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"Truly a miracle," Brother Francishis roo as he had been before the atteer bounce that had so recently returned to his step At the very least, Francis had expected soe and uncertainty, and fear But Markwart, fro so brutally struck, had exhibited none of those negative attitudes He had very publicly thanked God for saving his life - with a jaw that orking well, a jaw that had seeone only hours before! - and then had explained his sudden inspiration that this ht provide an even deeper benefit The recall Bishop De&039;Unnero had begun of the ge and tentative King Danube To hear Markwart express it, the potential growth of power for the Abellican Church see
And for Brother Francis, confused and still trying to shed that unbear-able guilt, it rang out as proof that he had chosen right in believing in the Father Abbot
He had to hustle to catch up to his mentor, and then had to continue a swift stride to pace the man Danube Brock Ursal had couards, to offer comfort to the wounded Father Abbot How surprised he hen Markwart strode confidently into the audience chah somewhat crooked smile splayed on his old, leathery face He took his seat opposite King Danube, while his escort scurried to place chairs respectfully behind hied to say after the shock of Markwart&039;s obvious health wore off "I had heard that you were more seri-ously injured - some of your monks expressed their fears that you would not survive, even with their "
"And so I would not have," Markwart replied with a slight lisp, "had not God chosen to keep , snorted, then tried, not so hard, to disguise it as a cough
Markwart&039;s glare cut off those i dangerously, the tension suddenly palpable Kalas, norht, and so did King Danube, who had seen this old ht-time visit
"He knows that I still haveit end at that
"He?" Danube asked, losing track of the conversation, noticeably shaken by that ilare
"God," Markwart explained
"How often havethe name of God," Kalas dared to utter
"Not as often as doubters have come to know the truth too late in their miserable lives," Markwart replied "Too ive-ness on their deathbeds, realizing at long last that, despite their doubts, God holds the only true ; for the only future that really ile and imperfect mortal coil"
Brother Francis locked stares with Constance Pe the sas about the less-than-civil undercurrent of the exchange At that moment, it was not hard for either of them to understand ould walk out as victor should Kalas continue this fight with the Father Abbot
Markould utterly destroy hi Danube saw it, too
"Now you understand the recall of the gemstones," Markwart said to him "These are tools not meant for the common man"
"I would hardly call the nobility of Honce-the-Bear &039;coued
"Nor would I label them &039;holy,&039; " Markwart replied califts of God, meant for the chosen of God"
"You and yours," Kalas said dryly
"If you wish to join the Order, then prove yourself worthy of it and I will personally see to your adlared at hi?" he asked
"Perhaps that question perfectly illustrates emstones," said Markwart "We of the Abellican Order preach e such power as is afforded by the geuard, the potential for destruction is sireat Thus, the stones are to be recalled Every one of the proclamation, one that had even Abbot Je&039;howith, as standing dutifully behind Markwart, reeling For Je&039;howith had assured King Danube that the progra stones was confined to Palmaris and would not affect hi the King to explode with outrage
But Markwart riveted hi him silently of the nocturnal visit and of the power he should not oppose
"I will need assurances that the power of the gemstones, when all are placed under Church control, will continue to be used in concert with the desires of the throne," King Danube replied, to the utter amazement of his secular advisers, even of Je&039;howith
"The details will be negotiated," Markwart said, shifting his threatening stare to Kalas, for the man was obviously ready to cry out in protest
The Father Abbot stood up then, signaling the end of the"I do hope you will find your stay in our acco quarters at the house ofDanube," he said Constance and Kalas both gasped, for from the tone of his voice it caroveling kindness toward a superior, but rather as a conde-scending gesture toward one he would tolerate
And evennod
Brother Francis was the last of theback once to see the ruffled King and his court still sitting in their assigned chairs, their iain that Francis had thrown his loy-alty behind the right faction
Markwart&039;s cheerfulDanube did not last the day He had called for a second , one with the co brothers of St Precious to deterress of the search for his attacker Not one of them offered a plausible direction for the search or a hint of who ht have been behind the attack Most suspected the Behrenese, but Markwart didn&039;t believe that for a ele report of a Behrenese ic And whoever had attacked hiic, was very powerful The soldiers had located three suspected attack positions, all on rooftops far from the parade route For someone to drive a lodestone such a distance with such force indicated a level of mastery and power that would outdo many, perhaps all, the masters of St- Mere-Abelle - that would rival the power of Markwart hi with the fact that a lodestone had been a the stones stolen by Avelyn Desbris, told the Father Abbot much about his attacker The na
One other clue struck hi red-haired wo that the attacker ue merchant, or an assassin hired by a merchant As Francis and the others questioned her more deeply, they found little practical basis for the claim, but still, Colleen Kilronney held stubbornly to it
Too stubbornly, perhaps?
