"Actually, there is one small thing that does require explanation," the jordain shot back. "When thugs attacked me and a companion, why did they take us to your icehouse to dispatch us?"
The surprise on the wizard's face seemed too genuine for pretense. Perhaps, Matteo admitted, Ferris Grail didn't know about the attack. "Would you like to hear of it?" he asked in a milder voice.
"I think I'd better," the headmaster said grimly.
Matteo told the story in a few words. "You will no doubt receive a notice of my complaint from the city officials."
"If several men died in the icehouse, I will expect more than that! You know that if there is a legal inquiry into your actions, you will have to appear before the Disputation Table. For the third time this year, I might add."
"There will be no inquiry, as there were no bodies." Matteo described how their attackers, slain or injured, had simply faded away.
The headmaster's face turned nearly as pale as the moonstone globe. "The girl you were with-was she the same who fought with you in Akhlaur's Swamp?"
"Yes," Matteo said curtly, anticipating the now-familiar lecture.
Ferris sent him a long, speculative look. "You spend a considerable amount of time with this wench. More than is seemly for a jordain."
"Our paths seem destined to cross," he said shortly. "I should think you would be far more concerned about the magehound Kiva. What do you know of her?"
"The same as you, and no more," the headmaster said. "Yes, the Azuthan temple contacted me with word of her escape. I agreed that for now the jordaini order would hold this information in confidence. These are troubled times. It is important, especially in light of the raid upon the Lady's Mirror, that the Azuthans do not appear unduly vulnerable."
"I would argue that the times are troubled because of Kiva, and that the vulnerability is real."
Ferris scowled. "You give the elf woman too much credit."
"That is worthy of debate, but perhaps another time. I will answer your question about Tzigone. Let the Azuthans concern themselves with their good name, but the jordaini are pledged to serve the land. I accept the aid and friendship of those who are likewise pledged."
"Your duty is to serve your patron," Ferris reminded him, "not to take up personal quests."
"I have royal permission to do as I will and to use what resources I need."
"Yes, I know," the headmaster complained. "Themo left the college yesterday, riding faster than a flea off a fire-newt. It is not seemly to send a jordain into service who has not completed his training."
"Perhaps Themo should never complete his training. At heart he is a warrior, not a jordain. I wanted him released now, before receiving the rites and tests that end the final form." Matteo paused meaningfully, then added, "As some others have been."
Ferris Grail's eyes narrowed. "Why would you think one jordain's experience would differ from any other's? The jordaini are sworn to secrecy concerning the nature of these rituals."
"After the fact! By Mystra, what man would wish to boast of it!" he said heatedly. "This much I do know: This practice is wrong."
The wizard's face darkened. "Do you think to challenge the entire jordaini order? These rules might seem harsh, but they exist for good reason."
"When I know all these reasons, I will judge for myself."
"You are not meant to know everything, young jordain. You were trained as a counselor, not a judge!" snapped Ferris.
"In seeking truth, I am doing no more than I was trained to do. What I was bred to do," he added bitterly.
A long moment of silence followed. Matteo marked the guilt and fear on the wizard's face. It occurred to him that Jinkor the gatekeeper might not have been Kiva's sole source of information. Over the years someone had betrayed jordaini students best suited to her purpose. Who could better fill this treacherous office than the headmaster? Or perhaps Ferris Grail, a diviner, knew who the culprit was but kept silent to protect the college from scandal. That would explain his willingness to allow Kiva to remain conveniently lost.
"You may have Themo," the wizard said at last. "He is released from his jordaini vows. In return, I require your word that you will look no closer at these hidden things."
"I cannot give it," Matteo said bluntly.
Ferris Grail's face clouded. For a moment Matteo thought he would renege on his promise to grant Themo his freedom, but the wizard's stern posture wilted, and he passed a hand wearily over his face.
"Go, then, and Mystra's blessing upon you. I ask that when your quest is over, you return to the college. There are things you should know before you proceed much further down this path."
"Such as the fact that the necromancer Akhlaur had a hand in our order's creation?"
It was a shot into the clouds, but it found its mark. The color drained from Ferris Grail's face. "Come to the college," he repeated. "I will do what I can to help you. And may Lady Mystra have mercy upon us both."
Chapter Eighteen
Tzigone stared at the green marble tower, trying to imagine her mother living there, doing the things that Dhamari Exchelsor and Halruaan law said she had done. She gave herself a brisk shake, tucked away her troubled thoughts, and marched to the gate. The servant there took her name and her request for audience. When he returned, a slight, balding man came with him.
The unimpressive newcomer did not look like the lord of a tower, but he held out his hands in the traditional greeting of one wizard hosting another.
So this was Dhamari Exchelsor, the monster she had known all her life as her "mother's husband." Before she could say a word, the wizard stopped dead and stared. He quickly regained his composure and inclined his head in the bow that acknowledged a wizard of lesser experience, but greater rank.
Tzigone was not sure what impressed her more: that Dhamari Exchelsor obviously recognized her as Keturah's daughter or that he did not immediately press the matter. An effusive greeting, any sort of claim on her, would have sent her sprinting down the street. Tzigone had learned caution from her mother. Maybe this man understood Keturah well enough to give his meeting real value.
She removed Keturah's talisman from her bag and held it up.
Dhamari studied the medallion in silence for a long moment. When he turned his gaze back to her, his eyes were gentle. "Come to the garden, child. I'm sure you have many questions."
She followed him through fragrant paths, listening as he spoke of the uses of this or that plant. He seemed exceptionally learned in herbal lore and considerate enough to grant her time to adjust herself to his presence. Tzigone was reluctantly impressed.
"I'm ready to talk," she announced abruptly.
"Talk we shall." He gestured toward a bench in a small alcove and sat down beside her. "Ask what you will."
"Keturah left the city the same day a greenmage was eaten by starsnakes."
He nodded sadly. "That is so."
"Do you think she did it? Called the starsnakes?"
"In all honesty, I do not know."
Tzigone's eyes narrowed. "Did you join the search for her?"
Dhamari hesitated. "Understand that in answering freely I put my life in your hands. If you harbor any ill will toward me, you could use what I am about to tell you. Yes, I sought Keturah," he continued, not even waiting a beat to gauge her reaction and thus his own safety. "I employed rangers to comb the wilderness, diviners to cast spells and to read the auguries in the flight of birds. A hundred trusted merchants carried messages to every part of the land announcing a reward for her return. But I acted only for love of her. Had I found her, I would have seen her safely away from Halruaa and into the best care the Exchelsor fortunes could purchase."