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entirely at His service. And what does He send instead? An overexcited crow
with a one-word vocabulary.
Cazaril winced in guilt, thinking of that poor crow. In truth, he felt far
worse about the crow s death than Dondo s.
So that s what I m doing here, said Umegat. He glanced up keenly at Cazaril.
And so. What are you doing here?
Cazaril spread his hands helplessly. Umegat, I don t know. He added
plaintively, Can t you tell?
You said . . . I was lit up. Do I look like you? Or like Iselle? Or Orico,
even?
You look like nothing I ve seen since I was lent the inner eye. If Iselle is
a candle, you are a conflagration. You are . . . actually quite disturbing to
contemplate.
I don t feel like a conflagration.
What do you feel like?
Right now? Like a pile of dung. Sick. Drunk. He swirled the red wine in the
bottom of his cup. I
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have this belly cramp that comes and goes. It was quiescent at the moment,
but his stomach was still swollen. And tired. I haven t felt this tired since
I was sick in the Mother s house in Zagosur.
I think, Umegat spoke carefully, that it is very, very important that you
tell me the truth.
His lips still smiled, but his gray eyes seemed to burn. It occurred to
Cazaril then that a good
Temple Inquirer would likely be charming, and adept at worming confidences
from people in his investigations. Smooth at getting them drunk.
You laid down your life. It s not fair to whine for it back now.
I attempted death magic upon Dondo dy Jironal last night.
Umegat looked neither shocked nor surprised, merely more intent. Yes. Where?
In Fonsa s Tower. I crawled over the roof slates. I brought my own rat, but
the crow . . . it came to me. It wasn t afraid. I d fed it, you see.
Go on . . . breathed Umegat.
I slew the rat, and broke the poor crow, and I prayed on my knees. And then I
hurt. I wasn t expecting that. And I couldn t breathe. The candles went out.
And I said, Thank you, because I felt . . .
He could not speak of what he d felt, that strange peace, as if he d lain down
in a place of safety to rest forever. And then I passed out. I thought I was
dying.
And then?
Then . . . nothing. I woke up in the dawn fog, sick and cold and feeling an
utter fool. No, wait I d had a nightmare about Dondo choking to death. But I
knew I d failed. So I crawled back to bed. And then dy Jironal came bursting
in . . .
Umegat drummed his fingers on the table a moment, staring at him through
slitted eyes. And then he stared with his eyes closed. Open again. My lord,
may I touch you?
All right . . . Briefly, as the Roknari bent over him, Cazaril feared some
unwelcome attempt at intimacy, but Umegat s touch was as professional as any
physician s; forehead, face, neck, spine, heart, belly . . . Cazaril tensed,
but Umegat s hand descended no farther. When he finished, Umegat s face was
set. The Roknari went to fetch another jug of wine from a basket by the door
before returning to his chair.
Cazaril attempted to fend the jug from his cup. I ve had enough. I ll be
stumbling if I take any more.
My grooms can walk you back to your chambers in a little while. No? Umegat
filled his own cup instead, and sat again. He ran his finger over the tabletop
in a little pattern, repeated three times Cazaril wasn t sure if it was a
charm or just nerves and finally said, By the testimony of the sacred
animals, no god accepted the soul of Dondo dy Jironal. Normally, that is a
sign that an unquiet spirit is abroad in the world, and relatives and
friends and enemies rush to buy rites and prayers from the Temple. Some for
the sake of the dead some for their own protection.
I am sure, said Cazaril a little bitterly, Dondo will have all the prayers
that money can buy.
I hope so.
Why? What . . . ?
What do you see? What do you know?
Umegat glanced up, and inhaled. Dondo s spirit was taken by the death demon,
but not passed to
the gods. This we know. It is my conjecture that the death demon could not
return to its master because it was prevented from taking the second and
balancing soul.
Cazaril licked his lips, and husked fearfully, How, prevented?
At the instant of attempting to do so, I believe the demon was
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