Chương 38: Church of Amber, Church of Gold

After leaving Lord Wanderbilt's side, Havlo went in search of a temple. He'd already decided that the city authorities weren't going to be of much use. The watch was constrained by resourcing issues, and half of the nobles were corrupt. Until he found those bailed bandits and brought them to Lord Wanderbilt's manor for questioning, there wasn't much more they could do for him. But every government had a second, unofficial layer. The priesthood was often tapped into the lives of the congregation.

They had their ears closer to the ground than any other privileged group. The Temple of the Amber Goddess was located near the market square. He made his way up the stone steps, past the marble statue of Amberfina with her arms extended out in welcoming grace, and through the open archway into the public prayer room. Watching over the faithful was an even larger statue of the Goddess, the altar by its feet laid with offerings of food and copper.

There were about a dozen people in among the pews and the prayer mats, all engaged in a silent one-way conversation. He walked past them toward the altar, where a priestess stood in prayer in her distinctive dark-yellow robes. It was comforting to see that some traditions hadn't changed in two hundred years.

"May I speak with you, priestess?" he asked softly. She turned to him with eyes warm and kind and wrinkled with age.

"What do you need help with, my child?" He looked around at the people present in the prayer room and said, "Perhaps we can speak somewhere private?" She nodded.

"Come right this way." She led him to a counselling booth. Every temple had one, a space for followers seeking aid and advice. It was one the church's primary duties to provide guidance to those wishing to lead better lives. The priestess closed the door behind them and offered him a seat. Besides the two stools, there wasn't anything else in the small booth.

"There have been some kidnappings in Lorelark..." he began. He explained how he'd come to Ardark to find and rescue the victims. He spoke about the bandits he'd captured and how they'd been granted bail. He didn't mention his arrangement with Lord Wanderbilt about bringing them in for some extra-judicial questioning.

"Any information you can provide will help save lives," he concluded.

"If you know anything about this trafficking operation at all, or who might be harboring the bandits." She looked at him for a moment with a grave expression on her face and then, as if coming to a decision, stood up.

"Follow me. I want you to meet someone." They left the booth and made their way to the back of the temple. They passed by the healer's ward, where other priests and priestesses were tending to the sick, and toward the clergy's living quarters. The priestess stopped outside one of the rooms and rapped on the door.

"Buddy? It's me. I've got a guest here I want you to meet. Can we come in?" There wasn't any answer, and she opened the door anyway, just enough to poke her head in.

"I just want you to meet this gentleman here. Is that okay?" Whatever response the other person gave, the priestess opened the door the rest of the way and motioned for Havlo to enter. On the bed was a boy under ten. He looked at Havlo with dull, emotionless eyes. He'd seen that expression many times before. It afflicted adults and children alike, and often after a great loss. The priestess went down on her knees so that her eyes were level with the boy's, and she took his hand gently.

"Buddy, this gentleman wants to find the people who hurt your family. If you think of anything, tell us, and we'll pass it on to him. Okay?" The boy glanced at him and then back at her and nodded. The priestess rejoined Havlo's side.

"We don't know his name, so we've been calling him Buddy."

"He's mute?" he asked.

"Hasn't said a word since we took him in three days ago. But I don't think he was always this way. He ran up to a watch officer, all covered in blood, outside the north gate. They found his father's body by his wagon. He was a traveling merchant. All his cargo was stolen."

"Bandits?"

"Certainly looks like it, doesn't it?" she said.

"But they sure picked a bad target. Had they hit him on the way in, they could have gotten a cartload of tea and peppermint. Very valuable commodities in these parts, what with the way prices have gone up in recent months. But on the way out he was carrying pumpkins. Didn't have much money on him either, since merchants are all big fans of the Bet-on-Wood banking system. Not carrying money is meant to make them less tempting targets to rob."

"You said family," he said.

"He had more than just a father?"

"The gate guards said there had been an older girl with them when they left the city. Presumably the boy's sister."

"They took the sister and spared the boy?"

"Or the sister fought like hell so her brother could get away," the priestess said.

"And you think the people who did it are the same kidnappers I'm after?"

"I sure hope so." Havlo looked at the boy, who'd been listening impassively as the priestess recounted the worst day of his life. If the boy had seen the bandits' faces, or overhead them calling each other's names, or some other clue, it could help him figure out where to search. But he'd never been good with children, and if the priestesses hadn't had any luck getting him to talk, he wasn't going to do any better. But hopefully the knowledge that there was someone working the case could help the boy to open up.

That was probably why the priestess had brought him here even though it was going to be painful for the boy. He crouched down on one knee and addressed the boy.

"If the priestess is right, your sister may still be alive. If she is, I'm going to get her back for you. You can help me by letting us know if you remember anything. Okay?" This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work. The boy nodded but still didn't say a word.

"Give him time," the priestess said.

"It must be overwhelming. Let's give him some room." They returned to the hallway, and she closed the door to the boy's room.

"I'll let you know anything we learn," the priestess said.

"Where can we find you?" He told her where he was staying and how to leave a message.

"In the meantime you should be careful who you trust," the priestess said.

"If things are happening as you describe, these traffickers must have some powerful people behind them."

"What's your opinion of Lord Wanderbilt?" he asked.

"Of Ardark."

"He's a good man. He's one of the few nobles who have been trying to get things under control here. I don't believe he's involved in whatever's going on." He'd had the same impression too. It was reassuring to have validation from the priesthood.

"Before you go," the priestess said, "could you spare a donation? We take coin or food. A lot more people have come to rely on our food pantry of late, but we're finding ourselves having to stretch less food over more people." He thought back to the offerings he saw back in the public prayer room.

