Gersius squeezed her hand to reassure her. He suspected this might be where Rachel had gone. It would also explain why Rachel was so adverse to Thayle stepping in and taking over. This was a woman who had the blessings of her king. She held a high station both inside and outside the Order of Ulustrah. She must have found it difficult to be outshined by Thayle, particularly since Thayle wore a mark.
“Be still,” Gersius sent over the bind as he felt Thayle's rage. She began to tremble as he tried to strengthen her. He knew Thayle was under immense pressure, and this turn of events was only going to make it worse.
As they watched, the King and Rachel walked to the top steps, flanked by a dozen men in heavy armor. Three others in robes of gray stood to the side as did six women of Ulustrah.
“Why have the traitors of the order of Astikar and Ulustrah come to my city?” the king said in a loud, firm voice. “Why do you spread your discontent through my lands?”
“Traitors of both orders?” Lengwin said.
‘I will explain it later,” Gersius whispered back. He took a step forward, holding Thayle's hand so he could see clearly. As he did, the archers above aimed bows his way, fingers ready to draw the strings and loose.
Gersius stopped and looked around at the army all around them. He would stand here and try to make his case.
“We came here because I was involved in an altercation with a noble family in your lands. I wanted to explain my self and put your worries to rest about my intentions. My army is in no way here to threaten you or your people. This is a battle between faiths, and I do not wish to draw you into it.”
The king was silent as Rachel leaned over and whispered in his ear.
“What is she telling him?” Lengwin asked.
“Probably to have us killed,” Thayle said.
“We stand strong and speak the truth,” Gersius said. “This king does not want to fight us. If he had, he would have attacked us when we landed.”
“So you have come before me with lies then?” King said, causing Gersius to react with shock.
“I do not lie to you at all. I would not have come here if not for being attacked by men hired from this city. They were hired by the son of nobleman I had killed. When your emissary came to see us, we grew concerned we were putting you in a bad position. I simply wanted to put your mind at ease.”
“By stripping my lands of its priests? By stripping homes of their mothers and wives? You provoke all the great kingdoms from the south and leave me vulnerable and unable to defend myself. You are sapping my strength to feed your rebellions and bringing great harm to Astikar and Ulustrah.”
“Ulustrah is at war!” Thayle shouted. “She has ordered her followers to march on Calathen and destroy the order of Astikar!”
Voices whispered all around them, and the escorting priests of Astikar turned to regard the three they were protecting.
“Thayle, control your anger and watch what you say,” Gersius insisted.
“You lie!” came Rachel's accusing voice. “You have failed Ulustrah and wear a mark of her shame. You have decided to destroy her order in your anger by leading it in a fruitless war against the order of Astikar. You will topple the empire by attacking it from behind, and the Doan will sweep the lands to the west. They may even come far enough to threaten our walls because of you.”
“How dare you accuse me of failing Ulustrah!” Thayle shouted back.
Rachel laughed. “You see how she behaves? She is a liar and a deceiver of hearts. She will lead all the women in her camp to death to ensure you won't be able to resist the Doan later.”
“You lying viper!” Thayle shouted.
“Enough!” the king shouted himself. “You will make no disparaging remarks of the lady Vellilah! She has ever been a tremendous aid and blessing to this kingdom! Her loyalty and virtue are unquestionable, and if you insult her again, I will have you imprisoned!”
Thayle went silent as men tensed around her. Gersius felt like the world was closing in on them as anger flooded him across the bind from Thayle. He was sure he was going to have to intervene when suddenly she calmed.
“Very well, let's solve this so the truth cannot be questioned,” Thayle said. “You have six women of Ulustrah there. Let them stand before us and by the light establish which of us is lying.”
Rachel laughed. “You can lie even to the light. That is why Ulustrah marked you. It is the only way to know the truth of your nature.”
“I am marked because I cursed a creeper vine with a rotting disease!” Thayle shouted. “You are too blind to accept the truth that I have been forgiven. You are a dark spot on Ulustrah's love, and I cast you out of her order!”
“I have had enough!” the king shouted and pointed at Thayle. “Arrest her!”
“Oh no,” Lengwin said as men began to move.
Gersius looked up and sent a quiet mental command.
People in the street froze as a roar split the sky, and the roof beside the street sagged as Lilly landed on it.
“Who is threatening my loved ones?” she growled in her dual voice.
All eyes looked up to Lilly, and not a man dared move as her burning eyes looked down on them all. The king was not so stricken with fear, and he stood tall at the top of the steps.
