Chapter 13: Nothing but the Truth

The whole village went quiet at once, and Harl and Bram stopped working on the boat, and Tobin set down his paintbrush. Garrick came out of the chapel and stood beside Kai with his hammer in his hand, Dagna climbed up from the docks and took her place on his other side with her gaff hook, and Mira moved in right behind him.

Elowen sat on her horse at the edge of the village, alone.

[She is by herself. There is no one else on the road]

"Is she here to kill me?" Kai whispered.

[I am not sure. Her heart is racing, which could mean a lot of things]

"That doesn’t help me," Kai whispered.

[I know]

The closer Kai got to her horse, the more exhausted she looked, with dark circles under her blindfold and a white robe dusty from riding all night.

"You found us," Kai said.

"You were easy to find," Elowen said. "The sky over this village was on fire last night. And you glow like a bonfire."

"Are you here to arrest me?" Kai asked.

"No," Elowen said, and her sword stayed dark.

Kai let out a long breath of relief.

"Then why are you here?" Kai asked.

Elowen climbed down from her horse and took her time answering, because everything she said had to be the truth.

"After I left the forge, I went to the Cathedral library," Elowen said. "I was trying to understand how a blessing that did not come from Solenne could have appeared in our city. What I found instead were the tithe records. Church records are written in blessed ink, and to me, the words glow as brightly as a person does. House Draven has been donating to the Radiant Church. Huge sums of money, every single month."

Dagna’s hand tightened around her hook.

"For how long?" Dagna asked.

"At least three years," Elowen said. "And the priest who came to bless your water was sent by the High Priestess herself. He was ordered to bless the water and leave. I read his orders myself, every glowing word of them."

Nobody said anything, and Dagna had gone completely pale.

"I showed the records to the High Priestess," Elowen said. "She told me it was not an inquisitor’s place to question the finances of the Church, and that I should forget what I had seen."

"Did you?" Mira asked.

"I cannot lie," Elowen said. "And I cannot forget either. So I left."

[She is afraid. Her heart is beating very fast]

She was standing tall like a soldier, but Kai could see her shaking, the same way Mira’s hands had shaken around that spoon in Garrick’s forge.

"You left the Church," Kai said.

"I left the city," Elowen said. "I have not decided what else I left behind."

"What do you want from me?" Kai asked.

Elowen turned her blindfolded face towards him.

"The truth," Elowen said. "I am going to ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them. If you lie, I will know."

"Great," Kai said. "My favorite."

[You are not going to do well at this]

"I know," Kai whispered.

Elowen rested her hand on the hilt of her sword.

"Did you save this village?" Elowen asked.

Kai started to say yes, and then he glanced down at her sword and changed his mind.

"I fell through a dock and screamed, and a bunch of people saved this village," Kai said, and her sword stayed dark.

"Did you plan any of it?" Elowen asked.

"No," Kai said, and her sword stayed dark again.

"Are you a god?" Elowen asked.

Kai thought about the crooked halo on the chapel wall and the thirty-one villagers who believed in him.

"I don’t know yet," Kai said. "I’m still trying to figure that out."

Her sword stayed dark, and Elowen tilted her head to the side, just like she had in the forge.

"Do you want to hurt the people who follow you?" Elowen asked.

"No," Kai said, and once again, the sword stayed dark.

"Do you think I am attractive?" Elowen asked.

Kai almost choked on the air he was breathing.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Kai asked.

"Answer the question," Elowen said.

Kai could feel Mira and Dagna both go stiff behind him.

[Their heart rates are both elevated. So is mine. I did not know I had a heart rate]

"That’s a strange question," Kai said.

"Lying on top of me in a blacksmith’s shop was also strange," Elowen said. "Answer the question."

"I think you’re... very professional," Kai said.

"Lie," Elowen said as her sword lit up.

"You’re... intelligent," Kai said.

"Lie," Elowen said, and her sword grew even brighter.

"FINE! I’M LYING! You’re hot! Are you happy?" Kai said.

Her sword went dark, and Elowen’s cheeks turned red beneath her blindfold as she cleared her throat.

"That was a test," Elowen said. "To see whether you would keep lying once the truth became uncomfortable."

"Did I pass?" Kai asked.

