David Mcintee - The Light of Heaven

"So you want to go and ask her at the archive?"

"If the story is a historical one and the goblin was right, then that Glass Mountain of storytime is a real place, and is the same place Kell refers to as Freedom. And if we can find it, we can find him."

"And the archive?"

"May have maps, or at least a description of a route to the place."

Erak looked at her, admiring her beauty, but also troubled by a further thought. "If the story's historical and the goblin was right, then we're going to be seeing a lot more of them soon as well."

Preceptor DeBarres arrived a few hours later, by which time the Knights who had already arrived had taken over a floor of the market square inn as headquarters. A large marquee had been erected across half the square as well, as quarters and mess hall for the mercenaries.

Gabriella saw DeBarres greet Kannis warmly and was faintly surprised; it was obvious that the pair knew each other already. After talking for a few minutes, the Preceptor of the Order came into the church in search of Gabriella and Erak.

The vestry served as a private meeting room, where they could sit and discuss matters.

"I'm glad to see you're both well," DeBarres began. "When I heard about the goblins…"

"They're dealt with. At least I hope they are. There's been some suggestion from one — a deathbed confession — that others are coming."

"Others?"

"It implied that this is some kind of mass migration," Erak said.

"They're going around Fayence. It has a large army…"

"The largest in Pontaine at the moment," DeBarres agreed. "Lord Aristide won't be sparing any effort to keep his city out of the line of fire. You can bet he'll have the strongest magical defences as well. Now, about Enlightened One Stoll…"

"He disappeared a prisoner from under our noses and betrayed our plans to the man who ran the Golden Huntress." Gabriella took a deep breath, unsure how she would feel about this. Scarra had been one thing — an apostate, a heretic, a conspirator to assassination. Kurt Stoll was none of those things. He was just a parish priest. Apostasy, or weakness and mistake? She wasn't sure and sadly conceded that it didn't matter. The laws were clear and the people of this town deserved a real Enlightened One who would really lift them. "He has fallen, Preceptor. Fallen from the Faith. That's why we asked for a Confessor."

"Hasn't one arrived?"

Erak nodded. "I saw him an hour ago. He will begin Stoll's cleansing in the morning

"Which leaves this parish without an Enlightened One in the meantime." DeBarres drew a vellum envelope from inside his robes. "This is an authorisation from Urbicarian Cabbert to invest one of you as Enlightened One for Solnos."

"One of us?" Gabriella exclaimed.

"I'll take it," Erak said quietly.

She looked at him, astonished. "You? You never wanted to be a parish priest before!"

"Neither do you," he said. The lines at the corners of his eyes crinkled. "And if I take it, you won't have to." Gabriella couldn't think of a single thing to say. Her heart, tired as it was, swelled with love and pride in him. "Besides, we've taken the Pledge. Perhaps at least one of us should have a permanent home to which we can both return."

She couldn't disagree with that part of it. "Thank you."

"Truth to tell, I've served the Lord in every other way; perhaps it's time I brought good news to people. Punishing sins is fine, but rewarding faith must have its moments."

"It does," DeBarres said, handing Erak the envelope. Gabriella rose and hurried out into the plaza. She looked up and saw Kerberos looming above her. She drew strength from the symbol of it, appealing to the Lord of All for the strength to at least decide whether she should cry, celebrate, or be furious with someone.

Erak followed her out quickly. "Gabe!" He took her hands in his. "I always wanted to serve the Lord of All, just like you. But bringing the word of truth to new people, not just dealing with those who didn't listen to it, that has its attractions." Gabriella felt the tension ease from her. Maybe it was his explanation, or maybe it was just his touch. She didn't mind either way. "I was thinking…"

"Now that's what I call breaking the habit of a lifetime."

Erak laughed, and then lowered his head, a little embarrassed. "It happens sometimes. Proves I'm not a perfect soldier."

"Nobody's perfect." He opened his mouth to try speaking two or three times, but without success. Gabriella sighed. "There are few Enlightened Ones as enlightened as you, and I don't mean that to denigrate any of the Enlightened Ones. You'll do a lot of good in Solnos, and undo a lot of whatever harm that this Kurt Stoll has allowed to come to pass."

"I'm sure I will."

"Thank you, again."

He grinned. "My life is yours, you know that."

She let out a long breath, shaking her head. "Stoll… I wish we didn't have to do this."

"Me too. It feels strange punishing one of our own like this. Especially after what he did the other night. Without his directions the archers would never have taken down so many goblins and we'd have had a far worse time of it."

"At least the Brotherhood have the guts to separate themselves from the Faith," she said. "He made his own choice when he started going against our basic vows and principles."

"Well, if he wanted to meet the Lord of All, he went the right way about it."

Gabriella thought for a moment and shivered. "No. No, he didn't, really." She gestured towards the door back into the church. "We'd better make sure the equipment still works."

"We can check the naphtha system too," Erak muttered as he followed her.

They descended into the bowels of the church, casting an eye over the naphtha reservoir and the pipes and pump that would move it. There were no torches down here, lest they ignite the naphtha, so all light down here had to be either cast by magic, or, as now, by a system of mirrors and lenses that reflected light down from outside.

Erak ran a hand across a turnwheel and his palm came up covered in dirt. "I doubt there have been many cleansings or offerings made here in a long time. How does it look?"

Gabriella laid her hand on a small table and knelt to check the undersides of the wooden frame of the see-saw pump and the monstrous amphorae that held the naphtha. The wood was solid and well-carpentered, with no sign of rot, while the amphorae were sound with no cracks. "Looks fine."

"I bet Stoll wishes he'd let it rot."

"Probably," Gabriella agreed

It was a very nice dream. He was in the Golden Huntress, preaching to the townspeople from a lectern made of a girl doing a handstand on another girl's back. For some reason there were horses in the congregation too. He was enjoying himself, giving his favourite sermon, about why the spirit of a law was more important than the letter of it, when suddenly the roof caved in.

Stoll rolled to his feet, dizzy and staggering, wondering if he was concussed. Then he remembered he was locked in his cell. The smile froze on Stoll's florid face. The redness in his cheeks changed hue and he licked his suddenly dry lips. A bearded man in the white robes of a Confessor was looking at him through a barred opening in the door.

"Let's have a little chat," the Confessor said and bared rotten teeth.

Gabriella was engaged in a contest with some of the local children, skipping flat stones across the surface of the fountain pool. The object seemed to be to get the stone all the way across and onto the ground opposite. Gabriella had just succeeded, and was now congratulating a girl who had matched her feat, when Erak emerged from the church.

He was wearing the blue robes of an Enlightened One, though she could hear mail rattling under the robes.

"It's time," he said. "Apparently the confession didn't take long. He was happy to talk. It seems Warrigan was blackmailing him over his Brotherhood tattoo."