“Do you mean to bring war here?” the king demanded. He called up to his archers and ordered them to take aim. Gersius watched as bows were pointed at Lilly, and arrows drawn back.
Gersius realized he had come here for the wrong reasons. He wanted to reassure this king and establish a potential ally for the road ahead. But this king was too close to a viper in his midst. Rachel would rather see them all dead, and so long as she held power over him, there would be no peaceful solution. No, this King couldn't be reasoned with, he would have to be put in his place.
“You draw weapons on the Emperor and Empress of the Dragon Empire!” Gersius shouted. “You draw weapons on the chosen of the divines. You draw on the three people who now lead the orders of Astikar, Ulustrah, and Balisha. If even one arrow flies, your lands will never know peace again.”
There was a long silence as the king glared down from his place on the steps, and Lilly hung menacingly from above. If anyone moved, Lilly would attack, and the streets would flow with blood. However, she would be full of arrows even before she reached the street. At this range, she was a huge target and would quickly find her wounds mounting.
Gersius thought fast. Somehow he needed to challenge Rachel's claims without insulting the king. He thought of how the order of Astikar handled conflicts of faith. It was extremely rare, but when two men of the order firmly collided in dispute, they resolved it with a prayer. They would call to Astikar and ask him to judge the matter and show a group of witnesses the truth.
“Thayle,” Gersius said over the bind. “Does your order have a challenge of faith?”
“A challenge of faith?” Thayle replied.
“Can you challenge Rachel to allow Ulustrah to judge which of you is right?” he asked.
“I…No, at least I have never heard of one,” she replied.
“Is there any way to ask Ulustrah to reveal to all who is lying here?”
Thayle nodded as she glanced at him. “It will go horrible for her,” she whispered.
“We have no choice,” Gersius said. “The truth must come out, or we might all die here.”
“You are not the emperor yet!” the king shouted. “The Father Abbot was right. You are a dangerous criminal! I should have you all arrested!”
“I have a better idea,” Thayle said. She turned to face the king and took a step forward.
“What is she doing?” Lilly asked.
“Saving us,” Gersius said. He watched as Thayle unbuckled her sword and let it drop to the street. She glanced back to him and Lilly, and they felt her love over the bind. She stepped away from the sword approaching the steps as men moved to meet her.
“I will allow you to arrest me and offer no resistance,” Thayle said. “But, I ask that I be allowed to make one final prayer of forgiveness to Ulustrah first.”
“You will not profane our Goddess's name!” Rachel sneered. “Tie her and gag her!”
“Hold!” the king said, turning to Rachel. “She has asked for but one chance to ask for forgiveness.”
“She has already fallen and been judged,” Rachel insisted. “Do not force us to hear her profane words.”
“You forget yourself,” The king said. “You stand here at my blessing.”
Rachels's face went wide with shock. “Forgive me,” she replied with a dip. “I only wished to spare you such a blasphemy.”
The king studied Rachel's face and then turned back to Thayle, who stood a the bottom of the steps.
“You are granted one last prayer. Then you will answer for your crimes.”
“I am going to kill them all,” Lilly said over the bind.
“Lilly, you cannot fight this many,” Gersius replied. “Look at how many archers are on the walls.”
“Then I will take as many with me as possible,” she said, her voice angry and violent.
“What is she planning?” Lengwin asked.
Gersius turned to reply. “She is going to ask Ulustrah to test Rachel’s truth.”
“By the divines,” Lengwin said. “This may not be pretty.”
Gersius went still as a board as he understood. He looked up the steps to the glaring Rachel. He already knew what was going to happen.
Thayle fell to a knee and folded her hands over her leg. She closed her eyes and opened her heart even as Rachel pleaded with the king to stop her.
“My goddess, the queen of the eternal gardens, the light that has ever been my guiding star. I stand accused of being the foulest of your servants. I have no path before me save that of darkness or death. I put myself into your hands and trust in your judgment. Please, Mother Ulustrah, I beg you to stand above those who answer to you and show us the truth. Judge us now and make plain to all who truly carries the light of your blessing.”
Thayle wiped a tear from her cheek and remained kneeling. She didn’t want to see what was going to happen.
“Her prayer is spent,” Rachel insisted. “My lord, you must act quickly.”
Somewhere distant, a rolling thunder was heard, and people looked up into a clear sky. A rock tumbled off the stairwell and rolled down as the ground began to shake. Around Thayle, the stones split, and green vines crawled out of the rock, bursting into flowers of every color.
