Janos had of course understood that something was wrong, but after Liina affirming that there was no present danger, he held his tongue on the way back. Nothing indeed happened on the way back to Longtree, and once they had climbed through he hatch, he told Nopsa to wait while he went to get a cup of herbal tea. Nopsa took a look at Liina and decided to busy himself in preparing their beds, and gave her his extra cloak. With the warm cup between her hands, Liina finally found her voice.
"Oh no. OH NO. I… I just want to run into the cathedral and stay there until my parents ride to Kalaun and take me back to Wortbank. I… I know that makes no sense, but that's how I feel."
Nopsa wasn't one for mincing words. "What in all the hells and the purgatory besides happened?! You look fine, except that you're scared half to death."
"Feels like three quarters, more like. I… I think I saw the leader. I'm sure he didn't see me, since I'm here talking with you, but he somehow just made me terrified, like I was the smallest insect to be crushed."
Nopsa looked at Janos. "Did you see him? You don't seem much affected."
"Only by bits and pieces, though I did hear him speak. He didn't seem anything that special, though quite assured and commanding. Liina, do you want to tell more, or should I go first?"
She nodded for him to go first.
"Actually, now that I think of, Nopsa, you go first. I'm guessing you didn't see anything really notable since you've been mostly just been concerned about us?"
Nopsa nodded, then quickly explained his meager findings. As Janos explained what little he had seen and at greater length what he had heard, Nopsa asked some questions, but also kept looking at Liina, who just waved for Janos to continue his story to the end. Finally, she spoke as well, after a long exhalation.
"We knew this might be bad, but I think we must assume this is worse. I certainly agree with Janos that there was some kind of magic involved, and it certainly seems that their leader was the one working it. As for my reaction, I'd been meditating earlier, before you came, Nopsa, about tomorrow. I also prayed to the Seven before they started leaving, and you know I'm receptive to feeling the presence of the Seven. Therefore, I'm guessing that this Glove is some kind of cultist, and the Seven let me pierce through whatever shield he had woven to protect others from noticing his true soul."
Nopsa looked sceptical. "Wait, these are all powerful people, right? They had to return to their luxurious parties before others would notice that they were gone?"
Janos looked unsure. "That could be a way to intrepret what I heard. Well, yes, the most likely explanation, I'll admit."
"So, doesn't that mean they'll be interacting with lots of priests as well? All the barons have a bishop, shouldn't the Seven be sending THEM a message that your noble man here isn't following the teachings like he should?!"
"Shh. It's late." Liina looked at him, pained. "And actually, not all baronies have a bishop; some have a provost. But you're right in your main argument. I don't knpw why I'd be sent this message and not one of the inquisitors. It's their job to find and deal with cultists."
"Hey, you seem to be awfully sure he's a cultist."
"I don't know what he is, but this I know for certain: he is NOT a faithful follower of the church I've found comfort in all my life, the church of Seven to whom all – well, most – people far and wide owe their spiritual fealty, the church through which we can thank the Seven for all the blessings they bestow upon us."
"Ooh, that made me shiver. Maybe your mom is right and you should become a priest."
Liina snorted. "My thanks, Nopsa. You always know how to ground us. But yes, I'll be going to the cathedral tomorrow. Hopefully I'll find someone to help me deal with whatever that experience was."
They were all silent for a moment, then Janos spoke up. "I've tried to learn a bit about how magic works, so correct me if I'm wrong, Liina. Is it possible that usually he has some sort of magical camouflage, but maybe had to remove it for the rituals, and he hadn't put it back on when you saw him?"
"Hmm… that would make sense. The horse came to him, and it seemed terrified, as was I. Once he was on the horse, I think the effect was already lesser, I just didn't understand that in the moment, with the way it had washed over me just moments earlier."
"And once he started to move into public spaces, he donned the camouflage once again."
"Yes. If I can get a priest with knowledge of magical workings to talk with me, that'll be a good theory to start with. Though I don't particularly like being compared to a horse like that." She frowned.
Nopsa was, as usual, ready with a jest. "Hey, hey, it was the first time you ever came up against something like that. I'm sure I would've fled in panic and given up the game, so you did good. Next time, you'll do better than his dumb old horse."
"I wasn't exactly kidding with what I said at first. I very much wish I could just burrow under the safety of the cathedral's main altar and curl up there for the next week. So although maybe you might be willing to tempt fate like that, I am going to do my utmost best that there isn't a next time."
"What, not even with a a couple squads of royal rangers and a dozen inquisitors?"
"You gather those up for me, and sure, I'll go cultist-hunting. Not before."
