She froze. The other world. In sites scattered from Europe to the Holy Land to the Far East, clerics of Conatus had scoured ancient texts for evidence of the other—for that place from which Solomon had called forth strange spirits to build his temple. But all their searching led to naught.
It was hard for Eira to keep her voice steady. “Do you speak of the world from which you called the striga?”
He nodded eagerly. “But I did not call them. Only the master may do so. He called the striga and bid them serve me. No creatures of the other side may serve in our world without his permission. He is the ruler of all.”
Eira rocked on her feet, hardly believing what she was hearing. “Have you any proof of this?”
“He will show you.” The man scampered forward, reaching for her hand. Her dagger flashed out to press against his throat.
“Forgive me, great lady,” he gurgled against the blade’s edge. “I only wish to lead you to him.”
Eira waited for him to back away. He groveled as he moved, muttering nonsense with each step.
“I have not agreed to seek your master,” she told him. “If you value your life, you will keep your distance.”
“Yes, my lady.” He prostrated himself on the floor, making her stomach turn. “Yes. Yes.”
The dagger shook in her hand and her pulse grew quicker with each moment. It was too much, so unexpected. This madman spoke of keys, but it was he who might be her key to everything.
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
From where he was crouched on the floor, the man peered up. “I need no sustenance, lady. I live only to serve.”
She forced her lips into a smile. “I’ll have food sent to you.”
As she backed toward the door, the man moved to a squat. His eyes were huge and she worried he would burst into tears.
“Will you not come with me, lady?”
“We’ll speak again soon,” she told him. “You have my word.”
“Great lady.” He bobbed up and down, trying to bow even in his hunched position.
Eira rushed up the steps, pausing only to press the keys into the warden’s hand. The Circle couldn’t gather until Abbot Crichton departed in the morning. But when he and his gold were well away, she would call her peers together.
Cian didn’t wake when Eira entered their room and stripped off her gown, leaving it in a heap on the floor. Though too occupied by thoughts to sleep, Eira slipped into bed to wait for the dawn. She stared at the ceiling with a smile playing over her lips.
How strange this world was, she mused, that good tidings were delivered from the mouth of a madman.
TWENTY-TWO
EIRA PACED THE FLOOR while the other Circle members milled around the long, narrow table. Claudio and Ewan represented craft; Thomas and Fionn hailed from the clerics in the office of knowledge. She and Cian, speaking for war, completed the Circle. Eira had invited the knights who’d been sent to the Black Forest to join them. The Guard received some unfriendly glances from Claudio, who believed Circle meetings should remain closed to even high-ranking members of Conatus. But Claudio and others of his ilk were the very reason Eira had requested the presence of the knights.
While Eira continued her restless passes through the room, Cian addressed Barrow.
“How fares Lady Morrow?”
Barrow, whose face was haggard from lack of sleep, said, “Still unconscious. Infection has set into her wounds. The healers are waiting for her fever to break.”
Cian frowned. “Are they hopeful?”
“Yes.” It was Alistair who answered her. “They’ve said a strong spirit will aid her. And no spirit is stronger than Ember’s.”
“That’s true enough,” Barrow murmured, earning a disdainful snort from Alistair.
Sorcha looked at the two of them, lifting her eyebrows. Barrow met her gaze and gave a quick shake of his head. Alistair ignored her.
Lukasz and Kael entered the hall. The commander’s eyes were questioning. The summoning of the Guard to a Circle meeting was rare.
“Please be seated,” Eira said.
The room quieted and all eyes turned upon her.
Offering a thin smile, she said, “We all know how quickly rumors spread through this keep. So I have no doubt most of you are aware of the nature of Abbot Crichton’s visit.”
Murmurs of affirmation answered her.
“The lady Morrow handled the abbot’s inquiries better than we ever could have hoped,” she told them. “Unfortunately the abbot seems to have found other ways to glean information about the inner workings of Conatus.”
Claudio’s eyes narrowed. “Are you saying he has a spy among us?”
Eira nodded. “I don’t suspect it’s any of our number, but a servant or a courier. Someone who has access but not loyalty.”
“We must find the traitor!” Claudio half rose from his seat, but Cian grabbed his arm and pulled him back into his chair.
Eira smiled gratefully at her sister. “I’m sure we all share your indignation at this treachery. But I also hope you’ll see the futility of weaseling out any such person.”
“How can you say that?” Claudio snorted. “Let a fiend like that go unpunished?”
“She’s right, Claudio,” Cian said. “The abbot has deep coffers with which to buy informants. If we find one, he’ll simply buy another. Our energies are better spent elsewhere.”
Others around the table nodded their agreement, leaving Claudio to stew silently.
Eira waited until she was sure there would be no further comment on the matter.
Thomas, the eldest member of the Circle, folded his hands on the table. “I have no doubt we’re all in agreement that avarice is the abbot’s greatest sin. But what recourse do we have other than to submit to his demands?”
It was the youngest member of the Circle, Ewan, who added, “Thomas is right. We’re under his thumb and he knows it.”
“What of Lady Morrow?” Cian asked. “Did the abbot request that she be sent away?”
The members of the Guard who had joined the meeting shifted uneasily at the question.
Barrow and Alistair spoke simultaneously.
“That isn’t an option,” said Barrow.
“Sending her home would destroy her,” Alistair muttered.
“Ember isn’t leaving us,” Eira said quickly as the two knights fell to silent glares aimed at each other. “And we will not sacrifice her for our own interests. She was called to the Guard and she belongs here. The abbot is simply using the girl for leverage.”