JК
The Floodgate :: Каннингем Элейн
Страница: 39 из 212You also said that Andris promised he would not leave the Jordaini College until the following morning," the priest pointed out.
Matteo had no answer for this. "I must admit that my friend's actions are a complete mystery to me. I would be grateful for whatever enlightenment you could offer."
The priest hesitated for a long moment. "You must treat what I am about to tell you with the same discretion a jordain grants his patron."
Matteo nodded cautious agreement "Insofar as I may, without betraying the interests of my patron the queen, or the service of truth."
"That will have to do." The priest sighed heavily. "Andris did not present himself at our gates, that much is true, but he was here. It is my opinion that he was looking for Kiva."
This was the strangest news Matteo had learned yet "Did he find her?"
"When you learn the answer to that question, let me know. Me, and no other."
As the man's meaning became clear, Matteo slumped back into his chair. "Kiva has escaped? But how?"
The priest shifted. "I could fashion an explanation, but why waste breath on something that will not change the situation?"
Matteo silently accessed "the situation." Kiva was gone, and with her the secret of the gate to the Plane of Water. A smaller concern, but no less urgent to Matteo, was what part Andris might have played in this. Andris believed his destiny was bound to the elven people, and Kiva was the only elf he knew. It seemed incredible that Andris would have anything more to do with the treacherous elf woman, but Matteo could not be certain.
After a long moment, he put words to his fears. "Do you suspect that Andris might have aided Kiva's escape?"
The priest shook his head. "Kiva was long gone before the jordain came. After she regained her senses, she was examined immediately, if briefly, by one of our inquisitors. She named an accomplice, who was duly executed."
"Zephyr," Matteo murmured, bringing to mind the kind, worn face of the elderly elf-the only jordain who had made him welcome during his service to Procopio Septus. "What evidence was brought against him?"
"The sentence was just," the priest assured him. "Kiva told the truth about him, if little else. The inquisitor deemed her too weak to continue, yet she fled within the hour. I wouldn't have believed it possible, but there you have it"
This pronouncement mingled good news and bad. Andris was not culpable, but on the other hand, Kiva had been running free for quite some time. Zephyr had been executed by the light of a gibbous moon, as was Halruaan custom.
Matteo had no answer for this. "I must admit that my friend's actions are a complete mystery to me. I would be grateful for whatever enlightenment you could offer."
The priest hesitated for a long moment. "You must treat what I am about to tell you with the same discretion a jordain grants his patron."
Matteo nodded cautious agreement "Insofar as I may, without betraying the interests of my patron the queen, or the service of truth."
"That will have to do." The priest sighed heavily. "Andris did not present himself at our gates, that much is true, but he was here. It is my opinion that he was looking for Kiva."
This was the strangest news Matteo had learned yet "Did he find her?"
"When you learn the answer to that question, let me know. Me, and no other."
As the man's meaning became clear, Matteo slumped back into his chair. "Kiva has escaped? But how?"
The priest shifted. "I could fashion an explanation, but why waste breath on something that will not change the situation?"
Matteo silently accessed "the situation." Kiva was gone, and with her the secret of the gate to the Plane of Water. A smaller concern, but no less urgent to Matteo, was what part Andris might have played in this. Andris believed his destiny was bound to the elven people, and Kiva was the only elf he knew. It seemed incredible that Andris would have anything more to do with the treacherous elf woman, but Matteo could not be certain.
After a long moment, he put words to his fears. "Do you suspect that Andris might have aided Kiva's escape?"
The priest shook his head. "Kiva was long gone before the jordain came. After she regained her senses, she was examined immediately, if briefly, by one of our inquisitors. She named an accomplice, who was duly executed."
"Zephyr," Matteo murmured, bringing to mind the kind, worn face of the elderly elf-the only jordain who had made him welcome during his service to Procopio Septus. "What evidence was brought against him?"
"The sentence was just," the priest assured him. "Kiva told the truth about him, if little else. The inquisitor deemed her too weak to continue, yet she fled within the hour. I wouldn't have believed it possible, but there you have it"
This pronouncement mingled good news and bad. Andris was not culpable, but on the other hand, Kiva had been running free for quite some time. Zephyr had been executed by the light of a gibbous moon, as was Halruaan custom.