Thomas Reid - The Fractured Sky

In Sundabar! the knight realized. Kael better understood the angel's grim expression then. "She was planted," he surmised. "Just like Aliisza."

Tauran nodded. "Zasian has been three steps ahead of us for twelve years. And he wants us to know it." The angel sounded morose.

"Who is this Kashada you speak of?" Vhok asked.

Tauran explained the tale to him. "She was posing as a young girl in the employ of Helm Dwarf-friend. She was also spreading deceit and strife throughout the city and establishing a dark temple dedicated to Shar. At the time, I thought she just got sloppy, but now I see she was supposed to get caught."

"Wait a moment," Aliisza said, sitting forward with an incredulous look on her face. "She was pretending to be Ansa?"

Tauran looked at her oddly. "Yes," he said. "How did you know?"

"That was my cover story! She stole it from me after you, you…"

"Zasian!" Vhok growled. "He knew it, planned it from the start. That bastard set me up so many different ways. But why? Why that?"

Tauran shook his head. "The night I claimed you-claimed Kael, to be precise-you were in Helm's chambers, but I had no idea you had been posing as Ansa. You were in your own form."

"After Zasian and his lackeys intruded, it no longer seemed worthwhile to pretend," Aliisza said. "And as for why," she added, turning to Vhok, "what better way to minimize the uproar than to have nothing seem amiss? Replace one false Ansa with another, and Zasian's got his finger in another pie. Regardless of his intentions for this Kashada to get caught, it was his agent holding Helm's trust, not yours."

Kael stared at his three companions, shifting from face to face. He saw his own dismay reflected in each of their expressions. "So what does this mean?" he asked.

The cambion grimaced. "It means they are a formidable team," he said. "Whatever they intend to do, it won't be easy to stop them."

Tauran drew himself up straight and stood. "Yet we must try."

Kael shook his head. Noble statements aside, they had to break the cycle of duplicity. "That's fine, but you said he's been three steps ahead of us this whole time. Twelve years! So what can we do? How can we get a step ahead of him?"

"You're right," Tauran said. "It is time to change our strategy. Too long have we been reacting, following, like his lackeys, each moment doing exactly what he expected. Instead, we must circle around, come at him from ahead."

"Very well," Kael said, warming to the idea. "How?"

"Divination," Tauran answered.

"You said you were no good at it," Vhok rebutted. "And none of the rest of us are, either. And I don't see Eirwyn around to do her little trance-thing again, so how do you propose we make that work?"

"Savras," the angel said. "We must travel to Dweomerheart and consult with Savras."

Aliisza grimaced. "Taking that path risks losing Zasian altogether," she said. "It may cost us more than it gains us."

"If the priest of Cyric truly wishes for us to follow him, we will be able to pick up the trail again," Tauran said. "And if we are successful, then it won't matter. We will be ahead of him, waiting for him."

Vhok shrugged. "Sounds like a plan to me. Anything is better than wandering about, fighting shadow-fey."

Kael grinned. For the first time, he truly sensed that they were working as a team. Maybe Tauran's faith in the two half-fiends was not so misplaced, after all.

"You would defy this Court?" Micus asked, incredulous. "You would stand before this High Council and refuse to answer the questions put before you? I find that irresponsible, short sighted, and unwise."

Eirwyn shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "Nonetheless," she said, "I do not wish to discuss this."

Micus pursed his lips to contain his anger. He stared hard at Eirwyn, trying to fathom why she would choose to betray herself in the face of almost certain punishments. It made no sense. He could not understand how the elderly deva could hold her loyalty to Tauran above her duty to the law.

The solars sitting on the High Council murmured among themselves. Micus could sense their growing restlessness, perhaps to the point of irritation, with the entire proceedings. He had asked much of them of late, and he suspected their patience with both him and his lack of progress was growing thin. Not only was Eirwyn exacerbating the situation, but she was also putting him in an uncomfortable spot.

He felt betrayed.

"Micus," Eirwyn said in a tone that conveyed her nurturing instincts, "I know you want to do what's right, but sometimes, you let your devotion to the balance veil your sight from what's sensible. Tauran is one of your oldest and closest friends. Why do you not trust him to do what's right?"

Micus drew a deep breath. "It pains me, Eirwyn, to watch him fling himself into the proverbial Abyss, and I have given him every chance to correct his path, but he has refused. And it is not I who have decreed him outlaw, but this Council." He gave her a pointed stare to drive home his next point. "The very same Council that holds your own future in its hands."

Eirwyn drew herself up into a regal pose. Her next words were a bit colder than usual. "I do not answer to this Council. I came here today merely out of a sense of obligation to you, Micus. And to Tauran. Not because I fall under this body's jurisdiction. I do not serve Tyr. My loyalty always has been and always will be to noble Helm."

Micus bowed his head. He did not want to witness what was coming next, but he had no choice. She had to understand.

"The moment the Watcher fell before Tyr's blade," the High Councilor said from his position at the middle of the raised dais, "it was decreed that all who had been loyal to Helm would be offered a place under the Maimed God's protection and guidance. Those who refused would be found guilty of abetting Helm's own crimes and punished accordingly."

Micus watched as the other deva's eyes widened, first in disbelief, then in dismay. He felt a great weight upon his heart. "Tyr has spoken, Eirwyn," he said. "You cannot hide behind the protection of your abolished faith any longer. Your loyalty to Tauran is not only misplaced, but criminal."

"I weep for us all," she said. "Whatever drove the two of them to battle, the outcome has harmed everyone, on both sides. There is no glory in this victory for you." She bowed her head.

Micus paused, giving her a moment to collect herself. When she looked up again, her eyes were cold and defiant. He could sense that she knew her options were limited, and despite her earlier refusal to adhere to the Council's demands, Eirwyn still served the law before all else.

"Do what's right, Eirwyn," Micus said gently, coming to stand before her. He took her hands in his to show that, despite the harsh circumstances, he still cared deeply for her. "Tell us what you know of his destination."

Eirwyn smiled then, and her eyes returned to that warm, comforting look. But her words belied her expression. "I told you, Micus, what's right and what's lawful aren't always in accord. The fact that you have yet to learn that very important lesson tells me you didn't spend enough time with Tauran. Perhaps you are not the friend of his I thought." With that, she pulled her hands free.

"Nonetheless," she said, "I hear and obey the ruling of this body. If a law has been established that I am beholden to this Council, then however unjust I perceive it to be, I accept its jurisdiction. You may punish me for my crimes." She laid her mace down upon the floor at her feet. "May Tyr in his wisdom see fit to overturn your decision." She bowed her head once more.

"Eirwyn!" Micus said, pleading with her. "This is madness!"

The elderly angel did not answer him, but Micus could see her eyes glisten with the beginnings of tears as an escort of archons led her away.