"I did notice the donations looked a little sparse for a city of this size."

"There's another temple where people have been donating instead," she said.

"They claim to be providing the same services as we are, but I don't believe it. I don't know where their money is going, but it certainly isn't to alms for the poor."

"You think the priests there are corrupted?"

"To call them corrupted would be to suggest that they're real priests at all."

"I don't understand," Havlo said.

"Do those people not follow Amberfina? Do they not seek her blessings?"

"A lot of people have been losing faith since the new saint was chosen," the priestess said.

"Pardon my ignorance, but why are people opposed to the new saint?" She gave him a strange look.

"You really haven't heard? The current saint is a demon."

Rava stepped into the spacious nave of the Temple of the Golden Hoard. Worshippers filled the pews while a priest in dark silk robes preached from the altar. A collection tray was being passed around, laden heavy with silver. Above him hung a golden tapestry with the promise, Every coin you give gets you two coins back!

"The Goddess rewards generosity," the priest declared.

"You can create great wealth for yourself by what you give away today." Rava approached one of the priests who was watching the proceedings from the side.

"I'm here to see the high priest."

"He's a bit busy right now." He pointed at the preacher.

"I meant the other high priest." She searched her memory for the right title.

"The herald." The priest looked at her skeptically.

"Do you have an appointment?"

"Tell him it's Rava." On hearing her name, the priest's face changed and he quickly disappeared into the back. While she waited, Rava listened to the preacher lecture on the joys of labor and the virtues of greed. It seemed to involve some wildly convoluted theory about how a world of greed could feed the poor better than a world without. Rava didn't care either way. The poor were none of her concern. After a few minutes, the priest returned.

"Please follow me, I'll lead you to the herald." The back halls of the temple were even more richly decorated than the front. Expensive artwork lined the walls, and the floors looked like they received a fresh polish every hour. They passed into an annex, which housed workshops of various kinds. The priest showed her into an alchemy lab, where a man with a slick, full pompadour was in the process of crushing moonflowers and adding them to a boiling cauldron. He looked up when she arrived.

"Ah, you must be Rava." He nodded at the other priest, who bowed and then departed, closing the door on the way. The herald turned back to his mortar and continued preparing his potion.

"It's for my arthritis," he explained. Rava didn't know his name and she didn't care. He was an insignificant man stationed in an insignificant city. She launched straight into business.

"I have a report for the Supreme Council."

"Ah, yes. I've been told that you were tasked with investigating the Moonfoot Keystone. What were your findings?"

"Tell the council that the keystone has been destroyed and we're proceeding to the one at Ygg Latten Bay." There was a clatter as the herald dropped his pestle. Uncrushed moonflower petals fell from his fingers onto the floor.

"Say that again?"

"Tell the council that after two hundred years, a seal has finally been broken," she said. It took a moment before the herald found his voice again. He shifted the cauldron away and extinguished the fire before stepping up to give Rava his full attention.

"You're absolutely certain of this?" he asked.

"The keystone itself is dust, its magic dispersed into the world."

"They'll want to send someone to verify it."

"They can do whatever they want," she said coolly.

"In the meantime, we're heading to the Ygg Latten Keystone. Tell us what's happening in the bay."

"Hold on," the herald said.

"Tell me what you did to destroy the keystone."

"No." She was prepared for this. Since she didn't know who actually destroyed the keystone or how, she had to buy time to figure it out.

"The details are only for my team and the council to know."

"But I'll need to relay the details to the council," the herald said.

"Relay what I told you, and the council will send someone out to question us directly," she said.

"We both know that they won't want you in on the loop. Try any tricks and there will be no corner in Kalimor safe for you to hide."

"I would never," the herald protested, but he eased off on the questioning.

"But this is a momentous achievement. I imagine the council will wish to reward you. You should stay in Ardark for a couple of days."

"I don't think that's necessary," she said. Now that she knew the keystones were destructible, she had no patience for senseless delays. Echo already had them taking enough detours as it was. She couldn't do much to rein in Echo, but she could with this priest. There was also the problem that the longer she stayed here, the better the odds of someone from the council arriving with questions before she was ready with answers.

"Ygg Latten Bay is closed off. We haven't had contact with our branch there in weeks."

"Like the governor will be able to stop my team from leaving," she scoffed.

"It'll be hard for us to get a message to you once you're there. You should wait to hear if the council has any further instructions for you."

"I'll wait two days," she said. She needed that time to gather more information and supplies anyway.

"That's hardly—""Now tell me about what's happening at the bay." The herald looked like he wanted to protest, but he was sensible enough to move on.

"There's an invasion."

"How reliable is this intel? If there's an invasion, why haven't they called in the navy? Or reinforcements from the royal army?"

"Those are questions you'll have to ask the governor. All we know is that our scouts have reported sensing high mana fluxes from beyond the walls."

"And your scouts never thought to check it out by sea?" she asked.

"Any boat that sails too close to the bay disappears."

"What do you mean disappears?"

"It's never seen from again. No shipwrecks. No bodies washed up on shore. Just—poof! Gone."

"This doesn't make any sense," she said.

"All the fishermen refuse to go anywhere near there. Though I hear that they have rumors of their own. It's hard to tell what's credible and what's superstition. But they say that in the weeks leading up to the closure of the bay, dead fish had been washing up on shore. All along the coast."

"Dead fish will wash up but not bodies?"

"Well, that's the thing," the priest said.

"The fish have stopped washing up too." She gave all of this some thought. After a while, the priest ventured, "Any idea what's going on over there?" She didn't, but Echo might. All of this sounded like the sort of thing that crazy demon would enjoy.

"Two days," she said to the priest.

"And then I'm leaving to find out."