Vambran and Kovrim would spend the morning together going over the business details and financial documentation of the lieutenant's company's most recent excursion, to Aglarond and Sembia. Vambran was certain Kovrim already knew that Lady's Favor was in port. In fact, the older priest had most likely already ordered its cargo unloaded. Once he and Vambran went over the manifests together, the goods would be put up for sale in temple-owned shops and stalls throughout the city and in the bazaar. Vambran's visit promised to be filled with tedious but necessary paperwork, but he was looking forward to the day nonetheless. Uncle Kovrim was also family, the lieutenant's mother's brother.
The lieutenant climbed a circling staircase that spiraled just inside the main outer wall of one of the towers, rising a couple of levels and passing narrow, arched windows on occasion. When he reached a landing that let out into a large, open rotunda, he stepped off the stairs. There, the temple was airy and bright, exposed to the outside through numerous additional arched openings set high in the dome overhead. The indirect light of the morning sun shining through those windows was further enhanced as it reflected off the gold leaf of the ceiling. As was common in the architecture of Arrabar, a fountain bubbled in the middle of the rotunda, and all around the perimeter of the chamber, doorways led into offices.
Vambran turned to one side and passed through an arched opening, moving not into an office but out onto a bridge that spanned the distance between the tower he had ascended and a second one next to it. The walkway was not long, and the protective walls along either side of it not so high that Vambran couldn't see some of the city from the vantage point if he wished to, but it would require squeezing between the various clay pots that were set at regular intervals along the span and filled to overflowing with blossoming greenery. Instead, the lieutenant simply enjoyed the warming sun that shone down and moved on into the next tower.
Inside that second tower, Vambran made his way up another rounded flight of stairs and into a similar rotunda. From there, he was before the doorway that led into his uncle's office chambers. Sticking his head inside, Vambran could see that Kovrim Lazelle was not in, though the mess of parchments scattered across the desktop told the lieutenant that his uncle was around somewhere. He went inside, stepping past the desk and the shelves filled with scroll cases and wood-bound books and through another arched opening to a balcony beyond. A brightly colored bird, mostly greens and blues, was sitting atop a wooden stand. It cocked its head sideways and squawked once as the lieutenant appeared.
Vambran smiled and lifted a bit of hard bread out of a bowl.
'Hello, Mackey,' he said, holding the nibble out for the creature, which was perhaps a foot tall.
'Hello,' the bird mimicked.
Mackey eyed the bit of food and darted its head forward and snatched the bite out of the man's hand, eating it in a single swallow.
Vambran smiled and ruffled the gorgeous bird's head feathers gently, then turned toward the balcony. Trellises formed a see-through wall, set where the railing kept occupants from falling to the ground four stories below. Tendrils of climbing vines covered the wooden frames, dappling and diffusing the majority of the light. Still, there was a narrow opening between the trellises, and Vambran moved there and leaned forward on his forearms to have a gaze outward.
Kovrim's office faced west, toward the harbor, so at the moment the sun was on the opposite side of the tower, keeping the near side in shade. In the afternoon, when the day was at its hottest, the sun would normally shine directly onto the balcony and into the priest's office, making it stifling. The trellises were a necessary relief from the afternoon heat. Still, on that morning, like every morning, the view from such a vantage was wonderful. Vambran could see the open expanse of the lawns below, green and lush, with a number of priests and visitors strolling in small groups or alone. Others had found a shady spot, either on stone benches or on the grass itself, beneath any of a number of large shadowtops that grew throughout the property.
Out beyond the temple grounds was the city, sloping gently down toward the harbor, where Vambran could clearly see the piers jutting out from the quay and the various ships currently in port. He spotted Lady's Favor in the same spot where he'd left her the previous night and noted that she rode high in the water. Her cargo had indeed been unloaded and she was waiting for a new one. In fact, as Vambran squinted, he could see swarms of men just beginning to shift crates around so that cranes could hoist them off the pier and down into her holds. The lieutenant estimated that she would be departing before nightfall. He felt a small pang of regret that he would not be going with her.
'Vambran!' Kovrim's voice boomed from behind, and the lieutenant spun to see his uncle walking into the office, a sheaf of parchment and a hunk of sealing wax in his hands. 'Hello, nephew,' the priest said, smiling broadly and dumping his work onto the desk so that he could properly greet his visitor.
'Hello, Uncle Kovrim,' Vambran replied, smiling himself and crossing the distance between them to give his relative a hearty hug.
'It's great to see you home,' Kovrim said, slapping Vambran on the shoulder before stepping back to look at his nephew. His face went from a smile to mild shock. 'What's this on your forehead?'' he asked, genuinely surprised.
'I've been studying with one of my men,' Vambran explained, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. 'Not a whole lot, just enough to pick up a few tricks. I find them useful on the battlefield.'
'I see,' Kovrim said, tilting his head to one side, as though considering what he thought of the revelation. 'The Lady's divine grace isn't suitable?' he asked.
Vambran frowned, trying to figure out a way to explain it.
'It's not that,' he said, 'I'm still very attentive to my holy studies. But there are some things I'm finding out work better this way.'
Kovrim broke into another big grin.
'Well, then, good for you I'd rather see you prepared for anything, you know. So, your trip went well, I gather,' he said, gesturing toward a narrow, high-back chair in front of his desk.
'Absolutely,' Vambran replied as he sat, relieved at his uncle's apparent approval. 'Nothing at all like the last time,' he said, grinning and remembering the skirmish he and his company had engaged in during the previous trip.
A local dispute had a horde of guildsmen up in arms in Procampur, and they had tried to blockade the ship to prevent it from offloading its goods. It hadn't been much of a fight, though relations with that particular guild were substantially cooler than they had been. The temple in Arrabar had already dispatched an envoy to Procampur in order to try to smooth things over.
'Well, that's good to hear, though I already knew it,' Kovrim said with a laugh, gesturing at the pile of work on his desk. 'There was a nice stack of new reports waiting for me when I arrived this morning. Another smoothly run business operation ready to be put to bed, thanks to you.'
Vambran only smiled and said nothing.
'So, how's my sister?' Kovrim asked, leaning back in his chair. 'How is everyone over at House Matrell?'
Vambran tried not to grimace.
'Mother's fine, as always,' he answered, trying to keep his voice light. 'She still spends most of her day helping Grandmother Hetta, who's still going strong. And Em's growing like a weed,' he added with a laugh.
'I'll bet,' Kovrim said, chuckling along with his nephew. 'Well, I'm looking forward to visiting for Em's birthday in a few days. It'll give me a chance to catch up with the family. And I know Ladara will be happy to see me.'
'Yes,' Vambran said. 'Mother will certainly like that, and everyone would enjoy your company. Just don't show up without a big, expensive present for Em, or she'll never let you hear the end of it.'
They both laughed.
'Well, are you ready to settle these accounts?' Kovrim asked, rising from his chair to grab a large, leather- bound ledger from a shelf behind his desk. 'We can get these books in order and go have a bite to eat.'
Vambran let the smile fade from his face.
'Uncle Kovrim, I have a problem,' he said. 'I need your advice.'
Kovrim grew serious as well and sat back down.
'Certainly, Vambran, whatever I can do to help.'
Vambran sighed, unsure how to explain things.
'Last night,' he finally began, 'On the way home from the docks, there was a killing.'
Kovrim grunted, shaking his head in sorrow, but gestured for the lieutenant to continue.
'City guards accosted and 'dealt with' a pair of common folk in an alley near our estate. They claimed that
