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Wind whipped at the flags atop the imposingly symmetrical obsidian gates of the Temple of Kettenek as Nyoko, Mena, and Kormick stood before them, awaiting their meeting with
Brother Ono Arato, the Kettenite representative to Cauldron’s synod.
A guard led them through a bare, obsidian-walled hall so clean that Kormick nearly stopped to check his reflection in its finish. At the end of the hallway, they could see Brother Ono in his office, sitting crosslegged on the stone floor, facing away from them.
“He is the rock, and the rock does not move,” Kormick remarked quietly.
Mena stifled a laugh.
Brother Ono turned, stood, and bowed as they reached the threshold of his office. “Honored Adept, Honored Justicar, and Dame Filomena. It is an honor.”
Kormick resisted the urge to respond with a sentence entirely composed of the word "honor," and instead bowed in return. The motion had become less awkward over time, but still felt foreign.
“I have for many weeks pondered
what you said as you danced the Dance of Sedellus in Ehkt’s Judgment Pageant, Adept Nyoko-san,” he began sternly, “and I must know. Which of you invaded my mind, and to what end?”
There was a slight pause; Brother Ono’s tone was more accusatory than they had expected.
“None of us reached into your mind, I assure you,” Mena used her most diplomatic tone.
“I can barely read meanings when they’re spoken aloud,” Kormick added.
Brother Ono looked at Nyoko, who nodded and said, “What they say is true. None of us has the ability to read minds. But there is a matter of importance about which we need to speak with you. To get your attention, Dame Mena-san suggested that I say what I said, not because she invaded your mind, but because your mind spoke into hers. She was a witness, not an intruder.”
Brother Ono furrowed his brow. “I trust your Witness as an Adept, but with respect, I do not have the ability to speak into minds.”
“There is a story you may have heard,” Kormick began, feeling himself veering dangerously near to metaphor, “about how everyone knows a blacksmith’s hours not because they are posted on his door, but because one can hear the blows of his hammer on the anvil.” He adjusted course. “What I mean to say is maybe your thoughts are just very loud.”
Brother Ono looked skeptical.
“Or perhaps there is a higher force who speaks through you,” Nyoko said, trying a different approach.
Brother Ono considered it. “What purpose would Kettenek have in sending my thoughts to you?”
“Kettenek’s ways may not be easily visible, because they are larger than us,” Kormick began, and then—he couldn’t explain the feeling, but he just
knew what to say, as if Brother Ono was speaking directly into Kormick’s mind— “One can’t see the whole range from the face of a single mountain, but one can read truth as plain as you can see a stone on a summer day.”
Brother Ono jolted back in surprise. “Why did you say those words?”
“I . . .” Kormick thought about it. Why
had he said that? “I don’t know. But I prayed last night, and that phrase, about a stone on a summer day, that phrase came to me just now. I heard it, in my mind.”
Brother Ono looked perturbed. He seemed genuinely surprised, and discomfited, by the idea that he might be projecting his thoughts into the minds of others. “I—this is very unsettling. I must think on it. Pray on it. But . . . for now I will hear your matter of great importance.”
Nyoko explained the risks that the Tide posed, and of the Tide agents in the Priesthood. She described how their group of unorthodox Inquisitors had followed the scourge of the Tide where it led them, and how it had led them to understand Brother Ono was a trustworthy man. She explained that they would be able to provide evidence of wrongdoing by the Mother Superior, and that when the Inquisition moved, it would need the aid of Brother Ono and all who would support the Lord High Regent. She couched it as a matter of preserving the stability of the rock on which Kettenek stood in the Sovereignty.
“You have gone to great lengths, even using methods of which I do not approve,” Brother Ono said at last, “But I will listen to your evidence without bias. The treachery you describe would shake Cauldron to its core, and if proven, must be stopped.”
“You understand,” Nyoko said, solemnly, “that to prevent the risk of the information leaking, we will provide it only when the time comes.”
Brother Ono bowed, slightly, understanding, but uncomfortable. “Then when the time comes, I will listen.”
As they turned to leave, Brother Ono stopped Kormick. “Are your words always so divinely inspired, Justicar?” he asked.
“Absolutely not, my lord,” Kormick replied, surprised.
They’re not even mundanely inspired, he thought.
“Well, Kormick-san, you are a man of surprising talents, perhaps surprising even to yourself. I advise you to engage in more introspection and to recognize your own wisdom,” Brother Ono said, with a bow.
“If you ever give yourself the credit you deserve,” Mena said to Kormick, “that’ll be the real surprise.”
###
Arden traced the complex pattern of the rug with her eyes for the twelfth time. She, Mena, and Savina had been called to the Fortune Riders’ temple to meet with Sister Sweet Scent, but they had been waiting in an anteroom for at least 30 minutes. A man stood with his arms folded, guarding the door, staring at Arden. She recognized him; he had stood at the door of the temple when she and Kormick had been there during the
Ehkt’s Judgment games. She wondered if he recognized her.
There was a knock at the door, and the man led them down a hallway to a small private parlor. It was luxurious, with woven wall-hangings and a divan in the corner, but it seemed designed for comfort, not ostentation.
In the middle of the room, sitting on a soft chair behind a carved desk, was Sister Sweet Scent. She was wrapped in a blanket, with her hair tied back. A cup of broth steamed on the desk in front of her. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse. “Forgive me for not getting up.”
