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"Brother Taluh went on slowly, calitation that bubbled just be-neath the surface, "tell ain of Connor&039;s visit here, of every stop he hly flustered, for it was obvious he wasn&039;t giving the Baron what he wanted, started talking so fast and in so many different directions that his words ca hand, thebreath
"The abbot&039;s room first," Talumus said slowly "He was not pleased that we had cleaned it up, but e to do?" As he finished the sentence, his voice rose up again with excitement "The abbot must be in public state - tradition deuests at the abbey - oh, and streams of theory and torn up"
"Of course not Of course not," Baron Bildeborough said repeat-edly, trying to keep the er watched his new mentor closely, i this blubberingtension on Rochefort&039;s face, for the et feers and little satisfaction here St Precious, with no ranking masters behind Abbot Dobrinion, was in absolute disarray, withevery which way, and discussion of this or that ru the place of even the prayer ti to Roger and Rochefort: St Precious would soon get a new abbot, a er and to Rochefort, that fact seemed to lend even more credence to Connor&039;s suspicions that the Father Abbot hih," Brother Talumus went on, "at least until after Master Connor had departed"
"And then Connor went to the kitchen?" Rochefort inquired gently
"To Keleigh Leigh, yes," replied Taluirl"
"And she was not injured other than the drowning?" Roger dared to put in, looking directly at Rochefort as he spoke, though the question was obviously for Taluh Leigh&039;s lack of cuts - for dip-ping berets - had been a primary clue to Connor that the powrie had not committed these crimes
"No," replied Talumus
"None of her blood was spilled?"
"No"
"Go and find me the person who first discovered her body," Baron Bildeborough instructed "And be quick"
Brother Talumus scrambled to his feet, saluted and bowed, then ran from the room
"The er reet the monk," Rochefort explained "I only sent Brother Taluht find a few minutes alone We must decide upon our course, my friend, and quickly"
"We should not tell theer said after a few seconds&039; pause Baron Bildebor-ough was nodding as he went on "They are helpless in the face of this Not a single , could possibly stand against the co master of St-Mere-Abelle"
"It does see any talents in his lessers," Rochefort agreed He gave a snort "Though ITalumus and all the others that St-Mere- Abelle er put in dryly "From all that Connor told me of the Church, St-Mere-Abelle would quickly dismantle the order at St Precious, and then the Father Abbot would be even more entrenched in Palmaris than he will be when the new abbot arrives"
"True enough," Baron Bildeborough adhtened his expression i the roo, he decided, but only for appearances - both he and Roger knew they would learn nothing more from this man or any other at St Precious
The tere back at Chasewind Manor soon after, Rochefort pacing the floor while Roger sat upon theride," Rochefort was saying "Of course, I ant you with er asked, a bit over-whel Danube Brock Ursal is a good friend, Roger," replied the Baron "A good friend He will grant me audience and will believe me, do not doubt Whether or not he will be able to take any overt action given the lack of evidence - "
"I was a witness!" Roger protested "I saw the monk kill Connor"
"Perhaps you bear false witness"
"You do not believethat customary pat in the air with his pluone to so iven you Greystone and Defender? If I didn&039;t trust you, boy, you would be in chains, and tortured until I was convinced that you were speaking truly"
The Baron paused and looked at Roger er shifted uncomfortably Had he just compromised that trust? he wondered "Both sword and horse have been put to good use," he explained
"By whoer was quick to reply "Her road is darker still, and fraught with battle, I fear I gave them over to her, for I aht," the Baron gruer replied "And Jilly can put theer paused, trying to gauge the great th "So we&039;ll not speak of this again Now back to our primary business I believe you - of course I do But Danube Brock Ursal will be more cautious in his acceptance, do not doubt Do you realize the i Danube accepted thein a war between Church and state, a bloodbath that neither side desires"
"But one that the Father Abbot of St-Mere-Abelle began," Roger reh&039;s face then, and he seeo south, it would seeer&039;s response
"My Baron," said an attendant, entering, "word has just come to us that the new abbot of St Precious has arrived Master De&039;Un-nero, by naer, who only shook his head
"He has already requested your audience," the attendant went on "At St Precious this very afternoon at high tea"
Bildeborough nodded and the attendant left the roolancing out theat the westering sun
"I will acco froh I would indeed welcome your impressions of this man But if the depth of this heinous con-spiracy is as far-reaching as we fear, then better that I go alone Let the nasbury reue, but he knew that the h&039;s answer for not taking hier understood that he was still young and very inexperienced in er could not honestly dislean a bit too er sat and waited at Chasewind Manor for the rest of that afternoon
Mid-Calember was not so far away Not when Father Abbot Markwart considered the preparations he must make for the momentous proclamations he intended The old and wrinkledevery tie The events of the last feeeks, particularly the discovery at the Barbacan and the trouble in Pal on many matters, or at least to accelerate his one, the ed drah he would be a new abbot, De&039;Un-nero, by the ranted a strong voice at the College, possibly even third behind only Markwart and Je&039;howith of St Honce That would give Markwart great power to strike hard
The old cleric s At the College of Abbots he would forever discredit Avelyn Desbris, would brand the man indelibly as a heretic Yes, that was important, Markwart realized, for if he did not pass such sanctions against Avelyn, then the man&039;s actions would re as the brand of heretic had not been formalized, all of the monks, even first-year brothers, remained free to discuss the events of Avelyn&039;s departure, and that was a dangerous thing Would sole into such discussions in place of the commonly described murder and theft?
