Eve of Redemption (26 page)

F
or the second time in twenty-four hours, Sara found herself in the private apartments of the Holy Father. Again, she wondered why she was here and not in his formal offices, but she knew not to question the Holy One’s decisions. She fought the urge to squirm as Father Caleb studied her, his soft gray eyes shaded as he considered her account of what had happened in the library. Not that she knew much, except for the fact that Master Casius—and no one else—had been in the room when she broke the door open. Father Caleb had questioned her at length on that point.

Are you certain no one else was in the room?

You say the door was locked from within?

You heard a loud noise before breaking the door in?

Casius was already injured when you entered the room?

You are certain you had nothing to do with his injuries?

The last question sent Sara’s heart pounding.
How could the Holy Father think she had done such a thing to the kind old man?
She wasn’t even sure how Master Casius could have been injured so, or how she could have done it. Finally, the Holy Father’s eyes turned to Joshua. The Bishop stood off to the side, listening to the exchange between Father Caleb and Sara.

“Why would anyone want to hurt Casius?” Father Caleb asked.

The Bishop remained silent for a moment, pondering the question. “Casius possessed certain knowledge.”

Father Caleb raised one bushy eyebrow. “Go on.”

Again, Bishop Joshua hesitated before speaking. “Casius has been in the library a very long time, but that was not always his post. I believe, sir, you are aware of the man’s former assignments.”

Father Caleb rose from his chair and began pacing the room. “Yes, of course. That was long ago, however.”

“What is time to those of the veil?”

Father Caleb stopped pacing and turned to Sara. “Young Sara, what do you know of your parents’ past?”

The question caught Sara off-guard. “I…” She stopped.
What
did
she know of her parents’ past?
She tried to remember whether or not they had ever discussed it, but her mind was almost blank on the subject. She knew neither of them had family. Most family had been killed in the wars, and of those who survived, few had gone on to produce families of their own.

“I’m guessing they talked little about it,” Father Caleb said. “That’s not surprising. Still, Bishop Joshua has a point. There could be some connection.”

Sara had not told the two men about the change that had come over Master Casius when she had been alone in the room with him, or what he had said to her. During the vision of her parents’ deaths, she had felt that her mom and Manasseh had some sort of connection. And now, the Holy Father himself was hinting at something in her parents’ past. Did she dare tell the Holy Father and Bishop Joshua about what had happened in Master Casius’s office? She already felt like she was being accused. She needed to talk to someone besides these two powerful men who intimidated her so much. Normally she would have gone to Master Casius, but that was not an option now. Master Eleazar? Possibly. Under his gruff fight master exterior, she knew he really cared about his students. But what if the Holy Father—or worse, Bishop Joshua—found out she had withheld information from them? They would be furious.

“The vision of your parents’ deaths was hard on you, was it not, young Sara?” The voice of the Holy Father brought her back to the discussion at hand.

“Yes,” she managed to say. “I was not expecting such a thing. I didn’t know what to expect, really.”

“No, they never do,” he said. “You have to go in completely unaware, or it might not work. You did take it well, though. I am aware of the manner in which your parents were killed. It was gruesome—yet you seem rather unscathed by the ordeal.”

The thought of never seeing her mom or dad again filled her with sadness beyond words. “I assure you, sir, I am anything but unscathed over the loss of my parents. However, I refuse to fall apart because of it. I will avenge them.”

“Tell me again, why did you go to Casius’s office? What did you expect him to tell you?”

Sara knew the old Father was digging for something. She wished she knew what it was. “Like I said, sir, I wanted to find out if Master Casius knew of a relationship between my parents and Manasseh. They seemed to know each other, and he knew about me. He even mentioned me by name. I wanted to know why, and Master Casius has been here so long…”

“Yes, yes, and he spoils you young ones horribly. I have spoken to him before about being so friendly with the students…but, yes; I can understand why you might have thought he would be able to help you. Now, about the one claiming to be Manasseh. We had our suspicions, but we needed you to verify them by going to the scene. Only a direct blood relative can do that, you know.”

She hadn’t known, but it made sense, or at least as much sense as any of the recent events. Though she had been in the Keep nearly four years, Sara was quickly finding out just how little she knew about it. A trickle of sweat ran down her back. The room felt muggy, and the scrutiny of the two men only intensified the heat. She couldn’t shake the impression that she was like an insect beneath a microscope—tiny and exposed.

