Restless Night

Fred had nothing to say to that. He looked at Tarsa - she was still unconscious, stirring in uneasy sleep, her lips moving but making no sound. He walked over to her, gently ran his fingers through her hair and then slipped out into the night, soundless as a shadow. A bright Valmar's Moon shone overhead, and crickets sang shrilly in the bushes. Fred stretched his legs, weary from riding, and tried to think about all that happened.

"I don't owe these people anything." he thought. "None of them are as like to pay me, that's for sure. Hanging around them is more likely to get me killed than not. And yet I can't leave... damn it, what's wrong with me? Is Skye right? Am I growing soft? Am I..."

Suddenly he heard the beat of horsehooves approaching from the east. They seemed a dozen in number, perhaps more. "Damn it!" Fred swore. "What could it be this time?"

Father Suivant awoke screaming, clawing at his bed. In his dream, he had been eyeless, mouthless, faceless. Naked, he stumbled down a path that ran with burning-hot, sticky blood, as something giant, something horrible lashed him from behind with a whip of fire. The whip was stripping the flesh from his bones with each blow, as the darkness behind him grew ever larger, until it towered so far above him, laughing, that nothing else seemed to exist but the darkness, the pain, and the path of blood.

Shuddering, he stumbled from his sweat-soaked bed and lit a candle. "Granas save me" he was about to say, when he remembered. He no longer served Him. He was a dead God, and powerless, while Valmar rose and stirred in uneasy slumber, growing in power with each second. "What I do is for the good of the people." he whispered. "They don't know the horror of Valmar as I have seen it. As he showed me. Without me, Valmar would consume them all. I can at least save a few. I will do what I can. I will."

"Talking to yourself, Father?" came a familiar, unpleasant voice from the window.

"Melfice!" Suivant gaped. "How did you get in here?"

The man reclined with one boot on the floor, the other propped on the windowsill. "I have my ways." he said, grinning. "In any case, we have bigger problems to deal with. It appears a little singing bird has heard of our plans. Even now, she is flitting about town, looking for someone who would hear her song."

"Niala!" Suivant said, shocked. "Yes, she wasn't at the brunch this morning... she must have been listening at the door when..."

Melfice nodded, examining the back of his hand.

"This is terrible!" Suivant said. "If his Holiness learns... he would have us flayed and burned at the stake in a fortnight. Melfice..."

"You mean, he would have you flayed and burned alive. I am not in his power." Melfice sniggered. "It's all your fault you know, for not teaching your pets not to snoop around closed doors. Maybe you do deserve to burn. Just be grateful that I have my own method for dealing with such curious little birds."

"You don't mean to hurt the girl, do you?" Suivant said weakly.

"We all do what we can." Melfice laughed. "Isn't that right, Father?"

He vaulted out the window and was gone. Suivant closed his eyes. "Help me. Please help me." he said, though he didn't know who he was saying it to.

Niala finally found her brother at the northern gatepost. Called the Raven's Gate, it straddled the guardwall at its farthest tip, from where it ran back around the town to form a five sided polygon. He was involved in a game of cups with his fellow guardsmen, but upon seeing Niala he immediately excused himself and went outside with her. "What's wrong, sweet sister?" he said nervously. "Something's wrong for sure, it's written all over your face."

"Aron." Niala said quietly, touching his chest as she looked at him. He was a year older than her, and a head taller, but still looked the boy, with barely a stubble of red hair on his chin. "Do you remember what we said? When we were children? The promise we made?"

"Yes." Aron said, seeming a bit flustered. "We promised that no matter what happened, we would be brother and sister. That even if the rest of the entire world turned on one of us, the other would still be there to help. I would never have forgotten. But what happened? Niala, tell me!"

Niala stepped closer, until the tip of her nose almost touched his chest. Aron smelled of old leather armor and flint, mead and torchfuel, and the faintest hint of long hours on the guardswall, where spring breezes brought pollen like flowery rain. "It's Father Suivant." she whispered "This morning, I heard... there was... a strange visitor in his chamber. I overheard, outside the door. Father Suivant spoke treason. He spoke evil things, of serving Valmar in exchange for immortality, and of ensuring that the Ceremony failed. I-I didn't know who to come to. I didn't know who would believe me."

For a moment Aron said nothing, and Niala was suddenly afraid that he wouldn't believe her either, that he would slap her and call her a madwoman. But instead he took her in his arms and pressed her closer to him. "I understand." he said. "Niala, don't be afraid."

"But what can we do?" Niala said, stifling a sob. "Father Suivant is the direct emissary of his Holiness. Even to question him could mean death. Who could we go to, who can we trust?"

Aron thought about this and said...

1. "You must continue with your duties as if nothing happened, as will I, and remain watchful. We cannot act until we have clear evidence of his treason."
2. "If what you say is true, it is no longer safe to stay in the city. We must leave at once, to warn his Holiness of this."
3. "This is monstrous, unthinkable treason. I'll rouse my friends in the Guard and we will take Suivant into custody immediately."

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