Ascendancy of the Last - Lisa Smedman [47]
The more likely possibility-vastly more terrifying-was that Wendonai had departed the Crescent Blade for a living host: Qiluй.
Cavatina shifted her song a second time, and saw what she'd missed before: a faint purple glow, just above the scar. That was where Wendonai must be hiding.
She fought to hide the revulsion she felt. The situation was more grave than she'd dreamed. Was Qiluй's mind still her own? Was this a demon Cavatina was talking to?
No. Some part of Qiluй remained. A significant part. Or her aura wouldn't have shone silver at all.
Cavatina prayed that Wendonai wasn't listening in on her thoughts. If he'd heard what had just passed through her mind-or was listening to whatever Rylla was currently thinking-he'd counter whatever they tried next. She prayed that redemption was an armor he couldn't penetrate.
There was still time to arrange an exorcism-as long as nothing happened to tip their hand. No rash moves, she decided. Nothing that would force the demon to react before they were ready. She'd play along, make her report, and slip away as quickly as she could to make the necessary preparations.
Cavatina directed a sending at Leliana-a carefully worded one that wouldn't send the Protector into a panic. This may be an imposter, not Qiluй. I need to question her without alerting her. On my signal, sing a truth psalm. Do nothing more.
Leliana's lips tightened. She nodded.
They approached the High House. Rylla reached for the door, but Qiluй blocked her. "Thank you for your report, battle-mistress. Please return to the Mound, and re-inspect the seals on the Pit."
"Surely someone else can tend to that, Lady." Rylla nodded in the direction of Cavatina and Leliana. "It's important that I hear what these two have to."
"Do it," Qiluй said in a terse voice. "Now. A thorough check, this time, or I will hold you personally responsible for whatever follows. As will Eilistraee."
Exorcism, Cavatina spelled while the high priestess's back was turned. Prepare.
Rylla stiffened. Hopefully, the high priestess would think this a reaction to the insult she'd just handed her battle-mistress. Rylla bowed stiffly and hurried away.
Qiluй watched her leave, then pulled the door open and motioned for Cavatina and Leliana to enter. Cavatina tensed. Was the demon taking them somewhere out of the public eye, somewhere it could attack?
Qiluй directed them to the room at the very heart of the High House: the chamber that housed her private altar. A holy place, filled with Eilistraee's blessings. Was the demon trying to prove something? That Eilistraee's relics were of no consequence?
As Leliana paused before the door, she caught Cavatina's eye and lifted one eyebrow slightly. Cavatina decided the time was not yet ripe. She would play this move out, and see what followed. "After you, Protector," she said.
Qiluй closed the heavy stone door behind them.
The circular room, shot through with hair-thin threads of moonlight, had walls painted with a mural of a forest. When the stone door was closed, the illusion was complete. Moss, sustained by magic, carpeted the floor, filling the shrine with a woodland smell. A pedestal plated in gold, its top even with Cavatina's eyes, stood at the center of the room. Perched atop it was a rust red, deeply pitted rock the size of a loaf of bread: a fragment of the boulder that had parted from the moon and streaked through the sky on the night Ghaunadaur's avatar had been defeated.
Qiluй raised the Crescent Blade above her head and began to dance around the altar. As the high priestess passed behind the pillar, Cavatina caught Leliana's eye and nodded before beginning her own dance. Leliana lifted her blackened singing sword and joined in, her lips moving in a whispered song. She spun her blade in a tight circle above her head-a gesture