Adversaries Together (19 page)

This was the last thing he could have
imagined happening to him—a trial, an accusation of apostasy. No
one had told him what had happened to Kira, no one had told him how
he came to Bandra’s Golden Pagodas and now to this lifeless grey
chapel and no one seemed to explain to him why he was being held as
a criminal. He was grateful to have his wits about him again. The
fevered days after the marsh ambush were all a blur, some faces and
some snippets of conversation, and he was unable to discern what
was real and what was dream. His muscles were sore, but he didn’t
feel weak. The justiciars were nearly indiscernible from one
another and each had a blank, emotionless expression. The judge in
the center cleared his throat, opened a thin ledger, and began to
read.

“
This tribunal is assembled
to inquire into the events of these last few weeks of Lammas
occurring in the Anhrathid lowlands, Anhra Harbor, the eastern
waters of our Novostos Sea, and the piers of Bandra to our great
Sulecin envoys alm Kira Ambrose and paladin Goshen Staad, who is
before us this day.”

“
You are Goshen Staad.” The
justiciar at the far right said. Goshen nodded, jangling the chains
around his collar.

The justiciar next to first cut in harshly,
“Speak up.”

“
I am.” Goshen tried to
stare him down but the man was unmoved.

“
Good,” he continued, “And
you were charged with escorting alm Ambrose from Sulecin to
Lappala.”

“
I am.”

“
You were.” The justiciar
in the center spoke, “But our fine alm is now dead.”

Goshen was shocked, “I…I thought she was
aboard the ship I was…was in your care…”

“
She was on the ship, but
your abettor was successful in extinguishing her light.” The
justiciar spoke coldly.

“
My abettor?” Goshen
flinched.

A justiciar on the right brushed Goshen’s
question aside, “It would be pointless for you to pretend you did
not have an accomplice.”

“
We know that a free
ranger…” The man in the center began.

“
A woman nonetheless.” The
justiciar at the far left said with palpable disgust.

“…
a free ranger brought you
into our city and once she did she proceeded to kill alm Ambrose
and then abandoned you, evading The Cathedral’s
justice.”

Goshen shook his head, “I have no memory of
this woman.”

“
That is convenient.” The
far left justiciar added.

“
Why would she wait until
we arrived to strike? Why wouldn’t she eliminate us in route?”
Goshen asked him pointedly.

“
Why were you coming to
Bandra in the first place?” The justiciar on the far right
asked.

Goshen turned to address the question, “We
were ambushed by bandits on the high road. I fought off most of
them but I was struck by a poisoned quarrel.”

“
How did you make it to
Anhra?” Another justiciar asked.

“
Ambrose wouldn’t have been
able to get you there herself.” The far left justiciar seemed to be
set upon condemning Goshen.

“
There was another, aided
us in the skirmish.”

“
The free ranger.” The
central justiciar said.

Goshen shook his head, “A free ranger. But
not a woman.”

“
So there is a fourth face
in this?” The far left justiciar seemed appalled.

“
I remember he saved my
life in the marsh. But the poison…I blacked out all too
soon.”

“
You remember nothing?” He
sounded doubtful.

“
Just vague scenes—being
dragged over ground in some kind of litter, menders, and being in a
cabin surrounded by faces I didn’t know.”

“
The poison was potent, so
he would have been delusional the entire time.” One of the
previously silent justiciars spoke up. The others seemed to take
this in.

“
When the acolytes came
aboard the barge, he was found fevered and barely conscious, unable
to stand and unable to communicate but in gibberish.” The justiciar
on the far right added.

“
They came to us because no
one in Anhra could heal the paladin.” The central justiciar said
assertively.

“
But why didn’t the free
ranger end him in route? The question still stands.” The far left
justiciar replied.

“
It makes no sense to kill
Kira and not me.” Goshen asserted.

“
Unless you were involved.”
The central justiciar coolly said.

