Jim had just bitten off a large hunk of bread and cheese, and was forced to wash it down with red wine; after almost choking a little, he said, ‘Very well.’ Again he shared his experiences in the Jal-Pur desert, describing the scene of slaughter and self-sacrifice as best he could. Given his years of training in observing detail, the narrative lasted almost half an hour.
None of the others spoke until he was finished. Pug said, ‘That is horrible, indeed.’ He looked at Amirantha, ‘You demanded that we have an expert in death present. Now, what other than the obvious sickening detail, troubles you? What are we missing?’
Amirantha had been preparing for this question since he had first heard Jim’s account. ‘Nothing that Jim observed really makes sense. I will explain, but first let me ask the Holy Father, how much demon lore he understands?’
‘Little, truth to tell,’ answered the old man. ‘Here our concerns lie in preparing the faithful for their eventual journey to our Lady. We are put upon this world to help a fragile humanity understand that this life is but a part of a more profound journey; to let them know that if they live a just and honourable existence our mistress will place them upon a proper path towards ultimate enlightenment. Beyond that, our knowledge is gathered piecemeal; we share what we know with others,’ he acknowledged Pug with an inclination of his head, ‘and have in turn been given the benefit of their wisdom.’ He laughed. ‘Besides, I was told to work with Pug.’
Amirantha looked surprised. ‘Told to? By whom?’
‘By Our Lady herself,’ said the old priest. ‘It is rare to have a visitation, but it does occur. Usually it’s a revelation for the faithful and is proclaimed throughout the land, but in this case I was simply told to help Pug in whatever way I could and to keep my mouth shut about it.’ He laughed. ‘I may be the only leader in the history of the temple to have had a personal revelation and be unable to boast of it.’
Amirantha said, ‘Then to understand what I must tell you, I shall have to tell you a story I have already shared with Pug and Jim.’
Amirantha detailed his childhood, describing his existence on the fringes of Satumbria society, his mother’s role as witch and her being tolerated by the villagers because of her skill with potions and unguents. ‘She was also very beautiful, and as a result, she bore three children by three fathers, none of whom would claim us.’
He went on to compare his brothers, explaining how the eldest, Sidi, had murdered their mother for pleasure. He painted the next eldest, Belasco, as a man obsessed with surpassing his brothers in any endeavour, spurred into rage by the mere thought of being bested, and as someone who had, for reasons Amirantha only vaguely understood, been trying to kill his younger brother for the last fifty years.
‘I can’t even begin to guess which slight, real or imagined, set Belasco on his quest for my death, but it hardly matters.’ He paused to sip some wine to ease his dry throat.
‘You possess a most interesting family, certainly,’ the High Priest observed. ‘But I’m failing to see how any of it is connected to Jim’s report.’
‘I’m getting there, Holy Father,’ said Amirantha. ‘I recount my history so that you’ll understand fully what it is that I believe to be behind that murderous exercise in Jal-Pur.’ He paused, gathering his thoughts. ‘My eldest brother Sidi, whom you may also know by the name Leso Varen, was mad even as a child, and only got more insane as he grew. By the time he killed our mother he had become a remorseless monster with no sense of humanity. His obsession was death magic.’
The old priest nodded. ‘I recognize the name Leso Varen; he was a necromancer of prodigious art and from all reports, a font of evil.’
‘Whatever you have read would not have done the man justice,’ said Amirantha as Pug nodded his agreement. ‘If there ever existed a shred of humanity in his being, it was extinguished long before he became a player in this monstrous game we find ourselves in.
‘But Belasco was different; he was consumed by envy and rage, jealous of any feat completed or skill attained by my brother or I. But unlike either of us, he had real talents, although he often neglected them in order to best our achievements. I can well imagine him dabbling in necromancy or demon lore, but the murderous scene that Jim described is…It’s not something he would normally be party to. Nor is playing servant to a demon, no matter how powerful it is.’
‘Why?’ asked Pug.
Sipping his wine again, Amirantha said, ‘Because Belasco would choose death before he would willingly serve anyone or anything.’
‘There’s more,’ said the High Priest, and it wasn’t a question.
‘Belasco would also refrain from using this sort of death magic. Here’s the conundrum: death magic is not used by those who consort with demons.’
Pug suddenly became very interested, and looked as if he wished to say something or ask a question, but instead he said, ‘Go on.’
‘Holy Father,’ asked Amirantha, ‘what use has death magic?’