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"The abbot and the Baron," Rochefort relad to see that you have taken all the proper precautions," Connor said quickly "You e of our ene more than a common tavern- hunter"

Rochefort nodded, and see Like a protective father, he didn&039;t fear for hih, was not really convinced by his oords The powrie slipping into St Precious at this tension-filled time, so soon after the horrible Father Abbot&039;s departure, seerew more uneasy as he looked upon the broken face of his uncle&039;s principal guard

"I want you to stay at Chasewind Manor," Rochefort said

Connor shook his head "I have business in the city, Uncle," he replied "And I have been battling powries for months now Fear not for me" As he finished, he patted Defender, co and hard at the confident young man That hat he liked about Connor, the confidence, the swagger He had been sofro life so fully, taking each er How ironic, he thought, that now, growing older, and with less pleasure, less ex-citement, less life, ahead of him, he should be more protective of his life Connor, indeed so er Rochefort, with so er, felt ihed, and dis Connor to stay at Chasewind Manor, for that, he realized, would steal all that he loved fro man "Keep one of ain Connor resolutely shook his head "That would only out-line et," he reasoned "I know the city, Uncle Knohere to garner information and where to hide"

"Go out! Go out!" the Baron cried in defeat, laughing all the while "But know that you carry more than the responsibility of your own life with you" He rose with considerably less trouble than he had found in sitting, and rushed about the desk, clapping Connor on the shoulder roughly a couple of ti hand rest intimately about his nephew&039;s neck "You carry my heart with you, boy," he said solemnly "If they find you as they found Dobrinion, then know that I will surely die of a broken heart"

Connor believed hi and a pat, then strode confidently from the room

"He will soon be your baron," Rochefort said to the soldier

Theof the choice

"Open it"

"But Master Bildeborough, I see no reason to disturb the sleep of the dead," the monk replied "The coffin has been blessed by Brother Talu - "

"Open it," Connor repeated, locking the youngmy uncle?"

Thelow to grasp the wooden lid With a look back to the resolute Connor, he slid the cover aside There lay the woman, her com-plexion chalky blue in death

To the rabbed her by the shoulder, lifting and turning the corpse, his face low, impervious to the stench as he studied her intently "Wounds?" he asked

"Just the drowning," the monk replied "In the sink Hot water, too Her face was all red at first, but now the blood, and all the life, is gone froently shifted the body back into place and stood back,to the monk that he could close the coffin He put his hand to histo make sense of it all Thewhen he showed up at their gate They were fright-ened and confused, he knew, and the presence of so ih had helped to settle them

In Abbot Dobrinion&039;s room Connor had found little in the way of clues Both bodies were still there, the abbot&039;s cleaned and care-fully placed in state on his bed, and the powrie&039;s right where the monks had found it The blood of both corpses was liberal about the room, despite all efforts to clean the place When Connor protested the changes in the roole, as they had interpreted it, in great detail: the abbot had been wounded first, and several times, probably taken by surprise while he lay asleep on his bed One of the wounds was mortal, a slash across the throat, but still the brave Dobrinion had le across the room to retrieve the small knife

How proud were the monks of St Precious that their abbot had been able to take revenge on his killer!

To Connor, who had battled the tough powries, it seeer could have so perfectly taken one down, and that Dobrinion, given the viciousness of the slashed throat, could even have gotten to the desk The scenario was not beyond belief, though, and so he kept his thoughts to hi the description with a noncoallant Dobrinion

When he subsequently inquired about how the powrie ained access, Connor learned of a second victiirl who had been ambushed and drowned in the kitchen It reained entrance, for the door wasopened fro invisible against the abbey&039;s bricked wall The only explanation they could find was that the foolish girl had been in league with, or more likely, been duped by, the powrie and had let the dwarf in

That, too, seeh a bit of a stretch, but now, in looking at the girl, her skin unbroken, the young noble-h about hi that without the guidance of the only man of any authority in all the abbey, they could do little

"Poor girl," was all he muttered as the monk escorted him from the abbey&039;s cellar - just a pair of stairways up from where the Chilichunks had been held as prisoners, Connor continually re-minded himself

"Your uncle will help us to secure the abbey fro in the chapel for the pair inquired

Connor asked for parchment and quill, then scribbled out a re-quest for such aid "Take this to Chasewind Manor," he instructed "Of course the fah will do all that we can for the security of St Precious"

He bade the monks farewell then, and swept out into the streets of Palmaris, the place of whispers and ruht truly find his answers

Questions and ihout the afternoon Why would the powries go after Abbot Dobrinion, who had not been very one out fro in the north, and they had been far from decisive in any battles Given that, and the fact that St Precious had playedrole in the war, it seemed unlikely that any of Dobrinion&039;s actions would have spurred the powries to such a dramatic action

