Emriana gave a little shudder as she considered the possibility. She shook her head.
"And there would have been no one watching your back to come to the rescue," she said. "But that's not how it ended up. We're all alive, and the thing's dead."
"Right, thanks to some mysterious red-clad benefactor. Em, this is getting out of hand."
"You don't know the half of it," Kovrim said, coming to stand beside the two siblings again. "This whole thing does indeed have temple connections."
"What?" Vambran blurted out, drawing a sharp look from the mercenaries, who were in the process of carrying out the still unconscious sergeants. "How do you know?"
"Because," Kovrim replied grimly, "I had a conversation with Grand Trabbar Lavant tonight. He didn't deny it. I was surprised, to say the least."
"How can he justify murder?" Vambran said, his voice a bit softer, but no less vehement.
"He didn't. At least he claimed not to condone it. But let's not talk in here. Eavesdroppers might be about. It's already happened at least once, I think."
Emriana spun around, staring wide-eyed into the darkness. "I thought your men said it was all clear!" she said, trepidation making her shake. "Who's still here? Vambran's mysterious rescuer?"
"Calm down, Em," Kovrim admonished. "I meant magical eavesdroppers. Scrying and the like. I'll explain why when we're a safe distance away."
The trio took a walk, leaving the rest of the cleanup business to the mercenaries. Vambran stopped quickly before they departed the warehouse, fetching Emriana's dagger and returning it to her. Then they began to walk through the misty evening, making their way in the general direction of the temple.
Kovrim continued his revelation as they strolled.
"What Grand Trabbar Lavant told me was, the temple is on the verge of negotiating a very lucrative business opportunity, and the murders were an ill-advised cover-up on someone else's part to eliminate something standing in its way. He assured me that the guilty parties were being suitably punished, and he just felt that there was no good reason to bring the authorities into it, drag the whole thing before the public eye, and ruin the chance to complete the deal."
"That's absurd," Vambran said, shaking his head. "The Lady herself would never approve of such underhanded business tactics."
"I agree," Kovrim said, "but the fact remains that you're inadvertently butting heads with the temple, now. Regardless of the morality of your actions, you're taking your career's future in your hands. You need to be very careful how you proceed."
"Are you suggesting that I stop? Give it up and trust the Grand Trabbar to see to it that justice is served?"
"Not necessarily," Kovrim began.
"Good, because there's no way I'm leaving this alone now," Vambran replied angrily. "The man and woman who were murdered were servants of House Pharaboldi. Her name was Jithelle, a kitchen maid, and his was Hoytir, a stable hand. Apparently, Denrick Pharaboldi was seeing her on the sly. Em found that out today."
Kovrim whistled and said, "That sheds some unusual light on the whole affair."
"Exactly," Vambran replied. "And seeing as how our two Houses are so friendly right now-Em was, in fact, there for a social tea-I think it behooves me to make sure we as a family are not getting involved with someone untrustworthy or willing to commit murder to further their business causes."
Kovrim nodded and said, "I agree. But you still need to be particularly cautious. You don't want to draw any more of the temple's attention to yourself in this way."
"It's a little late for that, don't you think?" Emriana said, nodding back the way they had come. "You brought a squad of mercenaries who answer to the temple with you tonight. Word is bound to get around."
Kovrim looked at the girl with surprised admiration.
"Very good point, Em." He smiled and continued, "But in this case, not a worry. Those are some of my most trusted soldiers. We already discussed the need for silence on this matter. They are working tonight strictly freelance."
"Excellent. And Adyan and Horial know to do the same," Vambran said. "At least, once I get a chance to talk to them. Perhaps we can make sure Grolo takes care of that."
"I'm sure we can arrange that," Kovrim answered. "I'll speak to him later. But for now, here's what I think you should do next. If this is the same Jithelle I think you're talking about, I know her mother, Nimra Skolotti. A sweet old woman, and likely wondering what really happened to her poor daughter. She might know something useful, so I think you two should go visit her tomorrow and see what you can find out."
Vambran nodded and Emriana said, "Oh, the poor woman. Maybe it would make her feel a little better if she knew someone was trying to clear Jithelle's name."
"Precisely," their uncle said. "In the meantime, I'll do a little more digging-very subtle digging, mind you-to see what I can find out about potential business opportunities with House Pharaboldi. If I turn anything useful up, I'll let you know."
Vambran turned to face his uncle. "Thank you, sir, for everything you've done so far."
Emriana stepped in and gave the priest a hug.
"Yes," she said, "thank you so much for coming tonight. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't been able to reach you."
"You two just be careful," replied Kovrim. "This isn't a game we're playing, here."
"Damn it!" Grozier snarled as he watched Kovrim, Vambran, and the girl exit the warehouse. "Follow them!"
The wizard Bartimus shook his head.
"I can't," he said, shrinking away from his employer's angry gaze. "I focused the spell on Dressus; it goes where he goes."
Grozier threw up his hands in frustration and began to pace.
"Well, that clinches it, then," he said. "They're uncovering far too much, and furthermore, they know that we're watching them. You heard the priest say as much."
Bartimus nodded, though he didn't think that Grozier saw the gesture, and furthermore, didn't care. The less attention paid to him, the better, as far as the wizard was concerned.
"I've got to talk to the others. That damned mercenary is proving more resourceful than I expected, especially when he has so many friends and family to aid him. He's got too many resources."
"Pardon, sir," Bartimus said, wondering why he would dare to question his employer's logic. "But why don't we take those resources away from him?"
"What?" Grozier asked harshly, scowling and looking at the wizard as though he had just noticed him for the first time. "What are you talking about?"
Bartimus took a deep breath, then said, "The high priest outranks all of them. I'm sure he could arrange it so that the mercenary can't draw on fellow soldiers or his uncle for help. In fact, that may have been what Lavant intended from the beginning, and we didn't give him a chance to put it into motion."
Grozier cocked his head, regarding the wizard with approval.
"Why don't you offer up these kinds of insights more often?" he asked.
Bartimus cringed, but said, "Because you usually just yell at me when I do."
"Yes," Grozier replied with a sigh. "I suppose I do. All right, I'll try to control that. You just keep doing more thinking. I like it."
"All right," Bartimus said, stunned.
"In the meantime, I think we need to move up our meeting. Let everyone know."
"Yes, sir," Bartimus replied, already moving through his study to fulfill his employer's request.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Vambran strolled along inconspicuously, following the woman as she made her way carefully through the market and holding on to the younger woman's arm who was escorting her. The mercenary had been following the pair for a while, watching as they shopped for fresh vegetables in the lines of stalls that filled the open square. The day was bright and crisp, somewhat cooler than it had been the day before, but still the sun was warming to the lieutenant's skin as he kept pace with his quarry.