The Memory of Darkness (on hold until October)

7 - Difficult Relations

The northern edition of the Register of Magically Afflicted Individuals was kept in Kyrvell's City Hall. Coren had made his way there as soon as he had been relieved of duty for the evening, and had arrived just before that particular office was due to be locked for the evening. Only his Telvarel Guard badge had persuaded the clerks to let him in.

One of the clerks led Coren to the book in question, kept on a plinth and bound in rather foreboding black leather. "We only completed this version last month," said the man, proudly. "It's right up to date."

"That's good to know," said Coren, leafing through the pages.

There was nobody listed under the sil Vaddrin name. This was hardly surprising; noble families had the means to avoid these things. Then, there was always the possibility that Felix Malgard had given the wrong name, for whatever reason.

Out of curiosity, he turned to the entries under the letter M: Maddis, Johanna was followed by Malvere, Dion. Malgard, Felix was conspicuous by his absence, though again, this did not surprise him. With a sigh, he closed the book.

"Did you find what you wanted, Sir?" asked the clerk.

"Unfortunately not," said Coren, noting the other man's crestfallen expression. "Though that's no reflection on your record-keeping."

The clerk seemed cheered by that, and Coren left him to lock up the room. His next step was to ask Father Dominic about the necklace. Hopefully that would prove to be more fruitful than searching the Register.

The Church of the Most Worthy Maurius was a short walk from the City Hall, surrounded by impressive stone townhouses owned by Kyrvell's most affluent residents. As he crossed the churchyard, a group of people were leaving the building. They all seemed to be in good spirits, and a few of them smiled pleasantly at him as they passed by.

He found Father Dominic extinguishing candles at the back of the church, leaning heavily on a wooden crutch as he did so. The Priest looked up at the sound of his approach. "Greetings, Sir Raymond," he said. "You've just missed choir practice. They're finally starting to sound competent. Either that, or my hearing is getting worse."

"Let's hope it's the first one," said Coren.

"Indeed!" replied Father Dominic, raising his eyebrows. "Selective deafness can be rather useful when you've been married as long as I have, but actual deafness is another matter entirely. Now, what brings you here this evening?"

"I'm hoping that you can help me with something," said Coren. "It's a rather delicate matter."

"They always are, where you're concerned." said Father Dominic, with a smile "We'd better go somewhere more private. Father Jerome can lock up, he's around here somewhere. Follow me." He set off, the tip of his crutch clattering on the stone floor as he went, and led Coren to his private study at the back of the church.

The Priest gestured for the younger man to sit down, before doing the same himself. "Well now," he said. "What seems to be the problem?"

Coren took the necklace from his pocket, and held it up for the Priest to see. "A friend of mine was given this," he said. "The man who gave her it said that it would mask her signal, but we don't know if that's the case, or if it's something harmful. I was hoping that you'd know somebody who could confirm it, either way."

Father Dominic squinted slightly as he examined the necklace. "I know somebody," he said. "If you're willing to leave that with me, I'll have him take a look at it."

Coren was somewhat disappointed by this. If the necklace was safe, he wanted it returned to the Princess as soon as possible. "How long will that take?" he asked.