James Galloway - The Tower of Sorcery

"Just bring in priests to convince them."

Kitten, I'm not allowed to have priests, she explained. My association to the katzh-dashi came at a price. To support the order, I had to give up priests, because an Elder god can only have one organized following of mortals. It's part of our rules. To make it a bit more plain, the Sorcerers are my priests. They do do my work, kitten. Sometimes I have to push them very hard, but they do it. The situation makes it hard for me to directly control the katzh-dashi , because I can't force them to do what I want.

"But isn't it a rule that no mortal can access more than one type of magic?" Tarrin asked. "If the katzh-dashi are both Sorcerers and priests, then that's two orders of magic."

Why, I do believe that you're right, she said in an impish voice. That does seem to violate the restriction, doesn't it?

"So you do grant power to the katzh-dashi ," he said triumphantly.

Only for important religious ceremonies, she replied calmly. Consecration, rites, things like that. No, I don't grant them priest's spells. They don't need them. They are Sorcerers, after all. Not much of a threat for me to say "do what I want, or you can't consecrate ground anymore," now is it?

"Oh," he said quietly, leaning back and thinking. "I guess not."

Watching you try to outthink me is very amusing, kitten, she told him with a silvery laugh. If I weren't pressed for time, we'd be arguing all day, but I do have other things to do. So we need to cut this short.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."

You are dear to me, kitten, but you're not the center of the universe, she teased. Yes, I love you. There, your fears are abated. Can I go now?

Tarrin laughed. That was something he certainly never expected to hear from a Goddess. "Well, I guess so," he said.

I'm so glad that I have your Royal permission, she said dryly. I want you to think about something for a while, my kitten. A puzzle for you.

"What?"

Isn't it curious that katzh-dashi are allowed to defy the rules? Kind of makes you wonder why.

"It does," he said honestly.

Keep your eyes open today, kitten. The answer to that riddle will be right in front of your face. All you have to do is see it.

And then she was gone, leaving him feeling hollow and empty inside.

"Were you talking to someone, deshida ?" Allia asked as she opened the door to the communal closet. The fact that she was carrying her shirt in her hand and was topless didn't even register to him. Modesty was a loose concept to the Selani, and Allia had no fear of walking into Tarrin's room nude. She had done so, many times.

"Sort of," he replied calmly, and she simply nodded and said no more.

There was a knock on the front door, and Allia opened it without bothering to put on her shirt. But it was only Keritanima. She gave Allia a curious look as she came in, and her boxy muzzle had a worried frown on it. She waited for Allia to close and lock the door, then she started immediately. "We're going tonight," she said in Selani. "Things are starting to happen. We have to move."

"What happened?" Tarrin asked.

"I had an informant close to the king, and I was supposed to get some important information from her today," she said. "Well, this morning she turned up dead. She was poisoned. I think someone's trying to put a leash on my operations. I think it's Jervis, but I have no idea why. He has no real reason to interfere."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I bought a man in Jervis' office, and by now Jervis knows about it," she replied. "He'll try to feed me misinformation, but I bought the man to keep Jervis' eyes off the fact that I'm using Sorcery to rifle his desk."

"What?" Tarrin asked in surprise.

"Lula taught me a weave that lets me see into places where I can't usually see," she replied with a smirk. "I have to be rather close to where I want to look, though. That's the only drawback. I'm literally looking over his shoulder when Jervis is reading his daily reports."

Tarrin laughed, and Allia smiled. "I knew you were devious, sister, but that is masterful," she said appreciatively.

"Only what, less than a month since you touched the weave, and you can already weave Illusions and other spells," Tarrin said respectfully. "You're a natural, Kerri."

She shrugged. "Lula thinks so too," she said. "She said she's never seen someone that can learn weaves so quickly. I hate to burst her bubble, but it's only because I can precisely recall things I see. All I have to do is see her weave a spell once, and I can copy it perfectly. Then she just has to explain how to alter the effects with varying the flows, let me practice it a few times, and I'm set."

Keritanima once told him that she could just remember everything she reads. When Tarrin asked his father about it, Eron called that an eidectic memory. Whatever it was, it was proving to be a godsend. In a shockingly short time, Keritanima had already progressed further than most Initiates who had been so for years. With Tarrin incapable of using his power, and Allia just learning how to control it, she was much, much more important than either of them in this little game.

"Anyway, something's going on, and it looks like someone else is actively trying to stop me from finding out what. So that means that we need to step things up," she continued. "We're going on our field trip tonight. Dress warmly." She sat down on the chair. "I hate moving so fast. After all, I've only had my network up for a couple of weeks at the most."

"What is this 'week'?" Allia asked.

"A Week is a Wikuni term for measuring days," she replied. "There are five days in a week. Kikal-day, Arga-day, Bor-day, Tori-day, and End-day. Two of our weeks make up one Selani March or Sulasian Ride, which are both ten days. My men are reputed to be good, but I haven't had the time to settle them in," she fretted. "Robbing the Cathedral will make things tense, and I just hope they can deal with the increased security."

"Why not send them instead?" Tarrin asked.

"They don't know what to look for," she countered.

"Neither do we," Allia pointed out.

"Well, we have a better chance of figuring that out than they do," Keritanima said defensively. "Besides, I think the three of us will be rather good burglars. With you two's stealth and my experience, we should be able to pull it off without raising a whisper."

"Experience? You've done this before?"

Keritanima gave Allia a wolfish grin. "Many times," she winked. "I was a thief before I was the High Princess, Allia, and the increased attention forced me to stop sneaking off. I was trained by the best in Wikuna."

"You have had quite an education, Kerri," Tarrin chuckled.

"A girl has to have a hobby," she said with a wink. "We'll discuss the plan tonight, before we go."

"You have a plan?" Tarrin asked.

"Tarrin, you never go thieving without a plan," she told him with a huff. "The planning is the most important part."

"I thought you just snuck in and took things."

"That's sloppy work," she said critically. "The objective of a thief is to take the most valuable things in the fastest possible time, without getting himself caught. A good thief makes a plan. He knows where he's going and what he's looking for before he ever sets foot in the place he's robbing, because that maximizes the profit while minimizing the danger to himself. I have a copy of the plans for the Cathedral, including most of their secret passages and chambers. We'll meet in my room after dinner and make our plan."

"But we don't know what we're looking for," Allia said.