The only explanation Connor could think of was that the monks of St- Mere-Abelle, who had reportedly come in from the north, had skir et for assassination

But after his experiences with Markwart, Connor didn&039;t believe that possible scenario The words "too convenient" echoed in his mind whenever he considered every piece of evidence or any seeht, Connor found his way to Fellowship Way, which he had convinced Dainsey Auco to her that the Chilichunks would be in desperate straits indeed when they returned to Palh Connor didnot believe they would ever return to Palmaris - if their business had not been ossip about what had happened to Abbot Dobrinion and to Keleigh Leigh, the poor drowned kitchen girl Connor kept quiet throughthan in speaking, trying to find soht have some impor-tant and valid inforh he worked hard to keep a low profile, he was approached often, the co that the nobleh all their inquiries, Connor only smiled and shook his head "I know only what I have heard since entering the Way," he&039;d reply

The night rolled on without progress; frustrated Connor put his back against the wall and closed his eyes Only one fellow&039;s call of "newfolks," the term commonly applied to visitors who had not been previously seen in the Way, stirred him from his respite

It took hih the croard the door and the twowith the perfect balance and absolute alertness of a trained warrior Connor&039;s eyes ide He knew these men, and knew that their present dress, that of co

Where were their robes?

The ht back pain in Connor&039;s kidney, and given his last ht it wise to slip even further into the crowd Heher to the bar opposite hi the t-folks "And tell them that I have not been in the Way all the week"

Dainsey nodded and slid back the other hile Connor faded toward the back wall He tried to stay close enough to catch any snatches of conversation between Dainsey and the two as they predictably approached the hostess, but the noise of the packed tavern allowed for very little eavesdropping

Until Dainsey - wonderful Dainsey! - raised her voice point-edly and called out, "Why, he&039;s not been in here all the week!"

Connor&039;s suspicions were confiruess why easily enough And now he knehy Keleigh Leigh had not been cut, why no powrie had dipped its beret in her spilling blood, a tradition that, according toeverything Connor had ever heard about the cruel bloody caps, no poould ever forsake He dared to turn about and steal a glance back toward Dainsey, and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, then "inadvertently" brushed her other hand down the front of her blouse, opening it wide, catching the atten-tion of every ht, and he used the distraction to , toward the door It took him more than a minute to cover the twenty feet, so croas the Way, but then he was out in the salty air of the Pallanced back into the tavern, to see the crowd jostling, as though soet to the door

Connor didn&039;t wait to discern who that nized Dainsey&039;s move as a diversion, they would understand where to turn next The nobleman rushed to the corner of the Way, then went around the corner, turning and peering back to the door

Sure enough, Youseff and Dandelion burst out onto the street

Down the alley went Connor, his thoughts spinning He wasted no ti flat on his belly, shaking his head as the two monks ca quietly

Up here, with the sky seeht below him, Connor couldn&039;t help but fall back in time This place had been Jill&039;s special spot, her hideaway from the world She had cohts, to seek out past events too painful for her fragile hts of Jill; one of the monks, Youseff likely, had started to cli the far alley to the roof of the next building, rushing over the peak and sliding down, turning, catching the lip of the roof as he went over, then dropping to the street He went on in full flight, running scared, thinking of Jill, thinking of all the craziness that had come to his little world

Abbot Dobrinion was dead Dead! And no powrie had done it

No, it was these two, the lackeys of Father Abbot Dalebert Markwart, the leader of all the Abellican Church Markwart had killed Dobrinion because of the abbot&039;s resistance, and now had set his assassins on hi at last hit Connor, and nearly laid him low He considered his course - should he seek protection at Chasewind Manor?

Connor dis to iotten to Dobrinion, could anyone, even the Baron of Pal-maris, be safe? These were powerful ene of Honce-the-Bear were turned against hierous enemies than the monks of the Abellican Church Indeed, by many standards, not the least of which concerned those ical powers, the Father Abbot was a

The scope of this all, the incredible idea that the Father Abbot would order - had ordered! - Dobrinion murdered, assaulted the noble as he vanished into the Palht

But still, Connor knew that he would run out of places to hide These two, and others, if there were more in the city, were profes-sional assassins They would find hiht he knehere he er here, the real target of Markwart&039;s wrath He did turn to Chasewind Manor then, crossing the gate into the courtyard, but veering from the main house to the stables There he quickly saddled Greystone, his fa-vorite hunting horse, a beautiful and thick-er Greystone under hiate before the night had crossed its midpoint