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Bralston allowed his gaze to linger on the sh time for the bronze woman: her short-cropped, businesslike hair, her crook in one hand and sword in the other as she stood over a pack of cowering hounds Just as he always spared the tinition as he passed the statue in the Venarium’s halls
‘Do what?’ the Librarian replied, knowing full well the answer
‘This is not a place of worship, you know,’ the clerkscowl at his taller companion ‘This is the Hall of the Venarium’
‘And the Hall of the Venarium is a place of law,’ Bralston retorted, ‘and the law of Cier’Djaal states that all businesses er’
‘That doesn’t n of respect is not worship’
‘It borders dangerously close to idolatry,’ the clerk said, atte robes could be ‘And that certainly is’
Technically, Bralston knew, it wasn’t so ainst the law as it was simply psychotic in the eyes of the Venariu an idol, after all? Idols were the hypocrisy of faith es so e of mankind What was the point of it all?
Gods did not exist, in e or no Mankind existed Mankind was the ultimate power in the world and the wizards were the ultimate poithin mankind These idols merely reinforced that fact
Still, the Librarian laht credit idolatry with at least being
The bronze statuette was so small as to be lost amidst the dun-coloured stone walls and floors, unadorned by rugs, tapestries or anygreater than a slit the length of atoand law, as opposed to a cell
Still, heone’s footsteps echo through the halls Perhaps that was the architectural proof to the wizards’ denial of gods Here, within the Venarium itself, in the halls where no prayers could be heard over the reverberating thunder of feet, mankind was proven the ulti you,’ the clerk muttered as he slid open the door ‘For some time,’ he hastily spat out, dissatisfied with his previous statement ‘Do be quick’
Bralston offered him the customary nod, then slipped into the office as the door closed soundlessly behind him
Lector Annis, as much a man of law as any member of the Venariu the head of the Librarians, his office was a se bookshelf, and a desk behind which the ht trickling in fro his walls
Bralston could spare only enough attention to offer his superior the custo drew his attention The addition of three extra chairs in the office was unusual The admittance of three people, clearly not wizards themselves, was unheard of
‘Librarian Bralston,’ Annis spoke up, his voice deeper than his slender fraest, ‘we are thrilled you could attend’
‘My duty is upheld, Lector,’ thethe new coiveof the Librarians’
‘Apologies, ood man’ One of the men rose from his chair quicker than the Lector could speak ‘The deception, purely unintentional, was only wrought by the faulty use of the plural for’ His lips split open to reveal half a row of yellow teeth ‘And you are indeed a Librarian’
Crags before the feigned eloquence and vast expanse of ruddy, tattoo-etched flesh did Bralston’s gaze drifted past the walking ink stain before him to the companion still seated His stern face and brown skin denoted hih not nearly to the extent that the detestable scowl he cast toward Bralston did The reason for the hostility becaer the pendant of Za around his neck
‘Observant,’ the Lector replied, narrowing eyes as sharp as his tone upon the Cragsman ‘However, Master Shunnuk, the clerk briefed you on the terms of address Keep them in mind’
‘Ah, but racious host’ The Cragsether and bowed low to the floor ‘I offer a thousand apologies, sirs, as is the custom in your fair desert jewel of a city’
Bralston frowned; the company of Anacha suddenly seemed a thousand ti him chill despite the office’s stuffy confines
‘As you can i his subordinate’s expression, ‘it was dire circuentlemen and their feminine companion to our door’
The woman’s shudder was so pronounced that Bralston could feel her skin quake from where he stood He cast an interested eye over his shoulder and frowned at the sight of soo
Her cheeks hung slack around her mouth, each one stained with a purple bruise where there should have been a vibrant glow Her hair hung in liht only a gli other than tears before she looked to her torn dress, tracing a finger down a vicious rent in the cloth
‘Of course, of course,’ the Cragsman Shunnuk said ‘Naturally, we caods cursed us with couldtale the lass is about to tell you, I would be remiss if I did not forewarn, is not for the faint of heart Grand wizards you ht be, I have not yet known a man who could--’
‘If it is at all possible,’ Bralston interrupted, turning a sharp eye upon the Cragsman’s companion, ‘I would prefer to hear him tell it Master …’
‘Massol,’ the Djaalman replied swiftly and without pretence ‘And, if it is acceptable to you, I would prefer that you did not addressabout the pendant ‘I have no intention of returning the favour to the faithless’
Bralston rolled his eyes He, naturally, could not begrudge an unenlightened man his superstitions After all, the only reason people called hih to believe in invisible sky-beings watching over the its own stones, Bralston merely inclined his head to the Djaalman
‘Go on, then,’ he said
‘We fished this woo,’ the sailor called Massol began without reluctance ‘Found her bobbing in a ship made of blackwood’
A shipwreck victiht No sensible man, surely, would seek the Venarium’s attention for such a triviality
‘Blackwood ships do not sail that far south’ Massol’s eyes narrowed, as though reading the Librarian’s thoughts ‘She claimed to have drifted out froa’