The Light of Heaven

here.'

'Which means you're going, of course,' Marta said.

'Of course. And I doubt it'll be particularly safe.'

'I think I can guarantee that,' Crowe agreed.

There were familiar faces waiting for Gabriella when she and Crowe got back to Solnos. Four Knights in full ceremonial colours were on guard, themselves watched with some suspicion by an equal number of troops from two or three mercenary companies, including Kannis' company. Preceptor DeBarres greeted Gabriella with a smile as soon as she walked into the church.

'Gabriella! Thank the Lord you're safe. Eminence Kesar will want to hear your tale.'

'He's here?' Gabriella hadn't expected that.

'He's come to pay a visit to the site of an attack on a Faith church. He also brought some funds, for use in paying the mercenary groups which Captain Kannis and I are hiring to defend the area. The scouts report that there are more goblins coming and we will be marshalling a force to meet them.'

'Of mercenaries?'

'It's politically safer than risking Lord Aristide — or any other Pontaine Lord — jumping to the wrong conclusion and defending themselves too vigorously against an imaginary Vos invasion.' Gabriella couldn't fault that logic. 'I'll arrange your meeting with the Eminence.'

Within the hour, in the top floor of the largest inn in Solnos, Eminence Rodrigo Kesar poured clear water, scented with droplets squeezed from fruit, into two goblets, and passed one to Gabriella. The water was cold and refreshing.

'It does my heart a great deal of good,' Kesar said, 'to see you unharmed.'

'The Lord of All is with me, Eminence.'

'As with all of us, Sister DeZantez.' He walked to the window and looked out towards where Crowe was checking over a horse. Beyond him, soldiers-at-arms were clearing debris from the makeshift barricades. 'You fought a great battle. A triumph of the Lord's will over those creatures.'

'Thank you, Eminence.'

'And I was very sorry to hear about Enlightened One Brand. He was an excellent Knight of the Swords, and I fully believe he would have proved an equally valuable and excellent Enlightened One. I'm also aware that you and he had taken the Pledge and would have most likely have been Bound, in time. I can't claim to know how you must be feeling,'

'It's not getting in the way.' She said, making sure to keep her features as neutral as possible.

'Of course it is.' He shushed her next protest before she could make it. 'But it is not something that can or will be held against you. You wouldn't be human if it did not affect you.' He fell silent, and she could almost hear the wheels turning in his mind. 'Now, this man Travis Crowe. Who is he?'

'He's a mercenary,' she said.

'There are enough of them around, that's for sure.'

'He's also an informant.'

Kesar's expression showed piqued interest. 'On what matters?'

'On the Brotherhood and their operations.'

'Really?' Kesar pursed his lips as he regarded Crowe. 'He is devout?'

'I wish,' Gabriella said under her breath.

Kesar lifted a scroll. 'I know you feel your true destiny is in the Swords and I'm certain that you will continue to be excellent in that duty, but… But we can't leave this parish without an Enlightened One and I know that you will serve well in that position.'

Gabriella stiffened. 'Eminence… I would prefer to serve in another position.'

'Would you? Yet the Lord has means and manners for all of us.'

'It's not unusual for a parish to be missing an Enlightened One for a short period and I believe that you will approve of the duty I seek.'

'Really?'

'It's related to a duty you already gave me, Eminence. I have found Goran Kell's hiding place.'

Kesar sat back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his nose. 'All right,' he said at last. 'Tell me more.'

And she did.

CHAPTER 15

The smell was the strangest thing about this section of the Great Cathedral. Many areas, especially the underground levels, stank in one way or another. Cells used by the Confessors reeked of blood and excrement, while the archives smelled of the must of ancient scrolls and most of the stonework bore a faint air of smoke. The incense that burned throughout the Great Cathedral masked a lot of it, but not always and not everywhere.

Katherine Makennon could have said she hated the stink, but she'd be lying. The sacred oils that were rubbed into her skin every day since her investiture masked most of the atmosphere in which she walked, but she had always found the scent of the corridors comforting. The smell reminded her of home not least because this was her home. This was where she was meant to be.

'A glass mountain,' Makennon said curtly. 'You can guess what I thought of immediately I heard the phrase.'

'Ckeol se-Llrim. The Isle of the Star.' The voice had an eerie quality. Its owner stayed in the shadows, walking around the edges of the chamber. 'It is not a unique phenomenon.'

'It is to humankind.'

'Man does not know everything. If they did, no-one would ever send ships in search of the Isle. Any of the isles.'

'There are others?'

'Several, daughter of Twilight, but none other within the reach of Man. They are sacred only to the Lord of All.'

'As He wishes,' Makennon murmured, 'so mote it be. And the bridge of light… It's happening now?'

'Yes.' The sound was more an exhalation than a word. 'As it has so many times before, and as it will so many times again.'

'This occasion is the only time that concerns me,' Makennon said, satisfied. 'All that matters now is that we are ready to respond to the opportunities offered when the Lord does His part.'

Down in the heart of south-western Pontaine, scouts were rushing inland towards the armed camp that had grown up around the town of Solnos. A full fifty Knights of the Order of the Swords Of Dawn had moved in, joining Gabriella, DeBarres and Eminence Kesar. They had arrived in groups of twos and threes, so as not to arouse the ire of the local military. Kannis was sending hourly reports to Lord Aristide of Fayence, whose scouts were themselves prowling nervously outside town. No-one wanted those scouts to decide that the Swords and mercenaries were an invasion force threatening Fayence. Kannis had been employed by Lord Aristide before, and volunteered to keep him informed and to persuade him that he needn't fear these troops.

Gabriella had rolled out a copy of Wyngarde's map across a table in the church vestry. It had been drawn from memory in spite of Chaga's attempt to wipe it from the eyes of the Faith. She drew a finger along the route the goblins had taken.

'This is where they diverted around Fayence. They know they can't take such a major city.'

'With the right strategy, they could hop from city to city, looting and burning everything in their path.' Kesar said.

'No, even a rabid animal would know better than to leave two full cities on its flanks. If this had been a true invasion, they would have taken Fayence and used it as a bridgehead. There, they could withstand a counterattack from Andon and have a good base from which to launch further attacks.' Gabriella said.