Amber and Blood - Margaret Weis [64]
The priestess laughed—screeching laughter that was like skeletal fingers clawing slate.
“This girl is a god, Krell!” said the priestess, when she could speak. Her lipless mouth twitched. “Magic will have no effect on her. You might as well bind her arms with daisy chains!”
“A fat lot you know about it,” Krell returned angrily. “This Mina doesn’t know she’s a god. According to Nuitari, if Mina sees someone casting a magic spell on her, she falls victim to it.”
“You’re saying she is subject to the power of suggestion?” the priestess asked skeptically.
Krell wasn’t certain he was saying that or not, since he had no clue what she meant.
“All I know is that my lord Chemosh said this would work,” Krell replied in sullen tones. “If you want, you can take it up with him.”
The priestess glared at Krell, then she rose haughtily and stalked out of the chamber. Shortly after that, the spy sent a message to the temple to report that Mina, accompanied by a kender and a dog, was in Temple Row.
“Time to move into position,” said Krell.
hys recounted his story to the Abbot from the beginning, starting when his poor brother had come to the monastery, and continuing to the end, telling how Mina had brought them from Flotsam to Solace in a day. Rhys kept his gaze on the sunlight flickering in the distant vallenwood tree and told his tale simply, without embellishment. He freely confessed his own faults, passed lightly over his trials, and emphasized Nightshade’s friendship, help, and loyalty. He told all he knew about Mina.
The Abbot listened to the monk’s story without interruption, remaining relaxed and composed. Every so often he touched his fingers to the scar on the back of his hand and sometimes, especially when Rhys spoke of Nightshade, the Abbot smiled.
At length Rhys came, with a sigh, to the end. He bowed his head. He felt limp and wrung out, as though he had been drained.
At length, the Abbot stirred and spoke, “Yours is a wondrous tale, Brother Rhys Mason. I must confess I would find it hard to believe, if I had not been a part of it.” He passed his hand again over the scar. “Praise Majere for his wisdom.”
“Praise Majere,” Rhys repeated softly.
“And so, Brother,” said the Abbot, “you have made a promise to take this god-child to Godshome.”
“Yes, Holiness, and I am at a loss. I do not know how to find Godshome. I do not even know where to begin to look, except that according to legend it is located somewhere in the Khalkist mountains.”
“Have you considered the possibility that perhaps Godshome does not exist at all?” the Abbot suggested. “Some think Godshome is symbolic of the end of the spiritual journey each mortal takes when he first opens his eyes to the light of the world.”
“Do you believe that, Holiness?” Rhys asked, troubled. “If that is true, what am I to do? The gods are vying for Mina, each wanting to claim her for his or her own. I have been accosted by Chemosh and Zeboim. The sheriff told me about the riot this morning in Temple Row. The strife in Heaven falls like poisonous rain onto the earth. We could become embroiled in another War of Souls.”
“Is that the reason you risk your life and travel far to take her to a place that may not even exist, Brother?”
The Abbot did not give Rhys time to answer, but followed up that question with another. “Why do you think the god-child came to you?”
The question startled Rhys. He was silent for a moment, reflecting on it. At last he said, “Perhaps because I also know what it feels like to be lost and alone and wandering in the darkness of an endless night. Although,” Rhys added ruefully, “it seems all that Mina has gained by coming to me is that the two of us are lost and wandering together.”
The Abbot smiled. “That may not seem like much,