“We are glad to see you as well as you are,” Savina replied, “but if there is any way in which we may assist—”
Sister Sweet Scent cut her off. “You have been diligently harassing my people with offers of assistance for the past week. I am asking you, politely, to stop.”
“We will, if that’s what you want,” Mena replied, “but first you’ll want to hear what we have to say. We have found the man responsible for your false arrest. He is a member of the Restless Tide of the One True Path. The Tide is working to end the Affirmation. I’m sure you share our interest in preventing that.”
Sister Sweet Scent folded her arms. “Why in the name of the four gods should I believe a word from the people who
released the heretic responsible for the cheating in the Ehkt’s Judgment games?”
“Because the risks of believing us are minor,” Savina’s voice lilted with intrigue, “and the rewards are quite great.”
Sister Sweet Scent leaned forward, and the blanket fell away slightly, revealing a still-raw lash near her collarbone. Arden winced inwardly at its familiar color, and she wasn’t surprised by Sister Sweet Scent’s distrust. Releasing the cheater had appeased the Eighths, but it did them no favors with the Sedellans. “I’ll make you a deal,” Sister Sweet Scent said. “You tell me your story, and I’ll listen.”
Mena once again told the story of the Tide’s plan, and the Inquisition’s journey the long way around the Circle. She explained their investigation of the corrupt Inquisitor, and how the release of the Ehkt’s Judgment culprit had helped to smoke him out. The mole passed secret information about the culprit’s release to the Priesthood—which, Mena admitted, had unacceptably brutal consequences for Sister Sweet Scent, but it had the one benefit of limiting the Inquisition’s investigation to those who knew of the release.
Sister Sweet Scent listened attentively, and then leaned back in her chair. “I shall have my people investigate. If I can confirm your story, I’ll help you. And I want your Inquisitor mole.”
“Do you need to mete out justice yourself,” Mena asked, “or are you content to see it done?” It was a good question, and Arden suspected that she knew the answer. This woman didn't have a lot of trust in Kettenek’s servants after what she’d been through. She wanted to be
sure that the system was going to get it right—so she would double-check their investigation before trusting them. Arden couldn’t decide whether she liked the woman or not, but she respected her reasoning.
“As I said, we will investigate. I, myself, will interrogate this man. And you will have my support if and when I have confirmed your story. Not a moment sooner.”
“In that case,” Mena said, “the Inquisitor’s name is Goro.”
###
At a back room in the Inquisition, Twiggy chalked a list on one of the walls as Nyoko recited information.
Evidence Against Mother Superior:
(1) Kowazu’s confession re Hillside District (implicated Mother Superior)
(2) Goro (leaked info to Tide; fast-tracked Sister Sweet Scent’s arrest)
(3) Arden’s Tide contacts
(4) Wrongful arrest order for Sweet Scent came from Priesthood
“She’s done a good job of hiding her tracks,” Twiggy said. “And the Synod meeting is in two days, on Sedellus Rising.”
“We call it Sedellus Fallen,” said Nyoko. “Regardless, you’re right about the Mother Superior. She’s done a good job, but since we’ve gone the long way around the circle, we should have enough for charges against her to stick.”
“So once we get the support of the Sedellans, and get word to the Adepts that everyone else has agreed, we will have everything we need,” Twiggy said. “Then what? How does the process work? Do we just march into the Synod meeting with letters from all of the Rings?”
Nyoko shook her head. “You ask like I’ve done this before.” She paused. “No one has.”
###
Kormick adjusted the heavy, wriggling bundle over his shoulder as they approached the Fortune Riders’ temple a day and a half later. “Explain why I am here with you?” Unsuku asked.
“You’re here to Witness the delivery of this carpet,” Kormick replied.
The carpet kicked Kormick in the kidneys.
Inside, they unrolled the bundle to reveal Goro, bound and gagged. Sister Sweet Scent had demanded that she be able to interrogate the Tide mole herself, and Kormick had smuggled him out of custody for the purpose. Kormick had learned enough about the Sovereign legal system to know that if Goro was going to confess, Unsuku needed to be there to hear it.
It only took a handful of questions—and divinely cast truth rituals—from Sister Sweet Scent before Goro sang like a bird, revealing the location of a blind drop where he received orders from the Tide and—impressively—implicating a number of Tidesmen who worked for the Priesthood. When he was done, Unsuku had a thorough and unassailable record of Goro’s perfidy, and Sister Sweet Scent had agreed to lend her support to their plan for the Synod.
The Inquisition disposed of Goro secretly and efficiently.
###
Mid-morning on Sedellus Fallen (by the Sovereign reckoning), as the city of Cauldron geared up for a day-long harvest festival, Twiggy packed a sheaf of letters from the various Rings into a portfolio and tied them into her Inquisitorial robes. Around her, the Inquisition geared up to escort them to the Synod meeting for an unprecedented task: the arrest for heresy of the leader of the Priesthood.
“So this is what history feels like,” Savina said, as she packed potions into a satchel.
“History feels like the supple cover of an old book,” Twiggy replied. “This feels nothing like that.”
“It feels like dressing for a party I don’t look forward to,” Tavi said.
“Or like being summoned for auction,” Arden said, grimly.
“Like the curtain opening on the stage,” Nyoko said.
“Like the eve of battle,” Mena said.
“Like dawn,” Kormick said, as they set out for the Temple of the Priesthood, flanked by over a dozen well-armed Inquisitors.