Goshen’s body tightened and he felt a hot
rage flush his face, “I have been a personal guard of the Ambrose
chapel since birth, I would never let Kira or any of her kin come
to harm if I could stop it.”

“
No doubt why you, and you
alone, were entrusted with her safety.” The far left justiciar
sneered.

“
Exactly why I was
entrusted.” Goshen angrily threw back at him.

The central justiciar raised his hand to calm
the debate, “We know that you have been less than orthodox,
according to our brief from Sulecin.” He held up the slim folio he
had read from earlier, “So then why shouldn’t we conclude that you
were some kind of secret heretic?”

“
Heretic? I’ve fought for
The Cathedral; my whole life has been led in the Light.”

“
Are you among the
Consoli?” He was asked.

“
What?” Goshen was
dumbfounded.

“
Are you a Consoli? Are you
a follower of Bedin? Are you in one of the Shadow Sun sects? Is
your blood or sympathy with the Athingani? Do you believe in the
inerrable authority of our Patriarch?” A different justiciar threw
out the names of nearly every schism Goshen had fought against and
strove to root out from the Lakes.

“
Of course, I
do.”

“
Do you deny these
heresies?” The far left justiciar accused.

“
I do not deny they are
heresies.” Goshen coolly replied.

“
Are you among their number
is what we asked!” The far left justiciar’s face turned twisted and
angry.

“
I belong to The Cathedral,
birthed to the Light.” The justiciars nodded seemingly satisfied,
but Goshen felt uneasy.

The center justiciar looked to his right and
two raised their hands to their chest to cover their heart. The
justiciar looked to his left; one judge placed his hand over his
heart. Then the center justiciar opened the folio before him and
spoke without looking at Goshen, without passion as though reciting
a well-rehearsed script, “Goshen Staad you have been healed of your
wounds, purged of the toxins that had allowed you to fail in your
mission.”

“
Wait, what…”

The justiciar continued, ignoring Goshen,
“Your failure has led to the death of an alm of our Cathedral and
the dissolution of our vital interests. However, because this
tribunal cannot find you in direct collusion with the death of alm
Ambrose but merely incompetent. It has been decided that you shall
reside as a penitent here until the end of your days for the
security of all the realms.”

“
What?” Goshen lunged
toward the altar, but immediately yanked back and down to his knees
by the chains held by the acolytes.

“
Goshen Staad, you are
stripped of your ranks and honors. Your name will be erased from
the Ambrose Chapel codex.”

“
This makes no sense, I
protected Kira!” An acolyte stepped to him and struck him hard in
the face. He would have fallen to the ground if it hadn’t been for
the chains around him. Instead, his head flew back and then snapped
forward. He didn’t pass out but his vision was all
stars.

“
You are a failure and it
would be hopeless to redeem you. Therefore, that is the new
brotherhood you will join, The Hopeless.” The casualness of the
sentence cut Goshen to the bone. He bellowed at the justiciars as
the acolytes began to drag him away.

He tried to fight but they soon brought him
to heel like a dog. Goshen became hysterical, screaming “I am not
hopeless. What is going on here? This is no true inquiry!” The
justiciars betrayed no interest in Goshen’s protests. They all
stepped back from their lecterns in unison and left through the
doors they had entered.

The Cathedral of Sulecin,
51
^st
of Lammas

Like nearly every chapel in the city, the
Altschul’s was built as a miniature of the Grand Cathedral. Thin,
long beams interlaced in such a way that at a distance it appeared
as though the temple was an infinite layering of diamond shapes.
There were no interior walls and the exterior walls were mostly a
thick limpid glass that seemed not only to allow the day light to
enter but also to amplify it. The interior was hauntingly airy, all
open space. The pews were set in a chevron weave, the altar a mere
two spans high with five lecterns each draped by a colored band
meant to be worn by the priests.

