The Dark Remains - Mark Anthony [142]
At last Melia turned from the form floating above the altar and returned to them.
“If it is not too much trouble,” she said to Landus, “I would see where he spent his last moments.”
The acolyte nodded. “Of course, Your Holiness. It is no trouble. This way.”
He led them to a small antechamber that, unlike most of what Aryn had seen of the temple of Mandu, was anything but stark and empty. The walls were lined with wooden shelves and cabinets, stuffed nearly to bursting with tightly rolled vellum scrolls. In the middle of the chamber were a table and a stool, and on the table were baskets of pens and jars of ink, as well as a sheet of vellum. One of the ink bottles had spilled across it, obscuring most of what had been written.
“This was … this is Orsith’s study,” Landus said, struggling for words. “He was always so diligent in setting down the records. Orsith loves … that is, he always loved histories so.”
In the dim candlelight of the study, Landus appeared suddenly frail and thin, old beyond his years. But then, it was plain he had both loved and worshiped Orsith. Aryn hesitated, then moved to the young man and laid her hand on his arm.
“I’m so sorry, Landus,” she said.
He looked at her, his eyes containing surprise, then he nodded, a grateful smile touching his lips. “In the end, the circle goes full round for all of us, and Orsith lived a long, prosperous turn. While we all tried to deny it, his health had been failing this last year. It is a shock, but perhaps not quite a surprise.”
Falken approached the table. “Was he in here when you found him?”
Landus nodded. “Several of us heard Orsith cry out. I was just down the hallway, so I was the first to arrive. Yet by the time I reached him, he was already gone, slumped here at the table. I fear his heart gave way. But his cry was short; I do not believe that he felt much pain in his passing.”
Melia folded her arms over the bodice of her kirtle. “I should have come to Tarras sooner. I could have spent more time before he passed on to the next circle. I wish I had known his heart was so weak.”
“That knowledge would have done you no good, my lady.”
All of them turned toward Durge. The knight had been kneeling in the corner and now stood.
Melia stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“It was not Orsith’s heart that killed him,” the knight said.
Falken scowled at him. “Durge, this is no time for jests.”
The Embarran raised an eyebrow at this, and Falken winced, evidently realizing the foolishness of his words.
Aryn moved forward. “You found something, didn’t you, Durge? What is it?”
The knight held out a rough hand. On his palm, gleaming in the candlelight, was a spider fashioned of gold.
48.
Falken sat at the table, studying the stained piece of vellum. Melia stood stiffly, silently behind him, having refused the chair herself. She was as rigid as the statue of Mandu in the main hall of the temple. However, right then there was none of Mandu’s serenity in her eyes. Instead, they were hard and haunted.
“Are you certain it was Sif who killed Orsith?” Landus said. The acolyte’s eyes were wide, and he was visibly trembling beneath his robe.
“It was Durge who put it all together,” Lirith said. “All the evidence points to Sif.” She gestured to the gold spider resting on the table. “And this would seem to remove any doubts we might have had.”
“I suppose it was some sort of poison,” Durge said. “You said you observed no wounds on Orsith’s body, Landus. Only poison would explain that.”
Landus shook his head, as if dizzy. “I suppose. But why would Sif want to murder Orsith in the first place?”
Falken looked up. “I think for the same reason he murdered those other priests and tried to kill Lirith. And not just to sow chaos in the Etherion. Sif is afraid of anyone getting close to the truth about what he’s doing.” The bard gestured to the piece of ink-stained vellum on the table, and they all gathered around. “I don’t think this was one of the temple records Orsith was writing, Landus. I think this was his personal journal.”
Landus nodded. “It could