People all around gasped and moved away from Thayle as the flowers spread out around her.
“No!” Rachel cried as a green halo alighted on Thayle’s head.
“She has a mark of shame!” Rachel screamed as her hands curled into fists. She suddenly jerked and stumbled, falling to her knees. A green haze began to crawl over her skin, and it formed a glittering cloud that began to burn over her like fire.
The king and the others fell away from her as she wailed as if in agony.
“Ulustrah, please!” Rachel screamed as the fire suddenly pulled away and raced off into the sky.
Rachel fell to the ground weeping as all-around people stood by in shock. Thayle walked up the steps cracking stones as she went and leaving flowers in her wake.
“I am so sorry,” Thayle said to Rachel as the woman looked up at her.
“I can’t see the auras,” Rachel sobbed. “You have driven her blessing from me!”
“You did this to yourself,” Thayle said. “You choose to stand in the path of your goddess and tried to topple her champion. You boldly lied about us and nearly got us all killed. Look around,” Thayle added with a sweep of her arm to show the courtyard. “Death and war are but a heartbeat away for your lies!”
“But, you bear a mark!” Rachel sobbed.
Behind her, one of the priestesses of Ulustrah responded to the statement.
“If she was the one who was wrong, why is she not marked, and you are?”
Thayle looked up at the woman and shook her head. “Child, I bear a mark because I was forgiven.” She looked down at Rachel as another tear ran down her cheek. “But Rachel does not bear a mark, because she will not be forgiven. Ulustrah has abandoned her just as her heart abandoned Ulustrah's will long ago.”
“She has been lying to me this whole time?” the king asked.
Thayle turned to look the man who stood by stunned at the display.
“I believe she loved you,” Thayle said. “Her heart was strong until she met me. She could not accept that I was in charge of the order now.”
“How could Ulustrah do this to me?” Rachel sobbed. “I gave up everything for her!”
Thayle turned back to the sobbing woman. “What did you sacrifice for the goddess?”
Rachel looked up with red eyes and past her to the king. Thayle's heart suddenly ached as she turned back to the king, who also looked as if he might cry.
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“I would have taken her to be my queen forty years ago,” he said. “She was always the most beautiful flower I had ever seen, but she would not give up her goddess. She came to see me often, and we shared love, but never a family.”
“I could have known love and been a queen!” Rachel sobbed. “I gave it up to honor Ulustrah.”
Thayle felt her heart breaking to know what Rachel must have suffered. It pained her, even more, to know it was for nothing.
The king walked passed Thayle and knelt to Rachel, who sobbed on the steps.
“Why would you lie to me?” he asked.
Rachel sobbed. “She took everything I sacrificed our love for away. She took my temple, my priestesses, my purpose in your kingdom. I only ever wanted to lead the order here to help you have fertile land and happy people. I lost that all when she came.”
The king closed his eyes and shook his head. “I would never have asked you to stand against her.”
“She doesn't deserve her place; she is marked.”
“You still can't accept the mark?” Thayle asked. “Look at me, Rachel, the goddess, has chosen me.”
“But, I sacrificed so much!” Rachel cried.
“And you did so for nothing!” Thayle said. “Ulustrah never wanted you to go silent! She has spoken to me directly. The practice of going silent is wrong. You could have been a queen and a high priestess.”
“What?” Rachel said in shock. She turned to the other priestess of Ulustrah, who were all wide-eyed and silent.
“Did she speak the truth?” Rachel demanded.
One of the women nodded. “Every word of it.”
Rachel's face shattered, and she turned away, sobbing profusely into her arms.
The king put a hand to her shoulder and tried to comfort her.
“It is not too late, you can still be my queen,” he insisted.
“I am too old to bear you a child,” Rachel sobbed. “I can no longer bless your lands. I am worthless to you now.”
“I never wanted the children you could bare,” the man insisted. “All I ever wanted was to hold you in my arms and know that you loved me.”
Thayle heard those words and saw the pain of the man's aura. He was truthful, and it made the wound inflicted on Rachel that much more terrible. She could have had a deeply committed love as she had with Gersius. Rachel could have been queen over a kingdom and raised five children by now. She threw it all away for a false belief and now was stripped of her power.
Thayle looked down the steps to where Gersius stood with the same shocked look as the crowd around him. Lilly was watching intently from the rooftop with blazing blue eyes. All around the people were silent, and only the sound of Rachel's sobs could be heard.
