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The tall black-skinnedDanube as they ca bush in the n, Abbot Je&039;howith knew The Behrenese ae had to be justified for King Danube to accept such treatment
"I will find a baron who despises your Church asover to whisper in the abbot&039;s ear
"And I will show you a God ill remind you of those words when your feeble round," the old abbot replied quietly
Duke Kalas, so young and strong and full of life, only laughed at that notion, but if Je&039;howith&039;s threats did little to unnerve young Kalas, the Duke&039;s ed priest in the least Je&039;howith looked at hi silent assurances to the man that he would learn better as the years passed by, as his bones began to ache with every co storaarden
Kalas read the shter abruptly stopped, s into a frown "Yes, a God," he said, "your God - the all-powerful being who could not save Queen Vivian Or was it, per-haps, the failure of the frail vessel your God chose to utilize in that pitiful attempt?"
Noas Je&039;howith&039;s turn to frown, for Kalas&039; rearden Queen Vivian had designed, the garden that King Danube walked everyand full of life then, the King and Queen of Honce-the- Bear Danube had been barely into his twenties, dashing and strong, and Vivian but seventeen, a sweet and beautiful floith raven hair that hung to her waist, azed into theht as the petals of the white roses clidom loved them, and all the world see sickness, a swift, rare killer On theof that fateful day nearly twenty years before, walking in this garden, she had complained of a headache By noon, she had taken to her bed with a slight fever And by supper, when Je&039;howith had at last arrived to relieve her discomfort, she was delirious, her pale body lathered in sweat The abbot worked furiously at her bedside and called for the most powerful stone users of St Honce to join him
Queen Vivian had died before the other monks arrived
King Danube had not blamed Je&039;howith; indeed he had thanked the old abbot repeatedly for his heroic efforts In fact, racious King Danube had been in those days following Vivian&039;s death But Je&039;howith, who had spent many hours with the couple and who had perfore, had never been convinced that Danube&039;s love for Vivian had run deep, despite these daily walks in the garden More likely, the abbot thought, the walks were more for Danube&039;s own pleasure than out of respect for the ether - outwardly blissful - but it was no secret that Danube had taken e, which explained to e, had risen to a position of offi-cial court adviser, and was rumored to be in line for the duchy of Entel when Duke Prescott, who had the profoundsix barren women - to hear him tell it - finally died
It was rumored, and Je&039;howith knew that it was more than rumor, that Vivian, too, had found a bedside coon Bree Kalas, had never been fond of the Abel-lican Church, but his sarcastic dis Abellican had turned to open hatred toward the Church and particularly toward Je&039;howith the night Queen Vivian died
"Enough of your personal feud," Constance Pe to stand between the Danube this , and his behavior this day is on Bree Kalas said, then pointedly added, "of the Church&039;s h!" Constance demanded "You do not know that And even if your suspicions prove true, your duty is to King Danube, to stand strong and united behind hireed, eyes narrowing as he looked over at Je&039;howith "One probleroup quieted then, as Yatol Rahib Daibe stalked past, tossing thelance, with a particularly vicious scowl aimed at the old abbot in his Abellican robes
"Suspicions confiron Bree KalasDanube, alking toward thedo informed the trio, "not at all"
"Because of the Church&039;s actions in Palmaris," Kalas was happy to say
"What is this persecution of the Behrenese?" King Danube asked Je&039;howith "Are we at ith Behren, and if so, as I not informed?"
"I know of no persecution," Je&039;howith replied, lowering his gaze respectfully
"Now you do," King Danube loudly retorted "It would seem that your new bishop is not fond of our dark-skinned southern neighbors and has begun a systematic persecution of them in Palmaris"
"They are not Abellican," Je&039;howith said, as if that was soroaned "But they are powerful," he replied "Would you start a ith Behren because they are not Abellican?"
"Of course we desire no ith Behren," Je&039;howith said
"Perhaps you are too stupid to understand that one action on Bree Kalas put in "Perhaps - "
Constance Pelowered at hi his ar away
"Behren would not go to ith us no matter the situation in Pal-maris," Je&039;howith stated flatly This was not the line of reasoning he wanted to take; he had no desire even to discuss the possibility that De&039;Unnero&039;s rash actionsEven if the prob-lems in Palmaris wouldn&039;t lead to war, they could co Danube had confided in Je&039;howith that he had issued a command to Duke Tetrafel, the duke of the Wilderlands Normally, that was iven to keep wealthy fa Danube had a plan The King favored the strong pinto ponies of the To-gai tribesai-ru had been conquered by the yatols a century before, and now all trade for the shaggy To-gai pintos had to go through the Chezru chieftain&039;s court in Jacintha Danube figured that if Tetrafel could so peaks of the western Belt-and-Buckle to the To-gai steppes, they could secretly work far better deals for the coveted horses
Of course, such deals would involve substantial bribes to the ever- observant Yatol Rahib Daibe
Still, Je&039;howith had to defend his Church, and re that the Behrenese did not follow the sa that the Bishop&039;s actions in Pal serious, for a ith the fierce people of Behren could prove disastrous for Honce- the-Bear, especially co so soon after the conflict with the minions of the demon dactyl
"No, but they will likelyDanube replied
"Yatol Daibe hinted at just that, wondering how our ships will fare against the nu the coast of Behren without the Chezru chieftain&039;s fleet protecting them He also spoke of tariffs and other unpleasantness, including a one to war against Honce-the-Bear&039;s merchants, Abbot Je&039;howith? First the deemstones they paid your own Church dearly to acquire - and now this"
"What of the ge, obvi-ously concerned
King Danube waved him away "I fear that the trial has proven disastrous, Abbot Je&039;howith," he said
"More ti," Je&039;howith replied, but his words seemed more like a courtesy than a heartfelt plea, as if Je&039;hoere speaking s "The city is being brought under control, a necessary first step after so difficult a war"
King Danube shook his head "Honce-the-Bear cannot afford to give more time to Bishop De&039;Unnero," he said
Je&039;howith started to protest, but the King held up his hand and started back toward the rose-ringed door, Constance Pe in place behind him
"A baron who despises the Church," the Duke whispered to Je&039;howith as he passed "I promise" And it was no idle threat, Je&039;howith knew, for Pal-maris fell within the boundaries of Kalas&039; duchy