The Altschul chapel was small with maybe
twelve pews in all and Pallas sat alone nearest the altar. He heard
soft voices and footsteps coming his way from the entrance, and he
suspected this would be Ebon and Vander. He was right, the two were
chatting in a friendly tone and when they came to where he sat,
they seemed to brighten further. With them was Stilbon, which
Pallas had not anticipated.

“
Ah, Canon Pallas, you seem
your usual pensive self.” Vander gestured Ebon and Stilbon to
sit.

“
Quiet is always broken,
it’s reassuring to know you’re usually there for it.” Pallas was
uninterested in their levity.

“
No reason to be snippy.”
As he spoke, Ebon put his arm behind Pallas and gestured at Vander
and Stilbon who were still standing, “We needn’t pretend we’re
friends, we just need to come to a consensus.”

Pallas nodded, “I didn’t expect you to tag
along.”

Stilbon gave a queer smile, “I thought it
best for us all to be here for this.”

“
Sinclar is
coming?”

“
The Vicegerent is here.”
The four snapped their heads toward the altar to see Sinclar
Somerled standing at a center lectern.

“
You’re quiet as a mouse,
Vicegerent.” Vander said as Pallas and Ebon stood.

Sinclar raised a hand gesturing for them to
remain seated, “I suppose so Father Vander, but it is necessary for
this gathering to be reticent rather than animated.”

Vander sat with Stilbon next to him accepting
the gentle chastisement. Pallas spoke up, “We need to address the
issue of the paladin.”

“
The news from Bandra is
disappointing.” Sinclar conceded.

“
More than that, it shows
we’ve been found out.” Vander asserted.

Pallas scoffed, “Hardly, only the five of us
know of this design.”

“
Obviously not.” Stilbon
said.

“
The assault on the paladin
speaks otherwise.” Vander added.

“
The double assault.” Ebon
said.

Vander turned to Ebon, “Was it the same band
twice or two independent attacks?”

“
If two, then we must begin
to consolidate our authority here.” Stilbon interjected, “We should
move to place me at the head of the paladins.”

“
There is no need for that
just yet,” Sinclar was assertive; “I have solved the
problem.”

“
How so?” Pallas asked
skeptical, “With the girl dead, how will we coax the Lappalans to
our cause?”

“
Have the Spires found out
yet?” Vander asked.

“
With the girl dead our
abbey in Bandra found the paladin had been turned; he was looking
to sabotage us from the beginning.” Sinclar assured
them.

“
I don’t believe that for
an instant and no one else will either.” Pallas said, “Staad
disobeying command? Besides, his loyalty to the Light and,
especially, to the alm is…was absolute.”

“
Yet he allowed her to be
killed by a free trader? A female free trader nonetheless.” Ebon
said.

“
The tribunal found enough
evidence.” Stilbon added.

Pallas shook his head, “As Vander will tell
you, the judgments of such tribunals are often decided well before
any evidence is presented. More to the point, what now?”

“
Without Lappala how will
we…” Vander seemed on the verge of panic.

“
All of this is going to
plan.” They all sat rapt awaiting Sinclar to go on, but he let them
dangle, “We will still have the whole of The Aral.”

“
Vicegerent, you know we
each are with you completely, but I think I speak for us all when I
say we need to know your contingencies,” Pallas was deferential but
a twinge of haughtiness crept into his tone, “all of them if we are
to continue to be.”

“
Fair enough, Canon.”
Sinclar smirked and continued, “I never intended for the alm to
make it to Lappala. If she had, the scenario I presented to you
earlier would have been adequate. But I was suspecting the pair to
be set upon. The death of the girl means that the last true
Parmentier is gone. The Silvincians don’t know of her but they
will. And once they do, the spire will be thrown into upheaval.
Chances are that will be the Ledi with which you all know I have
blood ties.”

“
The Spires already hold to
us, we have the Lautisches, the Kendziors, and the Parmentiers…most
likely the Ledis as well. This doesn’t strengthen our position with
them.” Ebon asserted.