Rodian pulled his hand down his face. May the Blessed Trinity of Sentience preserve him, for he was standing in a madhouse.
He couldn't go to the royals with more nonsense, but when he looked down, Wynn was glaring at him. The anger in her face sparked his own resentment.
She couldn't possibly expect him to believe there was anything of note in Nikolas's rambling. High-Tower appeared just as uncomfortable with Nikolas's account as he was.
'Did Domin il'Sänke leave the guild at all that night?' Rodian asked.
High-Tower lifted his head, puzzlement disturbing his scowl, but Wynn cut in first.
'Why do you keep asking that?'
'Was he here the whole time?' Rodian demanded, ignoring her, and High-Tower hesitated. The pause was the only confirmation he needed, but the dwarf finally answered.
'Domin il'Sänke was handling a private task for me that night. It has nothing to do with what happened, but I can attest that he was engaged in guild business.'
Rodian clenched his jaw—more evasions. He would get no rational help from these sages, even to save them from themselves. He started for the door but halted at another sharp rumble from the wolf.
Pawl a'Seatt stood in the hospice's doorway. Small Imaret peeked around his side, bearing an ink smudge on her brown cheek. Master a'Seatt's expression was flat and cool, but he was intently fixed upon either Wynn or Nikolas.
'Forgive us,' the scribe master said. 'Imaret wished to see how Nikolas fared.'
The wolf's rumble shifted into an open growl, and Rodian glanced back.
Wynn reached for the animal. 'Stop that,' she said to it. 'These are friends.'
But the wolf remained tensely focused on the doorway, still growling.
Rodian followed its gaze back to Pawl a'Seatt, who now watched the wolf in turn.
High-Tower cocked his large head, and Bitworth's face filled with alarm. Even Wynn grew concerned. She raised a hand before the wolf's face, perhaps commanding it to stay. The animal held its place, its noise lowering to a rumble.
Pawl a'Seatt's brow wrinkled only slightly.
'What are you doing here?' Rodian asked bluntly. The shop's scribes had been laboring all day inside the guild, but masters didn't engage in the general work.
'I came to check on my staff,' Pawl answered calmly. 'And to see them safely home.'
'I've already assigned men for that,' Rodian replied.
'Forgive me, but your guards have not always been effective.'
Rodian's throat tightened. He couldn't argue with that, though he failed to see how a scribe master could do better. Something else was wrong here. If a'Seatt overheard any of Nikolas's jumbled recollections, what had caught him so much that he'd stood silent in the doorway without announcing himself?
'Come, Imaret,' Pawl a'Seatt said. 'We must gather the others. Perhaps your friend will be better tomorrow.'
Rodian almost stopped the scribe master, but he could think of nothing specific to ask. And would he receive an honest answer? Hardly. Truth had become as intangible as the black figure murdering sages for folios.
'That is enough for today,' Bitworth said. 'Everyone out. Nikolas needs rest.'
High-Tower nodded agreement and gestured toward the door. Rodian shook his head in frustration and stepped out. But he had one other matter to address.
Wynn must have seen her coveted translations by now.
'Walk me out,' he said as she stepped into the passage, and his tone implied that it wasn't a request.
'She's not had supper,' High-Tower growled.
Rodian wasn't deceived by false concern. The domin simply wanted to keep Wynn away from him. He didn't care.
'I'll return directly,' Wynn said, and then glanced back through the door at Bitworth. 'Thank you for caring for Nikolas.'
The wolf stalked out behind her, passing High-Tower with a quick snort. The dwarf rolled his eyes, grumbling under his breath as he stomped away. Rodian gestured down the hall as he stepped onward.
'How did you come by that animal?'
Wynn fell into step beside him. 'She found me,' she answered, as if she'd told him all that was necessary.
There had to be more, but at the moment he had other pressing concerns to address. She looked a little weary, with ink stains on her right thumb and forefinger. Did these sages do nothing but study and write? No wonder they were so misguided.
No, that wasn't fair, for he knew what she'd been doing all day. He'd had a hand in her gaining access to the translations—and he expected to be compensated.
And Rodian's attention drifted to the wolf or… what had she called it?
It was taller than any he'd seen during his military assignment in the eastern reaches. Packs sometimes raided farm livestock in deep winter, but this one…
The animal's head reached Wynn's hip, and it walked with her in some tame mockery of its true wild nature. How—why—was this beast even tolerated by her superiors?
When they finally reached the courtyard, Snowbird saw him from the front gates and whinnied. The wolf stopped, ears pricking up, and Rodian eyed it warily, ready to cut it down if it went for his horse. But the beast remained quietly at Wynn's side.
'What did you learn today?' he asked. 'Anything rational that might help?'
Wynn just stood there, gazing across the courtyard and down the gatehouse tunnel at Snowbird. Rodian's anger got the better of him.
'Someone wants something here badly enough to kill for it,' he nearly shouted. 'And you saw that black- robed man outside of a'Seatt's shop. Whoever it is has knowledge of the folios' movements… and can read your sages' script. How many people does that leave, Wynn? Not many, from my count.'
'You're not hunting a living man!' she responded harshly. 'And you'll never stop it through your usual means. If you truly wish to protect your people and the sages, then you'd best alter both your strategy and thought… immediately.'
Angry as he was, Rodian was still taken aback. Wynn breathed hard and calmed slightly.
'Talk to Nikolas again,' she said, 'when he is more himself. Talk to il'Sänke—he has knowledge that you don't. Talk to
He stood dumbfounded at her outburst. Of all the things he'd expected, a torrent of evasive nonsense wasn't among them. She now sounded like one of her superiors.
'What is in those texts?' he demanded.
Wynn shut her eyes tightly for an instant, as if the answer wasn't something she wanted to think on. Rodian almost faltered at whatever weight seemed to press her down.
'More things you wouldn't believe,' she whispered, 'especially from me.'
Rodian's anger hardened like ice. He'd thought her sensible, possibly his only ally within the guild, but they'd gotten to her—High-Tower, Sykion, possibly even il'Sänke. What had they demanded in exchange for placating her desire for the texts and avoiding her claim in court? Or perhaps they were right, and she was so addle-minded that she couldn't see he needed her help.
'Faith that denies fact isn't faith,' she whispered suddenly. 'It's only fanaticism. Even if I could tell you, I won't batter myself against that wall inside your head. Tear it down yourself, if you've any real interest in the truth.'
Wynn walked away with the wolf toward the keep's main doors, leaving Rodian standing alone.
Anger spent, Wynn felt numb as she shoved through the main doors. Rodian wasn't going to acknowledge the truth.
When she reached the common hall's main archway, she held out one hand, palm open, trying to make Shade wait.
'I'll be right back with dinner.'