With a bit more light banter, they got to sleeping, though they did first bar the hatch just in case, and Liina said the longest bedtime prayers any of them had ever heard. Neither Janos nor Nopsa had anything against that.
Next morning, Liina would have happily slept for longer, but most of the lodgers were interested in getting up early for the first of the three days of the coronation. Thus, it was time for chores once again, and after the warehouse has quieted down a bit, they had to decide how to spend their day. She'd slept surprisingly well, all things considered, but there was still a strange weariness upon her.
"Ahh, I suppose I should get out and to the cathedral, though I do feel like taking a nap now that I've eaten. How about you?"
"I thought me and Janos could maybe go look at the other warehouse once again. I'm still a bit curious about how difficult it is to walk on the roof. Maybe check if there are any tracks from this morning."
"We can walk by again if you insist, but I think that at this point, getting what we heard to some higher authority is more important than rooftop sneaking. Liina, where were you meeting with Ulrika today?"
"Ah, we actually weren't. Apparently most of these three days she has other responsibilies. I can send her a letter though."
"I think this is more important than that. You know where she's staying, right?"
"Ooh, it would be a breach of etiquette to bother her. Might reflect badly on her with her hosts."
"I think it's a risk we need to take. At the very least, we need to know if she got anywhere with Filippa."
Nopsa piped up. "Hey, Janos, how about that Royal Ranger? He might not be much for stopping cultists right now, with that leg of his, but he can tell his captain, right?"
"I had been thinking about that, myself. The problem is, I'm not sure they have much anyone to spare. As I understood it, they were already spreading themselves thin elsewhere in Kuiko, just to make sure they can follow what's going on in Kalaun and protect the King as best they can."
"But isn't this exactly the kind of thing that they exist for? To seek out his enemies, wherever they may be? And by what you told us, those conspirators sure seemed to be enemies of his."
"You're right enough. It's just that…"
Liina understood. "You're thinking of joining them. And you feel you don't have enough details, no clear suspects, no definite evidence. That they'll dismiss this as a flight of fancy, an overactive imagination, and think less of you because of it."
"That too, though I was also thinking that they might see this as a deliberate distraction. That would be even worse."
"Yes, I can see what you mean. Now, Nopsa, if I'm correct and their leader is a cultist, the inquisitors of the church would certainly get involved in this as well. I don't know how the jurisdictions would intersect –"
"The whats the what?"
"Ahh, if there is a plot against the king by cultists, which side is allowed to do what. There's both the law of the king and the law of church at play here."
"Why not both? The more the merrier to chase down cultists, I'd think!"
"Well, laws don't work that way. They have to be sure what they can do."
"Is anybody really going to care what happens to a cultist?"
"Depends. To a leader, probably not, but the Seven encourage mercy, and followers and such should be given a chance to recant."
"Well, I guess, yeah."
"And as we Janos noted earlier, it's not impossible at all that someone might start rumours of enemies or competitors being cultists, and try to get rid of them that way."
"Or even plant false evidence. What we saw – well, what I heard and Liina felt – aren't such, but a scheming noble might be able to invent something worse."
Nopsa sighed. "All this thinking about how plots might or might not work is too much for me."
Liina patted him sympathetically. "I don't like it either. I hope they have some way of seeing the truth in my words at the cathedral. So, Janos? I think we first go see if we can talk to Ulrika, then we split up unless she's gotten lucky. Nopsa, any opinion which one of us you want to join?"
"I already visited the tournaments yesterday, so I guess the cathedral this time. Though I'm hoping Ulrika has some better option."
It turned out Ulrika's hosts didn't have their own house, but one owned by a loose alliance of nobles from a few distantly related families. It took a little while to convince the servants to first take a message to Ulrika, then a bit more for her to arrange a small sideroom for their discussion. The servants looked a bit suspiciously at the three of them, but finally let them in, with Ulrika arriving a few moments later.
"Sorry, I can't be long, I need to start getting ready for an important lunch soon. In case anyone asks, I invented a lie about you being peasants of a unmarried wealthy landed knight further north along the Ironflow that I just got to know about, and you're passing messages along or him. So, since you're here, I assume you've found out something more serious?"
Janos quickly condensed what he had heard, then let Liina explain her strange experience.
"So, before I go to the cathedral, have you gotten any possible contacts among the nobility? Any chance of Filippa, for example?"
"No, not yet. I sent a few letters yesterday, but only a few replied so far, and she's not among them. I wouldn't be concerned about that, since I couldn't be too direct about things before. I'll try to see if I can quickly write something more straightforward now… though I'm not sure how to add your testimony to it. Probably best if one – or better, all three – of you deliver it, and insist on waiting for a response. If she's willing and believes me, she can then ask for your testimony in person."