The Holy Father turned his attention back to the Bishop. “Well?”

Bishop Joshua’s face was like stone. “Whatever happened, our security has been breached. I do not believe anyone could have gotten inside without our knowledge, which means whoever attacked Casius already lives here. It has to be someone on the inside.”

Father Caleb nodded. “I agree, but that still leaves the mystery of the locked door. Young Sara insists she heard noise from inside before opening the door, but Casius was in no shape to have made that sound. Someone else must have been there when she arrived.”

“A portal?” the Bishop asked.

“The Keep is protected. No one could use a portal to enter.”

“From outside, no, but from within it would be possible. What if Casius’s attacker opened a portal to his office from somewhere within the Keep?”

Sara wanted to ask what a portal was, but she feared the consequences of interrupting the men. Was the sort of magic they hinted at possible? They were taught that Ash-Shaytan would provide miraculous answers to prayer. Could the dark god do the same?

“If that is the case, we might be able to trace it to the source.”

“Sir,” Sara said, startling even herself.

The Holy Father turned to her, looking annoyed. “Yes, girl, what is it?”

Sara almost backed out, but she had come too far. “Sir, I know it is not my place to ask, but why did Manasseh want my parents dead?” She saw a look pass between the two men and knew they were hiding something.

Father Caleb began pacing again. “First of all, I do not believe the person you saw kill you parents was, in fact, Manasseh. Manasseh is a legend or, at least, long dead.”

“But the Word says—”

“Do you intend to teach me what the Word says?” The Holy Father’s tone grew cold.

“No sir,” Sara stammered. “I just—I’m sorry, sir.” How could she be stupid enough to disrespect the Holy Father?

“Never mind,” Father Caleb said. He turned again to the Bishop. “Whatever is going on, it seems, at least in part, to center on this girl. We need to ensure she is protected.”

Bishop Joshua nodded. “I will put a guard on her.”

“Wait,” Sara said again before thinking, “I don’t need anyone guarding me.”

“Silence, girl!” the Holy Father snapped. “Do you never shut up?”

Sara gulped and shrank back.

“That’s better.” Father Caleb straightened his robes and returned to his chair behind the modest desk. “Now, I don’t like any of this. Mark my words, young lady; we will get to the bottom of it. I don’t know how you are involved, but you are. Our enemies seem to have an interest in you, and I want to know just what it is they’re after.” With that, the Holy Father nodded to the Bishop and waved a hand, dismissing her.

Sara stood, bowed in the Holy Father’s direction, and headed for the door, biting her tongue the whole way.

“YOU DIDN’T TELL them about that
?
Weird eyes and personal threats might just be kind of important, don’t you think?” Dana whispered harshly.

Sara glanced at her guards standing a dozen paces away. Though they gave the impression of not paying her any attention, she knew they maintained keen awareness of everything going on around them. “Hush, Dana,” Sara hissed. “No. I mean, I wanted to, but they didn’t give me a chance.” She sighed. “Believe me, it’s very hard to concentrate when you’re alone in a room with the Holy Father and Bishop Joshua.”

Dana rubbed Sara’s back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scold. And I’m very sorry about your parents.” She shook her head. “What’s going on around here, anyway?”

Sara rubbed the sore spot on her chest. She lowered her voice. “I need to get back into Master Casius’s office. Father Caleb said whoever attacked Casius probably used some kind of portal. He also said a portal could be traced back to its origin.”

Ryan jumped into the conversation. “Just because the Holy Father or Bishop Joshua could trace it doesn’t mean you can. Do you have any idea what he’s even talking about?”

Sara shook her head. “That’s why I need to get back in there. Someone inside the Keep almost killed Master Casius, and now they may be after me, too. That same someone was involved in the murder of my parents. I won’t just let that go. The reason I went to Master Casius in the first place was because I thought he could help me. The attack might just prove I was right.”

“What about your new friends?” Dana asked, indicating the guards. “They aren’t going to let you waltz on up to the library. I heard they sealed off the upper floor anyway. There’s no way to get up there without being caught.”

Sara leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. “I know. I’m still working on that part.”

Dana looked thoughtful. “You know, as long as they don’t assign a female to guard you, I think we can ditch the guards fairly easily. They won’t follow you into the bathroom. The trick is going to be getting into the library without being seen.”

“I think I can help with that.”

They all spun toward the sound of the new voice. There stood Battle Master Eleazar, arms crossed and hard eyes glaring at the students.