“I threw my life away! I have nothing to live for,” Rachel cried.
Thayle closed her eyes and uttered another prayer to her goddess. “Forgive me again,” she said at its end. She knelt beside the king and reached into the pouch at her waist. She produced a small crystal vial and prayed over it.
“Ulustrah, I ask you to be merciful, forgive her as I forgive her, and give her the time back,” Thayle said and reached down.
“What are you doing?” the king said in alarm as Thayle gripped Rachels's chin and tipped the liquid into her mouth.
“Giving her a second chance,” Thayle said as she stood back up.
Rachel coughed and spat as she swallowed the liquid.
“Did you just poison me?” she cried.
“No,” Thayle said with a shake of her head. “I will carry your shame so that you can be forgiven.”
“What does that mean?” the king asked.
Thayle smiled weakly and then cried out in pain. She put her hands over her face and fell to a knee.
Gersius was at her side in a moment.
“Thayle, what has happened?” he asked in a panicked voice.
“I’m fine,” Thayle said. “I just need a minute to recover.”
“What did you just do?” he asked as he helped her to her feet.
“What needed to be done,” Thayle said, still holding a hand over her eye.
“What is wrong with your eye?” Gersius asked even as his own hurt from squinting into her aura.
“I can see the light!” Rachel cried. “The goddess has forgiven me!”
“By Ulustrah look at her face!” one of the other women exclaimed.
Gersius turned to look at Rachel as the woman sat up clutching at her face.
“What is wrong with it?” she asked in a panic.
The king Glanced to Gersius and then back to Rachel. “My dear, you look twenty years younger!”
“Thirty,” one of the women said.
The king turned to Thayle and Gersius, a look of complete astonishment on his face.
“What have you done?”
“I have asked Ulustrah to give her the time back,” Thayle said. “As her commanding priestess, I assign her to act as your personal priestess and to serve your house in truth. She is to marry you and stand at your side as wife and mother of your children.”
Rachel looked up at Thayle with a face wet with tears.
“How did you work such a miracle?”
Thayle held out her free hand and showed them the crystal vial.
“You used a vial of sacred water to bless me?” Rachel asked.
“I did,” Thayle said, still holding her other hand over her eye.
“But that is a violation of Ulustrah’s commands. You cannot use the water to bless an individual. It must be used to bless the many. You have broken another one of her commands.”
Thayle lowered her hand, and they all gasped to see a second black tear beside the first.
“Now, do you understand,” Thayle said firmly. “I am not shamed. I am forgiven! Both times I committed my crimes out of love for another. Ulustrah knows the heart and forgives those who transgress her if their motives are pure.”
Rachel looked at the mark on Thayle’s face and crawled across the stone to lay at her feet.
“Forgive me!” she cried. “I was a fool! I am so sorry I did this too you!”
King Evidor looked visibly shaken, and he turned to face them.
“You must allow me to make amends,” he said.
“We only wanted to put your mind at ease,” Gersius said. “We came here believing another was the source of our troubles. We had no idea Rachel was your lover.”
“The king nodded and turned to the women behind him. “Please, help her inside, put the Lady Vellilah in her quarters and see that she has whatever she needs.”
The women of Ulustrah nodded and helped Rachel up even as she pleaded with Thayle to forgive her.
The king watched her go with an aura flaring with pain and confusion. He turned back once she was out of sight.
“Tell me all about why you come here to my capital.”
“It is a very long story,” Gersius said.
The king nodded and looked around. “Would you do me the honor of telling it over a meal?”
Gersius blinked a few times as his eyes began to strain, but then Thayle took his hand.
“We would love to attend a meal,” Thayle said. “You honor us with your kindness.”
The king shook his head “You saved me from a terrible mistake. Then you had the love and compassion to not only forgive her but restore her youth at your own expense. You honor me by not demanding I bow before you and kiss your feet. You have given me a chance to have the love I wanted for so many years.” He went silent and looked back as if he could see Rachel. He took a moment to clear his head. “But come, we will toast in the grand hall and talk while the feast is prepared. If you want, I can have a cow brought out for your dragon.”
Thayle smiled and let out a little laugh. “I don’t think that will be necessary. Lilly will come with us.”
“Lilly?” the king replied.
“Is there someplace she can land before she collapses that house?” Gersius asked.
The king looked at Lilly, who sat on the now sagging roof of a house.
