“So she plans to become a city of moles, hiding in the dirt?”
“Well, yes and no, Your Holiness. She has also strengthened the defenses of the city. A series of catapults are in various states of construction around the outer walls, and soldiers are being drilled by officers appointed by Marshal Breckton. He has devised a number of redundant procedures for every contingency, allowing a means of giving commands in the form of horns, drums, and flags to be flown from the high towers. Archers have stockpiled thousands of arrows and any able-bodied citizen not already employed is working to gather wood for more. Even children are scouring the forest floors. Oil and tar vats are prepared and in ample supply at all gates.
“Signal fires were placed to burn the moment the elves were spotted. One was lit and the empress has ordered all of the roads leading to the city to be destroyed, save the southern gate. All bridges and dams are to be broken in order to prevent—”
“Destroyed?” the Patriarch interrupted. “When did she give this order?”
“Just last night.”
“Last night?” The Patriarch looked concerned. “Is there anything else?”
“The empress asked me to inquire what precautions you will be taking.”
“That is none of her business,” he replied.
Merton was shocked. “Begging your pardon, Your Holiness, but she is the empress as well as the head of the church. How is it not her business to know what efforts you have taken to secure her flock?”
The Patriarch glared at him for a moment, then softened his expression. “You are a good and devout member of the church, Merton of Ghent, and as our lord has seen fit to make you my liaison to the empress, I think perhaps it is time you were made aware of certain truths.”
“Your Holiness?”
“Empress Modina is not the head of this church,” the Patriarch declared simply.
“But she’s the Heir of Novron—”
“That’s exactly the problem—she is not.” The Patriarch licked his nonexistent lips and continued. “Bishop Saldur and Archbishop Galien overstepped their mandate while in Dahlgren. They took it upon themselves to declare the girl the anointed heir. It was a well-intentioned mistake. They were too impatient to wait for Novron to show the way, so they sought to artificially create a new empire. They picked this girl at random, using the unexpected incidents on the Nidwalden to serve as proof. What happened there, however, was proof of nothing. It’s a fabrication that a Gilarabrywn can only be slain by the blood of Novron. They used the ignorance of the masses to build this false empire.”
“Why didn’t you stop it?”
“What could I do? Did you think I chose to live my life in seclusion?”
Merton looked at the Patriarch for a moment, confused; then the revelation dawned on him. “You were a prisoner?”
“Why else would I be locked away at the top of the Crown Tower all these years, never seeing anyone?”
“These guards?”
“The only two souls I know to be truly loyal to me. They tried to free me once. They spoke out and Galien had their tongues sliced off. Only now, with Saldur and the others dead, and Ervanon destroyed, am I able to speak freely.”
“I can hardly believe it,” the monsignor said. “The archbishop, and Saldur as well? But they both seemed so kindly.”
“You have no idea of their ruthlessness. Now, as a result of their actions, a false god sits on the throne of our lord and our fate is in peril.”
“But you can do something about it now, can’t you?”
“What can I do? You’ve heard the mutterings of even old Bishop DeLunden. Imagine what the world would think if I tried to tell the truth. I would be labeled a jealous old man, clinging to lost power. No one would believe me. The empress would see me murdered, just as she eliminated Ethelred and Saldur when they stood in her way. No, I cannot act openly—not yet.”
“What do you intend to do, then?”
“There is a greater issue at stake. We do not face just the extinction of the empire, but of mankind. Modina and her actions will doom all of us.”
“Her preparations to defend the city certainly appear to—”
“Her efforts are useless, but that is not of which I speak.”
“You’re referring to the mission to Percepliquis?”
“Yes! It’s by this that she imperils all.”