"You lied," Elowen said. "But you stopped."

[Faith gained. Elowen Ashgrave: 5%. Status: Interested.]

Behind him, Mira let out a small, annoyed sound.

[Faith gained. Mira Vallen: +1%. Status: Very Jealous.]

[You are getting faith from jealousy again. I think I should file a protest]

"To who?" Kai whispered.

[I am not sure yet. I will look into it]

"If you left the Church, they’ll be coming after you too," Garrick said from behind them.

"They will," Elowen said. "And there is one more thing you need to know. When the High Priestess put out a warrant for you, she also sent word to the Holy Champion."

Kai’s stomach dropped all the way to his boots.

"The one Syraphim was supposed to go to," Kai said.

"The one the Mother chose," Elowen said. "The High Priestess told him that a false god stole his gift, and he is coming to take it back. He will reach the city in ten days."

[Kai...] Syraphim said, and her voice sounded tiny. [He may be able to take me from you if he finds you]

A chill ran all the way down Kai’s spine.

"He can do that?" Kai whispered.

[I do not know. I was made for him, and I do not know what will happen if he gets close to me]

"He won’t get close to you," Kai whispered.

Syraphim didn’t answer, but Kai felt a small tingle of warmth at the back of his head.

"Ten days," Mira said. "Ironwatch is three days away, so we can get there and back in time."

"Ironwatch?" Elowen asked.

Kai told her everything, from the missing fishermen and the collared gutter maw to the plan to sneak in disguised as Draven’s men, and Elowen only frowned when he got to Lesser Glamour.

"If someone with holy power forces you to tell the truth, your disguise will break," Elowen said.

"How do you know that?" Kai asked.

"All glamours work that way," Elowen said. "Draven keeps a priest at Ironwatch to bless his mines. If that priest questions you directly, your disguise will fall apart."

"Great," Kai said. "So our plan is screwed."

"No," Elowen said. "Our plan is not finished."

"What do you mean?" Kai asked.

"Me," Elowen said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

"I am still an inquisitor," Elowen said. "The High Priestess has not taken that title from me yet, and Ironwatch is far enough from the city that word of my leaving will take time to reach it. As an inquisitor, I can pass through any gate in Veyrath in search of heresy, and no one will stop me or my party."

A slow grin spread across Kai’s face.

"So we could just walk in through the front door," Kai said.

"I can walk in through the front door," Elowen said. "It is up to you to decide who my party is. I will not lie for you, and if someone asks me a question, I will tell them the truth."

"Then we’ll just have to make sure nobody asks you the wrong questions," Kai said.

"So we’re building a lie around a woman who can’t lie," Mira said.

"It’s not a lie," Kai said. "It’s a loophole. She taught me that."

The corner of Elowen’s mouth twitched ever so slightly.

[She almost smiled]

"I saw that," Kai whispered.

Dagna studied Elowen for a long time, and then she stuck out her hand.

"If my brother is alive in those mines, I don’t care who you used to work for," Dagna said.

Elowen hesitated, because she couldn’t see the hand, but she could see the light inside it, and after a moment, she took it.

"If your brother is alive," Elowen said, "I will help you find him. That is the truth."

Her sword stayed dark the entire time she spoke.

Within an hour, they had loaded the fastest boat in Millbrook, a skinny thing with one patched sail, and Harl and Bram agreed to take them upriver. Elowen left her horse with the village, and Wren stood on the shore trying very hard not to cry as Garrick climbed aboard.

Elowen took the front of the boat with her sword across her lap, Mira sat in the middle and refused to look at Elowen, and Dagna sat in the back and refused to look at either of them. That left exactly one open seat, right in the middle of all three of them, and Kai sat down in it.

[I am sensing three elevated heart rates. Four, if I count yours]

"Five, if you count your own," Kai whispered, and for once, Syraphim didn’t have anything to say.

The boat pushed off, and the whole village cheered, with old Tobin holding his gold-stained paintbrush high like a sword.

Kai looked at the three women surrounding him, at Garrick crouched in the back, and at the long brown river stretching north.

"This is going to be a long boat ride," Kai said.

"Yes," all three women said at once.

Elowen’s sword stayed dark, because every one of them was telling the truth.