Lorimal's Chalice by Jane Fletcher

Author:Jane Fletcher [Fletcher, Jane]
Language: cat
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780971815063
Amazon: 0971815062
Publisher: Fortitude Press, Inc.
Published: 2002-09-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2: The List of Suspects

With nightfall, the air became chill, sending most folk indoors in search of warmth. The barroom at the Inn of Singing Birds was half full of middle-aged merchants and similar guilds-folk; busy but not crowded.

It was conspicuous how everyone appeared not to notice the two young women at the rear. All eyes skipped over the corner where Jemeryl and Tevi sat. No one made any attempt to occupy the spare seats at their table. It was as if their section of the room had ceased to exist. This had to be due to Jemeryl. She had avoided making a display the black amulet on her wrist, but it was obvious that the bar-staff had informed all customers of her status. Tevi wondered what they had been told of her own situation, and how they judged her.

Candles were set in wall-holders to light the room. Gnats swarmed in small halos around the flames. A wicker cage over the bar held two canaries, presumably to authenticate the inn's name. Their high-pitched chirps shrilled over the background hum of conversation.

Klara eyed them with disdain. "Call that a singing bird! Why don't I give a rendition of The Good Ship..."

"Hush." Tevi smothered Klara's head with her hand. "You're supposed to be an ordinary pet." Tevi's eyes flicked in Jemeryl's direction as she spoke.

"Sorry. I forgot." Jemeryl apologised, with a shamefaced grin. "I've missed her. I trust she's been behaving herself?"

"Perfectly. She always does when you're not around." Tevi said pointedly.

"I did worry that she might be unruly. I can hardly feel her at all when I'm inside the school shields. Levannue has done a very effective job with them."

"Levannue?"

"One of the senior sorcerers. She's responsible for the shields."

"One of the suspects?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Have you worked out who the others are?"

Jemeryl leaned forward on the table, and rested her head at an angle against her hand. Her gaze fixed on mid-air as she collected her thoughts. "Our traitor had to be able to find out about Lorimal, recover the chalice and then work on it in secret. It lets us cut down the number of suspects. Just the requirement that they must be able to carry out unmonitored research means it has to be one of the senior sorcerers - which is what Iralin thought to start with. A junior could squeeze in the odd hour here and there, when no one was around, but it would be risky. They couldn't hide themself in a room for days on end without having to explain what they were doing."

"How many seniors are there?" Tevi asked.

"Seven."

"And how do you evaluate them?"

"Firstly there's the principal, Bramell. He can do what he likes, when he likes, without worrying about who's looking over his shoulder. On top of that, he'll know all about Lorimal. Like the three top seniors in Lyremouth, he'd have been told about her when he took the headship, so he could be on the lookout for anyone attempting to copy her work."

"So either it's him, or he's not been doing his job.

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