The Nameless Assassins

Sneaking and Prying

By the time I caught sight of Faith leaving the railcar in a shockingly non-shocking outfit (most of which unshockingly looked like it came from my closet), I'd recovered from my arcane aversion – to the extent that I ever would, anyway. Defying Ash's injunction against spying on friends, I tailed her to Charterhall, where she rendezvoused with the acolyte, Arilyn Strangford.

In a different tearoom from last time, and over marginally better scones but markedly inferior tea, Faith fixed the young woman with a serious stare. She whispered, "Did you find out what happened to that priest?"

Swallowing hard and leaning across the white tablecloth, Arilyn whispered back, "No one's seen him. They say he's on sabbatical, but I volunteered to help his substitute prepare for last sixth day's reading groups and...the new priest kept complaining about how Father Kessarin hared off without leaving any kind of lesson plan, and how he even had to borrow a copy of the syllabus from one of the communicants. That sort of behavior doesn't reflect well on the Church." Arilyn shook her head in censure, then suddenly recalled just why she'd been helping the new priest in the first place. In an even softer voice, she added, "I asked a couple other priests and acolytes, and no one's seen him since that evening."

Faith made such a stern expression that I couldn't fathom how she managed to keep a straight face afterwards. "Well," she intoned, "that confirms some of my greatest fears." She waited a beat, pretending to mull over matters of great import, before she said, "I think we're both in sufficiently deep that continuing to lie to you will only endanger you. I'm going to tell you something of dire importance, but it requires the utmost discretion. Can you be discreet?"

The acolyte, who skipped Mass to skulk around the catacombs and private reading rooms, nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course."

"In my official capacity as a Spirit Warden, I have been infiltrating the Church in order to investigate its involvement in demonic activity."

(Faith – a Spirit Warden? Who would buy that?)

Arilyn's eyes went wide, but she had the self-control to keep her voice down. "I thought you were an acolyte. So you're – " Breaking off, she stared around the tearoom conspicuously but failed to recognize the young noblewoman who'd asked her about joining the Church. Reassured that there were no eavesdroppers, she breathed, "So you're a Spirit Warden too?"

(Oh. Apparently anyone not in our crew would buy that.)

I barely had time to wonder whether a real Spirit Warden would play acolyte before Faith replied, "Just a Spirit Warden. My investigations thus far have taught me enough to pose as an acolyte, but those same investigations have shown me that the Church's intentions are other than holy." Arilyn opened her mouth to object, but Faith kept talking. "I need a contact within the Church who is good at keeping secrets. Such as the secret of our involvement in what happened to Djera Maha."

Clever as she was, Arilyn caught the threat at once. "But – but – of course. I'm willing to assist – " she cast another furtive glance around the tearoom and failed again at detecting eavesdroppers – "the Wardens with anything they need. And – I did do – I was looking around a little after our last tea and – you're definitely right. There's definitely something very wrong going on in the Church. I – I will – do what I can, but I'm just an acolyte."

"Yes," Faith agreed. I rather thought that if she hadn't been playing Spirit Warden, she would have purred in satisfaction at an acolyte well corrupted. "And as an acolyte, you have access to so much. To higher members of the Church, you are beneath notice." A hint of her usual self slipped out: "You can just scamper around, doing what you want: 'Why, I was just cleaning this library of secret documents. Everything's perfectly all right. This is my punishment, which is why I'm doing it with a toothbrush!'" Then she saw Arilyn's stunned look and assured her, "Or something more like what you'd say."