Nopsa spoke up. "Wait! Are we sure she's not involved in this?"
"Unfortunately, we can't be. However, you probably would have recognized her yesterday, right? And, if she is involved, that would mean that most of what I've learned of her would be false, and I'd wager the same holds for you?"
Liina nodded almost immediately, Janos after a moment or two, then Nopsa shrugged.
"You're right enough. We need to trust someone, might as well be the liege-lord we know best."
"Exactly. Besides, just from your description, I could think of a couple nobles who I'd consider much more likely. I know one isn't – he's much too minor a court noble of Filippa's to be involved – but he's the type. If we had the whole morning to discuss this, we could probably figure out three or four between what I know of the nobles and what Janos heard. Now, I think the best course of action is this: you go on as you've planned, but come back here around mid-afternoon. By then, I should be back from the lunch and have a letter to Filippa. You deliver it, and we'll see what happens. That is, of course, if Liina isn't able to rouse more powerful support from the church."
"You think that's possible?"
"It's all a big toss of dice, but if you happen to find the right ears, who can verify what you saw and felt, you could have an inquisitor and some church guard raiding that warehouse before sunset. Not likely at all, mind you, but possible."
"That's … a lot quicker than what I thought."
"The inquisition has a lot of leeway in cases such as this. Again, you'd need the luck of Ripats for that to happen. Inquisitors have been forced into distant monasteries for making mistakes against nobles, so they almost never act quickly against them, but some warehouse? It's possible. Likely to be invasive though – they might want to read your mind."
"Oh."
"Exactly. So, weigh your words carefully. Now, I really must go." Ulrika stood up, then guided them back to the front door, talking more for the servants than them. "I really hope to see at least one of you mid-afternoon. I'll have a letter for you ready by then."
As they had planned, they split up, with Liina and Nopsa going to the cathedral. Gaining entry was a bit trickier than yesterday, but with Nopsa's ready answers and quick wit, they managed to get into a waiting room. Liina tried a few times to make contact with the novices or deacons she saw, but most were too busy and simply directed her back to wait. Nopsa, on the other hand, first talked with most of the other petitioners, sympathizing with their problems and deftly asking questions about possible contacts among the clergy, then got back to Liina with what he'd learned. They decided to sneak to the record-keeping, and with Liina's note, got there without much problems. After they'd talked some time with a scribe she hadn't seen yesterday, they were noticed by the one who had guided her, who came over, curious about the revisit. Nopsa decided to intervene, telling a toned-down version of the story of what had happened, leaving out Janos' part and only noting the thickly cloaked men of mystery, as well as Liina's powerful reaction to the last one leaving. Ending on a sympaty-gathering note about waiting all morning among the petitioners, he was able to get some of the scribes pondering who would be the best to contact. A few of the older ones gathered in a corner, whispered amongst themselves, and finally decided that they could bother someone they called an ''attached librarian'' for a moment. Although the term meant nothing to Liina, this choice was quickly approved by the assembled scribes, an older scribe left to fetch the august personage, and most of the others left for their duties. A short while later the older scribe guided them to a small waiting room, told them that the attached librarian would be talking to them hopefully soon, then left them to wait.
The older man that entered after a short while certainly could have passed as a librarian to Nopsa – the thin frame, quiet voice, slightly hunched back, ink-stained fingertips and shuffling gait were all quite typical. He greeted them, asked their names and home village, quickly checked the letter of recommendation Liina had, then asked for a short description of events. Unlike Nopsa, Liina got a sharp feeling from him, and noted the strength that he could put his questions, almost forcing one to answer them without forethought. Not a normal librarian, this one. After giving as much detail as she could remember, with a few rather strange clarifying questions, he silently pondered for a moment before continuing.
"Hmm, yes, interesting. As you may guess, I'm not the best person to deal with things like this, but for reasons you almost certainly can't. In other ways, I may very well be the most useful person right now. Well, maybe that ranger fellow your friend has gone to see will be able to assist more. Hmm. For now, I'll take myself to be a guidepost that St. Huwisa of the Quill has set upon your path, yes."
Liina frowned. "I've read that name somewhere, now and again."
"Ah, yes, a good mind you have. She is often mentioned somewhere in the acknowledgements of books. The patron saint of many of us here, being the protector of Scribes and Librarians, may she ever keep our nibs sharp and our ink smooth."