Yes, the sooner he made the declaration of heresy and it was ap-proved by the Church leaders, the better Once the brand was for-ht would be tolerated at any abbey or chapel Once Avelyn was de-clared a heretic, his entry into the annals of Church history would be coh as he considered the road to that cov-eted goal He would be opposed, he suspected, by stubborn Master Jojonah - if the
Markwart dismissed the possibility of yet another assassination; if all of his known ene eyes would likely turn his way And besides, he knew that Jojonah was not alone in his beliefs He could not strike out that hard Not yet
But he had to be prepared should the fight come to pass He had to be able to prove his point about Avelyn&039;s heresy, for the devasta-tion at the Barbacan was certainly open to interpretation It was true, and indisputable, that Siherton had been killed on the night of Avelyn&039;s flight froht be able to find soument Intent, and not mere action, determined sin, and only true sin could brand a man a heretic
Thus Markwart kneould have to prove ht when Avelyn absconded with the stones To get the complete confirmation of that brand - a brand the Church had never been quick to hand out - he would have to prove that Avelyn subsequently used those stones for ill, that the eneration to the dark side of human nature was complete But he would never quiet Jojonah, Markwart realized TheAvelyn Desbris, would deny his plans to the last Yes, he saw that now; Jojonah would return with the College of Abbots and would fight hi overdue for that confrontation Thus Markwart decided that he would have to destroy the ument
Markwart knew exactly where he could find allies to that cause, a preeainst Jojonah Abbot Je&039;howith of St Honce held a position as a close adviser to the King, and could access that power, in the forade All that he had to do, Markwart thought, was prep Je&039;howith properly, have hi a few of those merciless warriors
Satisfied, the Father Abbot turned his thoughts to the issue of Avelyn He did have one re witness to Avelyn&039;s actions, Bradwarden, but froations of the centaur, both verbal and with the soul stone, he had a fair measure of the beast&039;s consid-erable willpower and feared that Bradwarden would not break, no matter how brutally they tortured him
With that in mind, the Father Abbot moved to his desk and made a note to Brother Francis that he should work ceaselessly with the centaur until the College convened If they couldn&039;t trust that Bradwarden had indeed broken and would say whatever they told hiuished guests arrived
Markwart realized yet another problem as he penned that note Francis was a ninth-year brother, yet only ie Markanted Francis there; the h
The Father Abbot ripped a corner of the parchment and noted a reminder, "IBF," to himself, then tucked it away As he had broken protocol, due to the e De&039;Un-nero as abbot of St Precious and in sending Jojonah to the Palmaris abbey to serve as De&039;Unnero&039;s second, so he would promote Brother Francis to the rank of immaculate
Immaculate Brother Francis
Markwart liked the sound of that, liked the notion of increasing the power of those who obeyed him without question His explanation for the premature appointment would be simple, and surely accepted: with two masters sent to bolster St Precious, St-Mere-Abelle had been left weak at the top echelons Though the abbey boasted scores of immaculates, few had attained the credentials necessary for pro-motion to the rank of master, few even continued to strive for such a rank, and Francis, given his vital ith the caravan to the Bar-bacan, would strengthen that stable considerably
Yes, the Father Abbot e, and then again, soon after, to the rank of master, to replace
Jojonah, he decided, instead of De&039;Unnero For De&039;Un-nero&039;s replace the scores of i even if his choice of reat deal to be desired Still, with Jojonah so far away and unlikely to ever return - except for the three weeks of the College - Markwart figured that he hter into the fold by te hihtened as he waded through these probleht he had found, this new level of inner guidance, seeue see him with answers crystal clear
Except for the proble Avelyn quickly, he reainst his desk in frustration No, Bradwarden would not break, would remain defiant until the bitter end Markwart, for the first time, lamented the loss of the Chilichunks, for they, he kneould have been so e came to hi for information about Brother Allabarnet Markwart saw the room clearly in his mind, and couldn&039;t under-stand why - until one area of the back corner, a distant, unused shelf, cae
Markwart followed his instincts, followed the inner guidance, first to his desk to retrieve soemstones, then down from his of-fice, down the dauards were posted now, for Jojonah was supposedly far away, and Markwart, glowing diamond in hand, entered cautiously He went past the shelves of books to the back corner, to the books which the Church had long ago banned He knew logically that even he, the Father Abbot, should not be perusing these, but that inner voice promised him answers to his dile at every tome, at the labels of every rolled parches
His eyes stayed closed, but he lifted his hand, trusting that it was being guided to the book he needed Grasping gently but firmly, Markwart tucked the prize under his arm and shuffled away, and was back in the privacy of his office before he even inspected the work,The Incantations Sorcerous
Roger expected that the Baron would be gone late into the eve-ning, and was rather surprised when thebefore the sun had even touched the horizon He went to one well, but those hopes were de-flated as soon as he saw the huge e