Laromendis left, and Pug sighed. He had much to do, but it seemed that a quick visit to Elvandar was now at the top of his list.
Amirantha was astonished by elf’s insight and observational skills. Gulamendis had quickly digested all that Amirantha had come to understand from the tome they had removed from Queg, and had drawn conclusions from the material that had left him doubting his own intelligence; they were obvious once they were pointed out. The elf was slightly arrogant at times, but was for the most part respectful of the work Amirantha had done and had complemented him on a particular insight on more than one occasion. Amirantha could have become increasingly annoyed with the elf’s attitude or accept it for what it was; he chose the latter, because he was forced to admit that his own behaviour mirrored that of the Demon Master more closely than anyone else he had ever met.
He left Gulamendis alone, taking a break from the work, as the Warlock had given everything he had to give, and was tired of reading, discussing, and wondering. He simply needed a few moments outside, in the fresh air, away from worry and concern.
That sense of freedom vanished a moment later when Sandreena’s voice cut through the air: ‘Amirantha! I need a word.’
As he turned to watch her approach, two things struck him simultaneously: the first was that she still took his breath away, despite her martial apparel. He knew all too well how she looked without the armour, tunic and trousers. The second was that he knew she would want more than one word. He recognized that expression.
Deciding it was time to say little and listen, he said, ‘Of course, Sandreena. What is it?’
She paused, gauging his expression and manner, deciding what to say next, then she blurted, ‘I’ve been made Mother-Bishop of the Order in the west.’
He inclined his head slightly, smiled and said, ‘Congratulations. Deserved without a doubt and I know you will excel in your new post.’
She blinked, revealing that whatever she had expected him to say, that wasn’t it. Then suddenly she reached across and backhanded him across the face, knocking him to the ground.
Amirantha sat stunned for a moment, then reached up and put his hand to his now throbbing right cheek. Finally he said, ‘I wish you’d stop hitting me.’
Her eyes shining with emotion, she hissed, ‘Just be glad you’re needed; otherwise I’d have no compunction about killing you!’ With that she turned and hurried off, back to the keep.
Walking back to the keep she passed Brandos, who took one look at Sandreena’s determined stride and then another at Amirantha sitting on the ground and broke into a broad grin. Coming to stand over his old friend, he reached down and helped him to his feet. ‘You’d better do something to help that girl get over you, or she’s going to kill you.’
‘Any suggestions?’ asked Amirantha, wiggling his jaw and hearing it pop in and out.
‘Kill her first or marry her, are the only two that come to mind.’
‘Marry? She’d rather marry a demon. Not to mention she’s just been promoted to Mother-Bishop.’
‘No wonder she’s so cranky,’ observed Brandos. ‘Well, I guess marriage is out of the question. Unless you think you’d like temple life?’
Amirantha gave him a look that would wither fresh flowers. ‘You wanted something?’
‘Yes. Pug sent me to fetch you. Gulamendis seems to have found something in that book you stole…retrieved from Queg.’
Amirantha put aside his annoyance, and confusion over Sandreena and followed his friend. Brandos led him to the entrance to the tower, and said, ‘Let me know if it’s anything interesting.’
‘Things have hardly been boring around here lately,’ said Amirantha moving quickly up the stairs.
Reaching Pug’s private study, he knocked once and heard Pug say, ‘Come in.’
Amirantha entered and found the magician sitting at his desk with Gulamendis seated in a chair opposite him. Amirantha said, ‘You sent for me?’
‘Yes,’ said Pug. ‘Gulamendis has interpreted a few of the passages that seemed to have caused you some problems, and we have, if he’s correct, a very different situation than we anticipated.’
‘Really?’ said the Warlock, sitting in the empty chair next to the elf.
‘Yes,’ said Pug. ‘I’ll let him explain how he arrived at these conclusions, but in short, it seems that things in the demon realm are not how we imagined them to be.’
‘I thought we understood that Belasco subverted our demons when Villa Beata was sacked.’
Pug visibly tensed at mention of the destruction of his home, where his wife died.
‘Sorry,’ Amirantha said softly. ‘No disrespect intended. What has changed?’
It was Gulamendis who spoke. ‘I want to go over this with you in detail, Amirantha, but unless I have been misled, my brother and I witnessed part of a very nasty civil war in the demon realm.’