“Of course,” he replied. “She can land in the courtyard behind the wall here. Please, all of you come in,”
Gersius silently communicated the intent to Lilly, and she took to the air. The king ordered the guards dispersed and the archers back to stations. Lilly landed in the yard as they came through the gate and met her.
“She looks frightening,” the king said as he gawked from a safe distance.
“I think she looks beautiful,” Thayle said.
“Thank you, my love,” Lilly said sweetly.
“I heard her when she landed, but I still can’t believe she can speak,” the king said.
“Don’t be amazed by that,” Gersius said. “Lilly has a great deal more to surprise you with.”
“We have been invited to dinner,” Thayle said to Lilly. “You need to get dressed.”
“Lilly looked around the yard and shook her head. “I can't change here. There are men everywhere.”
“What does she mean change?” the king asked.
“Is there any chance you can order your guards off the walls for a minute?” Gersius asked.
The king nodded and gave the command. It took several minutes, but the men were removed, and Lilly nervously set the saddle aside.
“He is still there,” Lilly said, pointing to the king.
Gersius nodded. “Forgive me for asking, but can you turn your back to protect the lady's modesty?”
“Of course,” King Evidor said as he turned. “What are you doing?”
“You will see in a moment,” Gersius said as a flash of light filled the air.
The flash caused the king to look back and see the cloud of mist. As it dissipated, they could see Lilly behind the saddle struggling to get into a dress quickly.
“I will go help her,” Thayle said and ran out.
“Who is that?” the king asked. “She is radiantly beautiful.”
“That is the lady Lilly,” Gersius said.
The king stared as Thayle helped Lilly get an arm through her dress and started to lace up the back.
“You mean that’s the dragon?”
Gersius nodded. “And my wife.”
The king looked back to him with shock. “I thought you were married to the priestess?”
“I am married to them both,” Gersius said.
The king nodded his approval and then clapped his arm. “You are a very blessed man, twice blessed by my eyes.”
Lilly finally dressed and hopped out from around the saddle pulling on a boot to adjust the fit.
“I am glad I didn't have to eat you,” Lilly said as she arrived, causing Gersius to smile.
“I am thankful the truth was revealed before that became necessary,” the king said.
Lengwin arrived with the priests of Astikar and bowed before the king.
“I am sorry we had to meet under such circumstances,” Lengwin said after introducing himself.
The king was silent a moment and then nodded. “Perhaps these circumstances were necessary.”
“Forgive me, King Evidor, but where is High Priest Thador?”
The king looked at him with concern and then nodded. “He is in the chapel talking to a member of your order who arrived a day ago.”
“A member of my order?” Lengwin asked.
The king nodded. “The man rode in and came straight to the castle. He asked to speak to me and delivered a letter asking me to provide a private space for him and the High Priest to speak. The castle has a chapel to the divines in the back quarter. I sent for your High Priest, and he went to speak with this man hours ago.”
Lengwin looked at Gersius with a raised brow.
“What did this rider look like?” Gersius asked.
The king rubbed at his chin as he thought about it. “He was tall with a shaved head and a tuft of hair on his chin. He wore dark armor with a bird on his shoulder.”
“The raven guard,” Gersius said in alarm.
“Forgive me, King Evidor, but this man represents the order we are at war with. I fear the High Priest is in grave danger!” Lengwin pressed.
The king nodded and motioned with a hand. “Then quickly, this way.”
He led them across the inner yard and down a pillared balcony. They turned a corner and went down some steps into a lower garden. Here they saw a towering three-story building with stained glass windows. The king threw open the doors, and Gersius and Thayle ran in passed him. There in the middle of the room was a man in red robes lying in a pool of blood.
“Guards!” the king shouted as he turned from the hall.
Gersius stood over the man as Lengwin knelt beside him.
“His aura is gone, he is long dead,” Thayle said.
Lengwin turned him over to see the clean stab through the heart by a wide blade.
“We have failed our High Priest,” the men of Astikar said when they looked on.
Lengwin shook his head and looked up at the men.
“This is who we stand against!” he shouted through gritted teeth. “Your Father Abbot ordered a brother to come here and murder him. This is why we march against Calathen, and why I will supplant the murderous Father Abbot.”
Gersius put a hand to Lengwin's shoulder. “Do not let this burden your heart. He has much blood on his hands, do not invite any on to yours.”
“How do I walk this path and not get bloody?” Lengwin asked.