That was only one of s on Markwart&039;sto his private charam inscribed on the floor here, of course, but he cleared a place in one corner of the roo his mind to find a deep state of meditation That now-familiar voice followed hih theopinions he had heard, bounced the notion of a Behrenese plot against the anger of a rogue ed to hide a lodestone from the searches of Bishop De&039;Unnero But while the attacker ht have been a merchant, or, an assassin hired by ainst Markwart&039;s suspicions that his attacker really was Jill or soh it all, the voice kept whispering about the red-haired soldier wo to convince hihi about the source and not the information
"A distraction," the Father Abbot whispered, and as he considered any possible reason the warrior wo forth such a theory, he knew the direction of his personal search
He stor Colleen Kilronney to him at once
And then he waited, a spider at the center of its web
Colleen canized that she was on her guard - yet another sign that the voice had steered him correctly
"You were adamant that the attacker was a ht to the point andfor Colleen to take a seat opposite his desk, and thenfor Brother Francis to leave them
"Seemin&039; the obvious direction," she said
"Is it?" The simplicity of the question made suspicious Colleen tilt her head to better study the old man, another movement that was not lost on perceptive Markwart
"Yer Bishop&039;sthem," Colleen explained, "mostly with the friends o&039; Aloysius Crump Murdered him, ye know, and in a horrible way and in a public place"
Markwart held up his hand, not the least interested in pursuing any dis-cussion with this inconsequential woman about Palht it not have been a friend of Avelyn Desbris?" he asked innocently
"I&039;m not knowin&039; the nae told a different story altogether
"Ah," Markwart said, nodding "That would explain your insistence on the er, dis- Colleen out of the room with his other hand He called out to her as she opened the door, telling her to send Brother Francis back in irunted
"Find me those who know her movements," Markwart ordered Francis a reenized the name of Avelyn Desbris but also had been in recent contact - and knew it! - with one of the heretic&039;s disciples
Before the day was out, Father Abbot Markwart had discerned another spot for his personal search: Fellowship Way His spirit walked out of St Precious that storht
With the rain and the wind and the brilliant strokes of lightning, few sol-diers were out that night, and so the company-starved folk of Palmaris dared to slip out of their ho excitedly, trying to catch up on the , before the attack on Father Abbot Markwart So Danube would put the city in proper order and lessen Church influence
More than one patron argued against that, saying that the brutal assassi-nation attempt on Markwart had sealed his position within the city, and that the King would never go against the Father Abbot so soon after the attack
That line of reasoning, of course, hit Pony painfully hard as she moved from table to table She still could hardly believe that the old man had sur-vived, but now that it was obvious that Markas alive, even well, she thought herself incredibly foolish She still wished that she had found a way to kill hi failed to elithened his position!
Many tiht
While the huht storet to shelter, the Touel&039;alfar didn&039;t mind the rain in the least So attuned to nature, the elves accepted whatever she gave them Blizzards were a tierous wind and blinding snow died down, they would be out in force, frolicking about the drifts, engaging in snowball fights or tunnel dig-ging And so this late-winter rainstorht them little disco about Palmaris&039; streets
Lady Dasslerond and Belli&039;mar Juraviel sat on the roof of Fellowship Way under an overhang, chatting calmly about recent events and their hoped- for course Other elvessome way - a connection with an ie into the King&039;s private quarters - to find an audience for their lady with the King of Honce-the-Bear
"Glad I will be when our business here is finished and we can return to the quiet h Inninness," Lady Dasslerond said
Juraviel didn&039;t disagree "I left Nightbird so that I could again walk those meadows," he explained "I had hoped to spend the entirety of the spring in our valley"
"Just the spring?"
"And all the seasons after that," Juraviel clarified "I have seen enough of human problems Too much, I fear"
To Dasslerond, Juraviel&039;s words came as a welcohtbird and Pony She considered Nightbird, as she did all the rangers, as almost her child; and from all she had heard, she believed that she could come to love the woman, Pony, too But she was Touel&039;alfar, and they were not - no small matter to the clannish elves And she was the leader of Andur&039;Blough Inninness, with responsibili-ties to no human, but only to her elvish people
"I do look forward to htbird and Pony," Juraviel adreatness not seen, and sorely needed, a the humans"
"Perhaps I will accompany you on that future date," Dasslerond said, and Juraviel did not miss the honor she had just bestowed upon him, and upon his friends, with those kind words "As the years pass and the huain, if for no other reason than personal enjoy veil over Andur&039;Blough Inninness and invite Nightbird and his wife and child to co and hard, thrilled by her softening tone and words He knew that Dasslerond re Ponybi&039;nelle dasada, and outraged at Pony for acting so rashly against Father Abbot Markwart, but the lady was trying to look past that, was hoping for a better future relationship with the ranger and his loved ones So while the night seemed dark and stormy, Belli&039;mar Juraviel had reason to hope that the daould yet come
But then he felt the presence, an absolute darkness and coldness, as he had one night in the forest with a band of huees
Dasslerond felt it, too, and was up in an instant, one hand to her sword hilt, the other to a pouch at her side, a pouch that held her single geift fro the previous ith the dactyl Bestesbulzibar - easily the most powerful stone possessed by the Touel&039;alfar
"Jilseponie," Lady Dasslerond breathed, and she and Juraviel rushed to the edge of the building, signaling another nearby elf to rally the forces
Pony s froe, and glanced all about, won-dering whoher
"You will have to move faster than that if you h
Pony took a step closer, but stopped and glanced nervously about again, the hairs on the back of her neck tingling as her warrior instincts put her on her guard
"Caralee?" Belster asked, taking care not to use her real na, thoroughly confused She ca her apron fro it on the bar "I will return soon," she proh the door to the private rooain She was not alone; she knew that beyond doubt And then the truth of it, at least a swhere to turn next Should she find a stone to counter the spiritual intrusion? Should she go about her business cal the part of Bel-ster&039;s wife?
Jill,came a call in her head The wo to identify the source
You are Jill,came the voice, and she realized by that question that this was no friend! She spun about, thinking to rush back in the common room and blend into the crowd, but then she froze in place
The specter of Father Abbot Markwart stared at her, hovering visibly in the doorway
"Jill, friend of Nightbird, friend of Avelyn Desbris," came the Father Abbot&039;s voice - aloud!
Pony didn&039;t kno to respond She had never witnessed this type ofcould be taken to such a level!