, and she quickly traced its source. Set on the far wall was a window she hadn’t noticed on her previous intrusions because of its small size, a window set with glass cut in facets like a gem. As the moon rose, its light touched the cut glass, then struck it fully. Jael gasped as the light shattered into a million rainbow fragments over the floor of the hall.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Urien murmured into her ear. “I found an account of the window in the early records of the building. The temple which previously occupied this building had the window set in a special way. The light only strikes it so for a short time at moonrise, and then only on certain nights of the year. The previous temple used it to mark some of their holy nights.”