“Lilly, Thayle, and I will lead the charge of blood and war. Your job is to heal the wound we leave in our wake.”
Lengwin nodded and let the men lay.
“I wish to have him buried with honors in the temple yard,” Lengwin said. “I will give him his last blessings.”
Gersius nodded and patted his shoulder. Outside, Gersius could hear the King ordering the city and the surrounding countryside scoured for the rider. He put a bounty on the man's head so high every villager for a hundred miles would be looking for him.
“We will conduct our high priest back to the temple,” one of the men of Astikar said.
Lengwin nodded and got out of the way as the men lined up around him and hoisted the body up. They carried him away with faces full of pain and regret as his blood dripped down on their armor.
“How is our life like this?” Thayle said. “We averted disaster in the courtyard only to find it here.”
Gersius walked up to her and put his hands to her face. He ran his thumb over the tears that marked her and looked deeply into her eyes.
“We have been chosen to stand strong in hard times. Our life is like this because only we could endure the challenges ahead.”
“I don't know if I can,” Thayle said.
“You are the strongest woman I have ever known,” he said. “I am honored to be your husband.”
Thayle smiled gently and put a hand over his. “I learned how to be strong from you.”
“I doubt that,” he said. “But thank you for the compliment.”
“Truly, you are the greatest daughter of Ulustrah,” Lengwin said. “That you prayed for her forgiveness, after all, she has done to you.”
Thayle closed her eyes and took a deep sigh. “I couldn't bear to see her punished so harshly. She gave up a family and a kingdom for Ulustrah. She deserved some reward.”
“She would have sent you to the gallows,” Lengwin said. “But that is why you are a great woman. You understand mercy. If Astikar accepted women, you would be a powerful agent of his.”
Thayle smiled again as Gersius continued to trace the tears on her face.
“It isn't going to rub off,” she said, looking up into his eyes. “I need a place to pray to the goddess and establish her forgiveness.”
“Of course,” Gersius said. “I would suggest here, but.”
Thayle looked back at the bloodstain on the floor. “Here would have been perfect, but this place feels tainted now.”
“Perhaps in the garden, we passed through outside?” Lengwin suggested.
Thayle nodded. “That will do.”
The king returned, and profusely apologized to Lengwin and the others. He still planned to treat them to a meal in honor of the day, but Lengwin declined. He wanted to go back to the temple to spend the night laying the High Priest to rest with all the honors he could bestow.
Gersius, Lilly, and Thayle went on to sit with the king and eat. Rachel attended with wet eyes and avoided looking at any of them. Throughout the night, they recounted their tale for the king. He heard all about finding Lilly in the valley, the betrayal at Whiteford, and the escape to Eastgate. He understood when Gersius explained how they crossed the mountains and sought out High Priest Lengwin in Avashire.
King Evidor listened intently and occasionally looked to Rachel, who would glance up to read an aura and nod. The king grew sourer as the story went on, and it ended with his head down in a hand as he stared at the table.
“What does the Father Abbot stand to gain by losing the war with the Doan?” he asked.
“None of us know,” Gersius said. “It is the mystery at the heart of it all.”
“And he is willing to sacrifice you and any man who might turn the tide?” the king pressed.
“I only know what he did to me,” Gersius said. “And to Lilly.”
The king glanced at Lilly, who squirmed a little in her seat.
“I have been sent a dozen letters containing threats, bribes, and blackmails all in an effort to convince me to move against you,” he said.
“We hoped he wouldn't even know where we were until we were halfway to Calathen,” Gersius said.
Thayle looked at Rachel and sighed. “I forgive you for telling him.”
Rachel looked up from her plate. “Telling who?”
“You told the Father Abbot where we were,” Thayle said.
Rachel shook her head. “On my honor, Governess Commander, I never alerted them to where you were.”
Thayle studied her aura and saw the truth in it. She couldn’t believe that was the case but couldn’t deny the light.
“Then why did you take the scryer from the temple?” Thayle asked.
Rachel looked down in shame. “I wanted to inform the primes of what you were doing. I was sure you didn’t have their blessing.”
“I take it, you know the truth then,” Thayle said. “But you still refused to believe it.”
“Forgive me,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “I do not know how to explain myself.”
“If she wasn't the one who alerted the Father Abbot, then who did?” Lilly asked.
“It would appear you have a spy in your midst,” the king said.
Gersius looked at the faces Gathered at the table. Who had betrayed where he was to the Father Abbot? Who was informing him of what was taking place?”