themselves. He didn't have to work very hard to guess what they were arguing about.
'Why should I believe anything you say?' asked Julith.
'You shouldn't, I suppose,' said Keph. 'You've got no reason. I could be lying right now. All I can say is that I'm not. I'm sorry you had to get caught with mebecause of me. I probably should have left you.'
'You probably should have.' Julith let out a slow sigh and continued, 'But it would have been a worse ride without you. If Feena could trust you, I suppose I can.' She glanced up at him. 'So there are Sharrans in Yhaunn after all. Velsinore and Mifano must be wetting themselves. I guess we'd all gotten a little too complacent in…'
Her voice fell away. A shudder ran down Keph's back.
There was something in the air, a strange feeling of being watched. Keph looked around the dim shed, but there was nothing to see, except scraps of tack and harness, a few old farm tools, and slow moving dust caught in the few beams of sunlight that fell through gaps in the plank walls to pierce the shadows.
Shadows.
Keph's breath caught. 'No!' he choked.
The shadows deepened abruptly, as if a cloud had passed over the new-risen sun outside. The sense of being watched changed, became more intense.
The darkness folded and gathered in on itself. When it parted again, Variance was in the shed with them, a thick cloak shrouding her dusky pale form. Her hand darted out toward Julith, amethyst ring flashing as it caught a stray beam of sunlight.
'In Shar's name, be still!'
Julith stiffened, a look of surprise caught on her face. Keph gasped and drew breath, a shout of alarm already on his lips. Variance whirled and spoke a low word, flicking her fingers at him. Shadows spun out from her gesture, and coalesced into a solid form. Keph's shout died as a chakram, the razor-edged throwing disk that was Shar's own legendary weapon, materialized out of the darkness. The weapon stopped less than an inch from his throat and hung there.
'Be silent, Keph,' ordered Variance. 'Did you really think you could run from us?'
Sweat broke out on Keph's forehead. He could feel it trickling from his face, down his outstretched neck. He sat back slowly. The floating chakram moved with him, maintaining its position.
'How did you find me?' he breathed. 'How did you even know I'd gone?'
'Selune's clergy aren't all so faithful as the moon goddess might think,' Variance said in a low voice. 'Now hold your tongue!'
Her fingers twitched. The chakram slid forward and its cold edge kissed Keph's throat. Variance turned away to stand over Julith.
'Priestess of Selune,' she murmured. Her voice took on a strange timbre, a haunting, seductive quality. The pupils of Julith's eyes grew wide, seeming to consume all the color of her irises. 'Priestess of Selune, hear me. What you remember now is false. Let it pass from your memory. This is the truth that you will recall: that Keph Thingoleir broke free from his bonds, and that he mocked you and your faith and your foolish confidence that there could be no Sharrans in Yhaunn!'
The lie stabbed into Keph, more painful than he could have thought. He moaned against the edge of the shadowy chakram. The power flowing off Variance raised the hairs on his skin. The dark priestess had said that Shar granted her certain powers over the minds of the weak, that Lyraene didn't recall the full truth of their duel- was this what she had done to the half-elf?
'Don't listen, Julith!' he hissed 'Fight her! I wouldn't mock you!'
But Variance's murmur was relentless. And cruel.
'He fooled you, priestess! Keph Thingoleir is more than he seems. He enspeUed you! Beloved of Shar, he commands the darkest of forces. He tore open the shadows themselves to make his escape. And before he fled, he swore his vengeance against Moonshadow Hall. At the moment of Selune's weakness, Shar will lay your temple wastehe promises it! Know fear, priestess, for Shar shall come!'
Her hands floated through the air, fingertips settling briefly against Julith's forehead. The pitch of her voice turned harsh and commanding.
'By the power of the Mistress of Night, this is the memory I make for you!'
A shadow slid across Julith's eyes.
Keph's heart felt as if it had stopped. Variance drew a slow breath and lifted her hands away from the priestess, then turned back to him.
'So,' she said, her gaze as cold and as hard as her voice. 'You disappoint me.'
'Variance…' Keph gulped.
'Be silent!' Variance snarled again.
She reached down and clenched his hair in one fist. Keph gasped, then gasped again as a cold force wrenched him into swirling shadows.
'Julith!' he shrieked. The priestess's gaze didn't even flicker. 'Jul-'
Darkness closed around him, choking his scream into silence.
CHAPTER 13
It was time to go. The sun would be rising. Moonshadow Hall would be stirring. Did Selune's faithful need to know what had happened in that cramped little room? The last dark depths of the High Moonmistress's madness?
Feena eased Dhauna's frail body out of her embrace and laid her on the torn linens that covered the floor, turning her on her side and drawing her cooling limbs up into a childlike huddle. She clenched her teeth as she stood Dhauna's body told the comforting lie of a peaceful death, a mercy to ease the mourning of the faithful.
The truth would be a terrible, secret burden for her to carry alone.
Feena bolted the iron-banded door behind herself. It was reasonable to assume the spell oi moonlight that had lit the infirmary had ended with Dhauna's death. There would be no reason for anyone to guess she had been back to Moonshadow Hall.
Outside the infirmary, she paused. The sounds of a new day were drifting through the halls of the temple. She might still be able to slip out before too many of the remaining priestess and acolytes were up and about. Against the savory scents of Idruth's kitchen, however, she was suddenly aware of the foul smell that clung to her robe. She stank of urine and death. There would be a fresh robe in her former chamber, but in the extra minutes it would take her to retrieve it, there was also a greater chance of getting caught.
Her fists clenched with a sudden need to be rid of the tainted garment.
She turned and darted down a dark corridor. The mossy pillar in the kitchen garden wasn't the only secret she remembered from her playful days as a novice and an acolyte. Exploring Moonshadow Hall's unused passages and dusty storerooms was a rite for every child entering the temple. Beyond the infirmary, a steep, narrow ramp led up to the second floor and a series of dim rooms that smelled of mice. Beyond those rooms was an abandoned library, walls lined with empty shelves. Beyond that was a long, curved passage with dust so thick on the floor it held the footprints of countless novicesand one stealthy priestess. Feena walked quickly, the hem of her robe stirring up little clouds of dust in her wake. At the end of the curved passage was a narrow door. Feena thrust against it. Hinges squealed.
She stepped out beneath the ramp leading up to the archives. Leaving the narrow door ajar, she trotted past the ramp and peered down the long corridor that connected the clergy's quarters. The morning sounds of the novices' and acolytes' dormitories echoed from its distant end.
Just ahead, sunlight burned a bright path across the dim corridor.
Feena trotted up to Dhauna's chambers and peered inside. The broken door remained where Mifano had left it, leaning against a wall. Someone had pulled open the heavy curtains that hung over the big window, though. Morning light streamed in. On Dhauna's desk, the ancient tome that recorded the fall of the New Moon Pact shone in the sunlight, white leather gleaming like a lie. Feena looked away and darted past.
Her former chamber was only a short way along the corridor. Its door stood open as well, though the curtains remained drawn. The torn strips she had used to bind Jhezzail were scattered on the floor. Feena stripped off her
