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Go for the ge monk, and with that, Markwart imparted a clear picture of the woman ent by the various titles of Jill, Jilly, Pony, and Cat-the-Stray Pettibwa had been quite helpful that et the Baron&039;s nephew

As soon as Youseff&039;s reply of understanding came back to him, the weary Father Abbot broke the connection, let his spirit fall back into his own body

But there was so that his lie to Brother Francis about Avelyn&039;s protege sensing the ht hold h, for he canize the in-trusion as just another part of his own subconscious Monks had traditionally used the soul stones for the deepest forh rarely in these times, and it seemed to Markwart that he had inadvertently stumbled down that path

So he followed the course to the destination, thinking he was laying bare his own innerht find needed hts he saw Master Jojonah and the younger ainst him Of course this didn&039;t surprise Markwart; hadn&039;t he just sent Brother Francis to keep a close watch over the else came into the scene: Master Jojonah with a handful of stones, walking toward a door, a door that Mark-wart knew, Markwart&039;s own door And in the raphite

Jojonah kicked open the door and released a trey at the Father Abbot as he sat quiet on his chair Markwart felt the sudden flash, the burn, the jolt, his heart fluttering, his life rushing away

It took Markwart several agonizing seconds to separate iht and not actually happening Before this erous Jojonah and his wicked cohorts could be!

Yes, he would watch theainst them in a brutal and definitive , his inner voice told hireat victory achieved, the still little-known fight at Mount Aida would be whispered and then spoken openly, and, with Jojonah&039;s prodding, Avelyn Desbris ht be held up as a hero Markwart could not tolerate that possibility, and he understood then that he ainst the memory of the thief and murderer, must paint such a dark portrait of Avelyn - one that put hiue with the dehting between enemies at Aida, not the ac-tions of a heroic hly discredit Avelyn and put the heretic in his proper place in the thoughts of the people and in the annals of Church history

Markwart cahtly he was clutching the soul stone, his withered old knuckles gone white fro hih level of concentration, then put the stone back in the secret drawer of his desk He was feelingnot at all that the bothersootten away - the man could do him no harm in any case Dobrinion, the true threat in Palmaris, had been taken care of, and now Markwart understood the true na-ture of Jojonah and his cohorts As soon as the Brothers Justice delivered the stones, his own position would be secured And froth, Markwart knew he could easily deal with any trouble Jojonah put his way Yes, he decided, he would begin the preeainst Jojonah soon, would speak with Je&039;howith, as a longtime friend and a man as dedicated to the preservation of the Order as he was, and through the influ-ence of the abbot of St Honce, Markwart thought, he could enlist the aid of the King

At the other end of the broken connection, the spirit of Bestes-bulzibar, the demon dactyl, was satisfied The supposed spiritual leader of the hu the precepts that Bestesbulzibar fed to hihts and beliefs

The demon remained bitter about the defeat at Aida, about the loss of its corporeal forured out how to replace or recover - but found this puppet game with the Father Abbot of the Abellican Church, the institution that had ever been the dereatest foe, quite pleasant, a distraction that allowed Bestesbulzibar to forget the defeat

Allancing nervously at the flickering shadows cast by his torch Rows of bookcases filled with dusty ancient texts were crowded all about the two , too, closed in on them, for it was low and thick

"Because here is where I will findoblivious to the tons and tons of rock hanging thick over his head He and Brother Braumin were in the sublibrary of St-Mere- Abelle, the oldest section of the abbey, buried deep beneath the newer levels, almost down at the level of the waters of All Saints Bay In fact, in the abbey&039;s earliest days, there had been a direct exit from this section of roo to the corridor and portcullis Master De&039;Unnero had defended against the powrie attack, but that an-cient passageway had been closed off as the abbey moved upward on the mountainside

"With Abbot Dobrinion dead and the canonization process at least delayed, the Father Abbot has no excuse to send me out of St-Mere- Abelle," Jojonah explained "But he will keep me quite busy, if he has his way, and no doubt Brother Francis or some other will hover about my every move"

"Brother Francis would not be quick to come down here," Brother Braumin reasoned

"Oh, but he will," Master Jojonah replied "In fact, he has, and recently In these ancient roouide our journey to Aida Some of those maps, my friend, were drawn by Brother Allabarnet of St Precious hi on

"I will assume the role as chief sponsor of Brother Allabarnet for sainthood," Master Jojonah explained "That will allow me room from the Father Abbot&039;s intrusions, for no doubt he intends to keep me so busy that I have little time for any mischief When I an-nounce publicly that I will sponsor Allabarnet, the Father Abbot must concede ti ht spend your days down here?" Brother Brau- in this place; in-deed, he wanted to run out of there at once, back into the daylight, or at least into the lighter and more hospitable rooms of the upper abbey This place was too- and in fact there was a crypt nearby, in several of the adjoining rooms!

