Fire Angels

Chapter 17 Part 2 Karac Attacks!

That night Ren Daniel came with two witnesses and mindsearched me. So strong were the visions in my head and so great was the pain during the search, that I did not have the strength to worry about what other guilty secrets he might have seen until I had woken from the sedative spells late in the following day.

By then Ren Daniel and Lord Lucien Sercel had gone before the Duke in the public audience chamber with testimony of my mindsearch and had asked that Darmen Stalker be confined to the White Tower and requested to undertake a mindsearch on the strength of my evidence.

"The court is in an uproar," said Lady Julia, who came to sit at my bedside that afternoon. "The Duke is furious. Oh don't worry. He has some curses for the Holyhands family, but most of his anger is for fate and the southerners who have sent such a man as emissary. And the most of the mages are behind you. Everyone is calling for this Darmen Stalker to submit to a mindsearch."

"Will he?"

"He is refusing at the moment. He says you are an insane and hysterical woman and that this must be some kind of plot by Ren Daniel. There is some history between those two. There is not one mage here Stalker will trust to mindsearch him and tell the truth of what he sees. Considering we are at war with his master, it is a very plausible defense."

"So the whole situation is blocked."

"For the moment. As Hierarch Jarraz's secretary Stalker has been responsible for many arrests and burnings. When he first arrived yesterday, a delegation of southern captains came to me and expressed outrage at the thought of such a man being allowed to negotiate a peace treaty. Unfortunately for him, they now will push and push till he is properly tried. Duke Leon will not be able to refuse them without alienating much of the southern army and most of the mages. An interesting fellow, this Stalker. Did you know that he is a Soprian and began life as a non-believer? He had risen very high in the Church from such a background. One must wonder too what it is that brought him to Moria."

"Perhaps it was opportunities to practice necromancy," I said, only half seriously. I did not really feel in the mood for gossipy discussions of Darmen Stalker's past. He was only a minion. The real villain still went free.

Lady Julia shrugged. "Well Enna Dion," she continued. You have caused a bitter drama to begin unfolding. No doubt you are glad to be out of it."

This last remark was a reference to the fact that as a woman, and a minor under the law, I was never going to be called to court unless I was being tried. The testimony of women witnesses was always given by the male mage who mindsearched them, so in my case Ren Daniel was now responsible for my evidence against Darmen Stalker. Once again the situation was being dealt with for me. This time, however, I was not glad to be out of it. It was vital that Darmen Stalker be mindsearched. There was so much he could tell us about Sanctuary, and about the necromancer and his demons. I did not want him to just disappear, released out of political necessity.

After Lady Julia had left, I got up and dressed and stood looking out of the window. The terrible play of Tasha's memories had receded from my mind, but it had left behind worries of my own. Had it only been yesterday morning that Bedazzer had appeared in a mirror, spitting his vitriolic curses at me? I had unfinished business here and I must decide quickly what to do about it.

After three years of thinking over the mistakes I had made in Gallia, I knew that the greatest mistake I had made was not seeking help in dealing with Bedazzer. At that time, telling someone that I had attracted the attention of a demon would have disgraced me horribly. Later I had not known who to trust. So with the optimism of the very young I had hoped it would all go away, telling myself that he was safely in his world behind the mirror and could not get thought to me. He had been brought through however and even the possibility that it might have happened again (twice in my lifetime, this was misfortune indeed.) was too much. He had almost beaten me last time. This time I must enlist some help before I found myself fighting him in single combat again.