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"Are you learned in astrononorance in such matters I learned no nize the constellations and I can identify the wandering stars in the sky" She sht years to circle the zodiac, while Mok takes twelve, but I confess I cannot recall the periods of the others Somorhas and Erekes lie between Earth and the sphere of the Sun, so they are often lost in the glare of the Sun So Star, never at the saether I pray pardon, Holy Mother Early in lected the other arts in its favor"

"So it appears," said the skopos, yet by no ly, only to note what she had heard A bell rang softly The servingwoman hurried to the door, spoke there with an unseen servant, and returned to the Holy Mother

"The emissary from Salia, Your Excellence"

"Let him in"

A portly man, flushed fro "Holy Mother" He dabbed at his face with a handkerchief, but it ht have been fear of the hound and not the heat that made him sweat so freely "I am at your service"

"Here is Brother Severus," said Anne to the e the elderly cleric "You will take him personally to Salia on your return, and see that his every wish is fulfilled He is my personal representative"

"I am at your command, Holy Mother" He spoke Dariyan with the distinctive Salian accent, the soft "v" hardening, the hard "gn" going soft "I do not knoe can cross the pass this late in the year I’ve gotten word that there’ve already been heavy snows in the northern passes, quite untimely"

"But you have heard no reports from the western passes, Brother I feel sure that if you leave at once, you will have a successful journey"

He eyed her with a mixture of awe and apprehension Perhaps he had heard the rumors that she was a powerful sorcerer, exactly the sort of person whose activities had been condeo at the Council of Narvone It was not so ever spoken of out loud and certainly never to her face

Orto lunge to its feet and rip his face off

"As you co, if that is your wish"

"It is" Anne diswoman escorted him to the door After a silence, she rose and, with the hound at her heels, ca her hand over the ancient papyrus It had gone yelloith age, flaking at the edges "What evidence do you need, Sister Rosvita, to be convinced of the danger that awaits us all if we do not act?"