Miserere: An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock

Author:Teresa Frohock
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Published: 2011-06-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

the citadel

John Shea’s footsteps echoed softly on the worn stone steps that led him deeper into the catacombs beneath the Citadel. His soul-light illuminated his path through the dank corridor, driving the black rats from his path. The darkness behind him matched his mood. The message to meet beyond the crypts had come from the Lord High General of the Citadel’s armies, Xavier Sarr. These midnight meetings never brought good tidings, and John had enough concerns without Xavier’s bad news.

The Rabbinate’s Inquisitor Adam Zimmer had left this morning after spending a few days at the Citadel. Zimmer had diplomatically suggested that John might need the Rabbinate’s help in bringing Lucian to justice. The Rabbinate didn’t want to see the situation get out of control; they felt an earlier intercession by neighboring bastions would have prevented the Zoroastrian schism. John’s fingers twitched.

The only thing that prevented him from sending Zimmer on his way prematurely was his respect for the Rabbinate’s Seraph. Ephraim Cohen and John had served together in Woerld as Inquisitors then Seraphs for over fifty years. They loved each other like brothers, and John knew that if this situation had involved any of his Katharoi other than Lucian, Ephraim never would have sent Zimmer. Yet it was Lucian, and had their positions been reversed, John would have seen fit to send his Inquisitor to make sure the situation was firmly in hand. Although he understood Ephraim’s reasoning, he didn’t like the insinuation that he couldn’t control his Katharoi.

At the bottom of the stairs, John veered left down a long tunnel until he reached a wooden door held together with rusting iron bands. This set of corridors branched away from the Semah River, and though the air was drier, dampness still seeped down the walls. John found his key, and the oiled hinges allowed the door to open without a sound. Xavier’s spies kept these routes immaculate.

It had taken John years to fully develop his network of agents, and longer years before he was satisfied with who could be trusted. After Lucian’s betrayal, John swore he’d not be caught off guard again. He would not tolerate another Lucian. Ephraim had nothing to worry about.

He rounded a bend in the tunnel and saw Xavier’s dark form illuminated by his own soul-light. The General dwarfed the two guards that flanked him; he looked like a great black lion with his dreadlocks framing his face. Like John, he’d forsaken his formal robes of office for a shirt and heavy pants to ward off the tunnel’s chill.

The guards snapped to attention and Xavier bowed.

John waved their deference aside. Xavier gestured to the guards and they split up. The woman went to the right, the man to the left. They moved several yards away to watch the branches in the corridors to make certain no one stumbled on the meeting.

Xavier stepped aside so John could approach the cell. He opened the metal door that covered a small barred window. Through the opening, John saw a rough wooden table with a bench on either side.

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