"Oh, yes, that's also where. She had her own line in the appendix of a list. The main saints that had longer descriptions were more local and pertinent to peasant life. Though I think Huwisa was also the protector of geeseherders?"
"It's where we get the quills from. But well remembered."
"Oh, of course."
"Now, young learned peasant, who may indeed become a scribe one day, what shall we do with you and your strange vision? You can somewhat sense the Seven, but possibly their enemies also? Hmm. Well, I suppose a simple test could be adminstered. Stay here, please. This will take a short while." He left without looking back.
"Wow, he can actually move quickly."
"There's more to him than just being a librarian, Nopsa. I don't know what exactly, but be careful with your words."
"Oh no, not more plots or politicking?"
"No, he doesn't seem like that, not exactly. But did you see how quickly he read through my note? That was faster than anyone I've ever seen, much faster than Ulrika even."
"You're right. I didn't really think about it, but now that you mentioned it… and I'm not sure, but I think his lips didn't even move, his eyes just quickly flickered back and forth."
"Yes. He must read every day and huge amounts. What kind of person does that?"
"Don't all librarians?"
"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. From what I've heard from Ulrika and seen here, there's a lot more organizing, helping readers and that sort of thing. He didn't really seem like the type that would help petitioners find the right books, you know, helping them locate something about the history of their home village or their relatives."
"Yeah, he seemed like his best friends would be books, not people."
"A perhaps disparaging estimation, young man, but you are not entirely incorrect." The librarian had opened the door silently, without them noticing. He walked back to his chair, his eyes flickering around the room, and Liina had the feeling that he could detect that they had not touched or moved a single thing, except maybe the tablecloth. On the table he put two small bags, seemingly simple linen but with runes embroidered upon them and the leather cords that held them shut. "Lucky. We had these two at hand. Liina, give me your impressions on these." He opened one bag and dropped a old hardened leather grip into her hands.
Liina started. She felt a warm glow, then tried to explain her feelings. "It's… it wants to protect me? I should maybe attach this to a shield. It would never drop from my grasp, not as long as I was ready to defend the weak."
His eyebrows raised. "Impressive. Good attunement. Interesting. Now, this second one?"
The second item was a rough small round light gray stone, tinted towards blue. "It feels… rather cold? And somehow heavy. Maybe… it would be better for Nopsa to have it, to sling it at someone?"
"I could try, but it's a bit too big. Wouldn't fly too far."
"Sorry, I'm not getting much from this. Well, a strange thought about how it might crush someone's skull if Nopsa was slinging it, but that's about it. Ugh, that's disgusting."
"You can't really do that with a sling. Crack, yes, crush, no."
The librarian took the stone back as well, tied the knots, then stared at Liina a bit before speaking. "Yes, you obviously have talent. Now, knowledge. Any guesses on the items?"
"Not really. The first was some holy relic, obviously, but I have no idea of whom or from where. Wait. One of the peninsulas, I think. Lambs in a lush meadow, the ocean in the far distance. Whom? No… no, sorry, nothing comes to mind."
"You definitely have the gift of sensing holy things. The other?"
"Ah… I'm guessing something unholy, from a cultist, but that's the best I can say for now."
Nopsa piped in. "I'd guess Fimbul! It's heavy and cold, like him. And he likes crushing things, he does it and yells about it in all the stories." He looked around, remembering where he was. "Uhh, before Samuela of course destroys him. Or at least drives him away."
The librarian nodded. "Well remembered. Hmm. I was actually hoping for a stronger reaction on the second. It would corroborate your statements better. Still… well, I may be able to do something. Perhaps. Though of course I also have previous engagements, and since I could not convince myself with this test, there may be some delay." He took a small scrap of paper, scribbled something on it, took a small stamp from his purse, stamped the paper, and then looked at Liina. "I trust you will act responsibly and come alert us in the holy orders if you find better evidence?"
Liina nodded. "Holy… orders? Of course, yes."
"I thought so. Here. You may contact me if necessary, but I'll inform my bretheren. They will be more suited in helping you in such adventures." He gave her the piece of paper, then started walking out, until he turned back, remembering something. "Oh. Yes. Be careful. I assume you could get killed."
Liina looked at the paper, incredulous. The handwriting was unbelievably clean for how quickly he had written. It stated: "Hereby, with this note, allow Liina of Wortbank to present evidence of a cultist conspiracy to the Inquisition if she so deems necessary." and was followed by the official seal. She let Nopsa look at it. "Oh my goodness. Well, we…"
"We have a contact, now we just need something better to show them. I hope Janos is willing to let me try sneaking on the roof."