Even worse, in the far corner of this very library stood a shelf of very old books, ancient toic that the Church had banned Every copy that had been discovered save these - preserved that the Church s of its enemies - had been burned Braumin wished that none had been spared, for the h him, a palpable aura of cold evil

"This is where I must be," Master Jojonah explained

Brother Braumin held out his arms, his expression purely incredu-lous "What will you find down here?" he asked, and subconsciously glanced at the shelf of horrible tomes

"I do not honestly know," Jojonah replied He noted the direc-tion of Brauht little of it, for he had no in-tention of going anywhere near the de Braumin&039;s attention, he e volu on by barely a strand "But here, in the history of the Church, I will find my answers"

"Answers?"

"I will see as Avelyn saw," Jojonah tried to elaborate "The atti-tudes I witness now a supposedly holy men cannot be the same as those who founded our order Who would follow Markwart noere it not for traditions that root back a millennium and more? Who would adhere to the doctrines of the leaders of the Abellican Church if they could see past their blindness and recog-nize the her order of God is supposed to erase?"

"Strong words, Master," Brother Braumin said quietly

"Perhaps it is ti words," Jo-jonah replied "Words as strong as Avelyn&039;s deeds"

"Brother Avelyn&039;s deeds have branded hi monk reminded

"But we know better," Jojonah was quick to reply He looked back to the ancient to the dust from the battered cover "And so would they, I believe So would the founders of the Order, the ht of God They would know"

Jojonah fell silent, and Brother Brau the words He knew his place here, though, that of por-traying the worst- case scenario, and so he had to ask, "And if your studies show that they do not, that the Church is as it has always been?"

The words hit Master Jojonah hard, and Brother Braumin winced as the older man&039;s round shoulders visibly slumped

"Then my life is a waste," Jojonah admitted "Then I have fol-lowed errantly that which is not holy, but humanly"

"Heretics have spoken such words," Brother Braumin warned

Master Jojonah turned and eyed hiaze with the most intense stare the immaculate had ever seen from the normally jovial man "Then let us hope the heretics are not cor-rect," Jojonah said gravely

The ain paused, letting the words sink in He decided that to be enough of that line of questioning - Master Jojonah had embarked upon a course for which there could be no retreat, one of enlightenment that would lead to justification or to despair

"Brother Dell many questions since we de-parted St Precious," Brother Brauhten the conversation

That notion brought a welcome smile to Master Jojonah&039;s face

"The Father Abbot&039;s actions concerning our prisoners seem out of place, of course," Brother Brauht them?"

"The Chilichunks and the centaur," Brother Brau held"

Master Jojonah paused He should have expected as much, he realized, but in the cootten about the unfortunate prisoners "St Precious did not protest the taking of Palmaris citizens?" he asked

"Rumors say that Abbot Dobrinion was not pleased at all," Brother Brauh&039;s men, over his nepheas reportedly once married to the woman who accompanied Brother Avelyn And ainst the Father Abbot"

Jojonah chuckled helplessly It all made sense, of course, and noas even more certain that no powrie had murdered Abbot Dobrinion He alue, understanding that such terrible inforht break the et him killed

"Brother Dellman has paid attention to the events, then?" he asked "He is not closing his eyes and ears to the truth about him?"

"He has askedon being openly critical of the Father Abbot And of course, we are all concerned about the two brothers who did not make the return trip to St-Mere-Abelle It is no secret that they were in the Father Abbot&039;s highest favor, and their deer brothers"

"We would all do well to watch closely the hunting dogs of Father Abbot Markwart," Master Jojonah said gravely "Do not trust Brother Youseff or Brother Dandelion Go now to your duties, and do not visit ent I will contact you when I see the opportunity; I ish to hear of Brother Dell-ress Pray ask Brother Viscenti to befriend the h removed from me that his conversations with Brother Dellman will not be noticed by the Father Abbot And Brother Braumin, do find out about the prisoners, where they are and how they are being treated"

Brother Brauo, but stopped as Master Jojonah called to him once more

"And keep in mind, my friend," Jojonah warned, "that Brother Francis and sos of Father Abbot Markill never be far away"

Then Master Jojonah was alone with the ancient texts of the Abellican Order, parchments and books, many of which had not been viewed in centuries And Jojonah felt the ghosts of his Church in the adjoining crypts He was alone with that history now, alone hat he had spent his life accepting as divine guidance

He prayed he would not be disappointed