Mistress of the Night - Don Bassingthwaite [107]
Moonmaiden's grace, she wondered silently, could we have been wrong? No. Everything they had reasoned out pointed to Velsinore or Mifano as the traitor.
Feena stared at the pair, looking for something to suggest that one of them had somehow resisted her prayer and was actually lying or telling some half-truth.
Both watched her with hard eyes and held their swords of office in steady hands. Neither had the look of someone who was lying. Feena's mouth was dry as she tried to think of another possibility.
"The Sharran priestess…" she said. "She was behind the poisoning I stopped. I think she's been trying to manipulate us into panic. Her name is Variance."
"I don't know anyone by that name," growled Velsinore, and Mifano echoed her.
Julith said, "She's a Calishite. Her hair is long. Her skin is pale and dusky, like she hasn't been in the sun for a long time."
Feena watched Mifano and Velsinore as Julith spoke, but neither reacted. She shot a glance at Julith.
The dark-haired priestess bit her lip in thought, then added, "She wore a ring, an amethyst set in old silver."
Mifano's sword wavered. Feena's eyes-and Julith's and Velsinore's-snapped to him.
"You recognize the ring?" Feena asked.
"It sounds like-" Mifano's lips drew tight. "Lady Monstaed has taken to wearing a ring like that. But she's not Calishite."
"When did she start wearing the ring?"
"Less than a month ago." Doubt creeped into his eyes as he said, "About the time she transferred the lease on her properties from Ladysluck Tower to Moonshadow Hall."
"Did you tell Lady Monstaed about my encounter in the Stiltways and that I thought there were Sharrans in Yhaunn?" Feena asked.
His mouth opened then closed, and he nodded. "I told her about that," he said. His sword fell. "Selune's shining face, I told her everything that happened in Moonshadow Hall."
Julith gasped. All around the cloisters, whispers of alarm and surprise rolled through the assembled clergy. Hope leaped inside Feena-Mifano was no traitor, only a dupe!
"And you told Lady Monstaed about Keph's capture?" she asked.
Mifano blinked-and shook his head. "No," he said. "Feena, I swear I haven't even stopped to think about her since your attack on Dhauna."
His words rang with truth. And Feena realized, why should Mifano have contacted Lady Monstaed back in Yhaunn to pass on news of Keph anyway? He couldn't have known she'd be interested in the young man. She ground her teeth as the brief moment of hope faded.
Worse, the only evidence linking Variance to Velsinore or Mifano was useless. Mifano's gossip had let Variance know about Moonshadow Hall's misplaced confidence. But if he hadn't been the one to tell the Sharran priestess about Keph's capture…
"Someone is still a traitor," Feena said. She looked up. "Velsinore, who-"
The tall priestess's sword snapped up defensively. "I certainly didn't tell this Variance anything!" she snapped.
Feena groaned and said, "I didn't say you did. I need to know if anyone among the clergy who rode with you last night might have-"
"Wait." Julith laid her arm on Feena's arm. "We've made a mistake." Feena glanced at her. The priestess was looking at Velsinore intently. "Variance said that not all of Selune's clergy are faithful. She never said that one of us told her about Keph's capture."
"I certainly didn't tell this Variance anything," Velsinore had said. Selune's power confirmed that statement as the truth. But Variance wasn't the only Sharran in Yhaunn, was she?
"Velsinore," Feena spat, "did you tell anyone about Keph's capture?" She stepped forward. "Answer me! Did you betray Keph to the Sharrans?"
The tall priestess took a step back, her eyes wide and her mouth open.
"I… I…" she stuttered, as if trying to form words when none would come, as if the power of a goddess prevented her from speaking a lie.
Feena bared her teeth. She didn't know how Velsinore had managed to deny that she was a traitor to Selune, but her falsehood had caught her! Whispers around the cloisters turned into a