She watched as Sienna parted the wards and opened the front door. Two men stood there: one wearing a long red robe, the other a blue uniform with a silver star on the collar. A guardsman, she guessed. The robed man looked to have had too much comfortable living – he was strikingly pudgy, with a long white beard that fell to his chest – but his companion reminded her of General Pollack. His scars told her that the guardsman had been through too much to let himself run to fat.
“Guildmaster Jalil,” Sienna said. “And Captain Haverford.”
“It is always a pleasure, Mediator,” Jalil said. His voice was so perfectly aristocratic that he would have fit in at King Randor’s court. “And Lady Emily, I believe. It is a pleasure to meet you at last.”
“Guildmaster Jalil is the current Grand Guildmaster,” Sienna said, as she led the two men into the living room. Emily frowned. She was fairly sure that Jalil had been one of the people who’d sent her letters. “Captain Haverford is the current head of the City Guard.”
“That I am.” Haverford had a curt way of speaking that reminded her of Sergeant Harkin. Emily was fairly sure that Haverford was not a man to play politics. “And time is not on our side.”
Sienna nodded. “Your bodyguards will get impatient,” she agreed. “You have a small army waiting outside.”
“The streets are not safe,” Haverford said. “The Guard is overwhelmed.”
Jalil cleared his throat, looking directly at Sienna. “As the Grand Guildmaster. I am formally requesting your assistance with the investigation.”
Sienna lifted her eyebrows. “Mine?”
“Your word is good, Mediator,” Jalil said. “We need to know what happened to Vesperian, now. Did he commit suicide? Did he fall off the building by accident? Or was he pushed?”
There was something up there, Emily thought. But what?
“An understandable request,” Sienna said. “I will require the usual compensatory package, as well as a warrant from the Council to question witnesses and go wherever I deem necessary.”
Jalil reached into his robes and produced a piece of old-style parchment. “I took the liberty of convincing the Council to sign,” he said, holding it out to Sienna. “They are desperate for answers.”
“Then I will be off presently,” Sienna said. She glanced at Emily. “I will be taking Lady Emily with me, of course.”
Emily stared at her. “Me?”
Jalil…showed no visible reaction at all. “If you are willing to assume responsibility for her, then I dare say we can offer no objection. But please be careful.”
“Of course,” Sienna said.
“And we would also like the services of your husband,” Haverford added. “The City Guard is being reinforced.”
“It will be my pleasure to serve,” General Pollack said.
“Then we will take our leave.” Jalil rose, ponderously, and bowed. “I look forward to your report.”
Emily stared after them until they’d left the house. “You’re taking me along?”
“Everyone knows you have an odd sense for magic,” Sienna said. “And besides, I don’t want to leave you and Caleb alone.”
She ignored Emily’s flush. “Get your cloak. We’ll be leaving in ten minutes.”
Emily swallowed the angry response that came to mind. She wasn’t Sienna’s daughter-in-law, not yet. Sienna couldn’t order her around as if she were a servant. And yet…she was curious. Jalil was right. They did need to know what had happened to Vesperian as soon as possible. She hurried back to the kitchen, told Frieda what had happened, and went to grab her coat. It would be chilly outside.
The streets were surprisingly clear, even after they passed through the wards, but there were signs of damage all around. She saw watching eyes peering from upper windows as they walked down the street, past damaged storefronts and a handful of dead bodies lying in the gutter. Small squads of city guardsmen marched from place to place, carrying their clubs as if they expected an attack at any moment. Perhaps they were right, Emily thought. She was sure one of the bodies had been wearing a guardsman’s uniform.
Temple Row was a mess, she saw, as they turned the corner. Hundreds of statues had been damaged or destroyed, while several temples had been desecrated. Priests and their devotees tried to clean up the mess, watched by patrolling guardsmen. A small pile of bodies, some hacked to pieces, had been dumped at the edge of the street. She hoped someone removed the bodies before they started to decay. Beneficence had enough problems without a disease outbreak.
The Temple of War was a shadow of its former self. The stone walls still stood, but the interior had been thoroughly devastated. Sienna let out a grunt of pain as they approached the coffin, then a sigh of relief as she checked the wards. The coffin remained intact, thankfully. Emily wanted to say something – anything – as Sienna paused, but nothing came to mind. Eventually, Caleb’s mother led her out into the back garden. Vesperian’s body still lay on the ground.
“It’s definitely him.” Sienna paced around the body, muttering to herself. “His fall must have been slowed, a little. The face is remarkably intact for someone who fell ten stories and landed hard.”
Emily glanced at Sienna with respect. She hadn’t thought of that.
Sienna looked up. “He fell from the Temple of Stone,” she added, thoughtfully. “How did he even get to the roof?”
The temple was deserted, they discovered. Sienna pulled a wand from her belt and waved it around, then stepped back in puzzlement. The wards that should have been in place, keeping out supernatural vermin and unbelievers, were gone. Instead, there was a faint sense of…absence that chilled Emily to the bone.
She looked at Sienna. “Was Vesperian a…I mean…did he go to this temple?”
“If he had any religious beliefs, I don’t know about them.” Sienna sounded as though she was worried by some other thought. “There should be someone here at all times, Emily. I don’t like the look of this.”
Emily frowned. “They could be hiding at home?”