“Who puts an abbot in power?” asked Precious Wind.
“We all do, all of us, elder brothers and sisters. It is an election.”
“How many of you?”
“A hundred or so, not all of them working here at the abbey, of course.”
“So getting them all together secretly wouldn’t be possible, would it?”
“Getting any ten of them together secretly would be impossible,” he said. “And before I even tried, I’d have to have real evidence, not just a note alleging things. You know, various of us do things in the abbot’s name. Because something is addressed to the abbot, it doesn’t mean he necessarily sees it. If Abasio were to come back here, with the girl, she might know more about it, she could give evidence, but . . . I don’t even know how to reach him.”
“And he wouldn’t bring her back here for anything,” said Oldwife through her teeth. “She wouldn’t be safe here, and that Abasio, he’ll keep her safe. That’s one thing I know is true. He’ll keep her safe. He loves her, that’s why. I saw his face, I did. He loves her. Don’t even know if he knows it yet, but I know it!”
“Do you think the abbot was alone or a part of this conspiracy, I mean, here in the abbey?” asked Precious Wind. “Or someone else, using his name?”
He shook his head. “Who knows? I don’t keep track of him, who he sees, who he talks to most. I know almost everything goes through the prior.”
“Maybe she promised him Netherfields,” Precious Wind offered.
“The abbey already has Netherfields, or will, when the duke passes on. I have the documents on file! He willed Netherfields to us years ago!”
Precious Wind put her hand upon his shoulder. “Then maybe she promised him the duke would pass on sooner. Sir, forgive me, but you seem out of your depth here. I have some knowledge of conspiracies and their ilk. Will you let me help you? Will you let it go for now and do nothing?”
“I was going to send someone to that tower, to see if there were copies of messages or originals from the Old Dark House . . .”
“You know what tower it is?”
“I’m assuming it’s the closest one, northwest of here at the crest of the slope. There’s a fairly well-used track through the woods near there. We cut timber in that area, though we don’t go all the way to the crest as that is Altamont land.”
“Well, let it wait for now. Xulai served as a representative of the Tingawan ambassador and his daughter. In a sense, I, too, have that representation. I have a duty both to him and to the Duke of Wold. Since Bear and Xulai are both gone, I need to consult with our embassy and with Prince Orez about what we should do next.
“I have been given a location within a day or so of the abbey where I can meet a person associated with our embassy, or more properly, a person who knows a person associated with our embassy. I’m going to go ask for advice. I’m fairly sure I’ll be told to stay here, awaiting further events, but there may be some useful suggestions or information. It may be suggested that we simply go on to Merhaven, since Xulai knew that was our eventual destination. On my way back, I’ll check the tower myself.
“So, until I return, please, don’t do anything at all! There may be some innocent explanation and bothering the elders may prove unnecessary. By the way, how does one go about making an appointment with the abbot?”
“Oh, you’d go through the prior’s office. Everything goes through the prior. Messages, requests, orders, all that. Our dear abbot would work himself to death if the prior didn’t take some of the load away.” Wordswell gave her a look that was half-gratitude and half-confusion, his habitual mode of thought betraying that even yet he had not considered the full implications of what they had been saying. He pressed her hand in departure.
That night, amid the crowd after supper, she saw the prior and asked him if he could arrange an appointment with the abbot.
“I’m leaving the abbey for four or five days. When something like Xulai’s disappearance happens, I have a protocol to follow as a representative of the ambassador, and I don’t want anyone to worry over my absence or misinterpret it.”
“A protocol?” mused the prior. “Is it anything we can help you with?”
“No, Elder Brother. I am merely required to report things like this in person.”
“I can offer our birds . . .”
“You have no birds to reach the person I must meet. In fact, I do not know the person’s name. I know only that I have been told to go to a certain place where someone will recognize me and they will tell me where to go from there.”
“Somewhere a few days from here. Now that is curious.”
“Isn’t it! My people seem sometimes to make a fetish of—what should one call it? I hate to call it secrecy. ‘Discretion’ is perhaps the better term. They believe that important things should be discussed quietly by those who need to make important decisions rather than by a hundred voices in as many different places. It does give us less to talk about.” She smiled at him, her most winning smile, practiced until it looked totally genuine.
“Well, if that is all it is, I can tell the abbot you’re going.”
“Protocol again, Elder Brother. I am required to tell him myself. I will have to tell my contact that I, personally, have told the abbot of Wilderbrook Abbey that I have gone and for what reason. In that way, we maintain
