Chapter 68

The Grand Cardinal's eyebrow quirked again. Katarina had returned to her defiance. She was unfailingly insolent and rude when she shouldn't.

This insistence she be addressed by her House title was interesting, as well. She hadn't been home for twenty years, and suddenly she starts demanding House rights? Baffling. What was a Boiyar, anyway? A vague answer drifted to mind: A local lord. A Landed Noble, barely considered part of the peerage. The Grand Cardinal's eyes narrowed at this.

This had to be Bianka's influence. It was known that Katarina had returned to the Pavlenko family estate in Begierde. Bianka had passed the title to Katarina. Her eye twitched.

The Pavlenkos had controlling interests in every major city down the Tems from Tannit to Begierde, and the port of Einsamkeit. They could also claim -albeit distantly, and through marriage- relation to the nobility of Nauders. Was this a leveraged threat of those selfsame cities standing against the Anglish Empire, just as the Grand Cardinal had suggested to Celeste only a scant few days before?

A long moment of silence again. Katarina didn't question herself about whether or not she would lose her Writ. Her Writ was simply a piece of paper, it was not who she was. Even if she was censured by the Church, she would still serve the Golden Lady. She had made her choice, and willingly.

She smiled to herself as relief washed over her. These past few months since she'd spent time with Araya the Diviner she had been prone to bouts of introspection and worry. The struggle to accept the dreams she had as she journeyed through the forests east of Norn. The blighted and gibbering blasphemies of Ardeal that threatened her sanity. The inner struggles as she debated allowing Ollara to live. The crushing sense of despair as she called the Goddess to purge a village of nonhumans, despite the compassion and care they had extended her. Had they finally lifted? She could only hope so. Certainly she should have, considering what had been done to her, the path she had chosen, and accepted. Yet the relief she felt was a comfort.

"You smile, Katarina of the Witch Hunters." The Grand Cardinal remarked as she accepted a small sheaf of papers from one of the Lady Cardinals. She held one up to candlelight and made a show of examining it, but her eyes were on the young Witch Hunter.

It was at that moment Glory surged forward, searing fire in her breast. From time to time it tried to break free. It was not meant to be kept and confined. You could not keep a candle under a basket. It would only burn the hotter.

Who am I? She asked. Certainly, she was Boiyar Katarina lon Pavlenko, but there was more than that now, wasn't there?

She turned her determination inwards. Memories flashed by; irrelevant. People, strangers, faces flowed by in an endless parade. Pointless. Life was meaningless and fleeting, the only reward anyone received was a shovelful of earth to the face when it was over.

Except her. She was more.

The pain eased. There was still time. She could still play pretend with them, at least for a while.

"Of course. Censure me if you will, revoke my Writ if you must. Ever will I serve the Golden Lady in thought, word and deed." She replied. Not that there was any other choice, anymore. She chose the path, she walked the path.

"Now there's a statement I would not believe from anyone but a Witch Hunter." The Grand Cardinal sat back in her chair. "Your kind have always been forceful... no, willful and flippant, chaotic and absurdly extremist. Devotion to the Golden Lady is often lip service, except for your kind. I can expect a pastoral cleric or preacher to speak such devotions, but I always wonder whether they say these things with devotion..." she trailed off for a moment and then shook her head. "Or ambition." She smiled. "I don't need to question the duplicity in you, for it does not exist. Simple, straightforward, and practical."

Katarina was silent. She agreed with the Grand Cardinal's statements, though. The vagaries of politics weren't lost to her, but like most Witch Hunters, she simply held no interest for them.

The matronly woman's face was blank and implacable, but internally she was reluctant and unsure of how to proceed. In a flash of insight, she remembered her dream.

"I have been given a dream from the Golden Lady." The Grand Cardinal stated, leaning forward again and peering down at the witch hunter. As one, the Lady Cardinals heads' whipped up and towards the larger woman in shock and surprise. It was rare for anyone to have what was termed "mysterium fidei", a "mystery of faith", a Dream or Revelation, something that was described in the Canon of the Church of the Golden Lady, "that which, being outside the unassisted natural apprehension, can be made known only by divine revelation; to mean a mystery hidden in the Golden Lady, which can never be known unless revealed by her Divine radiance" and rarer still that one would keep it hidden. Dreams and Revelations were powerful in and of themselves, but also valuable political tools for the one to receive it.

"Twenty years ago, I was given a Dream. Many things were revealed to me in that Dream, and one of the smallest fractions of that Dream was that I was directed to bring you into the arms of the church. I was directed to watch you, Katarina, and I have; I have looked after you in my own way."

"I have been given a dream too, Francesca." Katarina wanted to reply. "Where the Grand Cathedral was piles of stone and ash and only shadows walked the grounds." But no.

The Grand Cardinal's face was inscrutable, her eyes tight and hard. "No, there will be no censure. You have taken the gifts we have given and become the strongest, most effective hunter we have seen in centuries. It has always seemed like you were born to become a Witch Hunter, Katarina. I have followed your exploits off and on through the years. Not a speck of ambition, only a desire to learn and a desire to do the job you were assigned, and since you donned the mantle and took up the Writ of a Witch Hunter, you have excelled at that duty. I would be as proud as any mother would be of her daughter but for your atrocious attitude."

Her eyes were flinty and hard as she glared down at the younger woman.

"But I mean to remind you that you belong to an organization larger and greater than just yourself, and that all of us serve the Golden Lady humbly." She stated firmly, stressing the need for humility.

Katarina opened her mouth to object, brows drawing together in anger, but the Grand Cardinal's voice rose a fraction and she rode over her in a flat, imperious voice that would brook no opposition.

"You are to remain in the custody of the Book for the next ..." She glanced at the papers- "two months. Minimum." She said flatly.

Katarina's eyes widened in outrage.

"We have few gifts to bestow upon one such as you, but I believe this one will appeal to your tastes as well as your pragmatism." The Grand Cardinal stated, seemingly ignoring the furious woman glaring up at her from the petitioner's stand. Instead, she withdrew a folded slip of paper, a heavy seal with ribbons dangling at the end and held it out towards her. Katarina moved to approach, but an acolyte who had been lurking quietly behind Katarina suddenly darted forward, startling her and upsetting her advance. He took the paper from the Lady Cardinal and presented it to Katarina.

Katarina snatched the paper from the acolyte and scanned the document furiously. Her fury melted away into confusion and then into shock and surprise. "A drake?" She raised her eyebrows.

The Grand Cardinal nodded. "Indeed, a female, at that. We have one here for you. You're to spend the next two months here, training with her to fly. I am given to understand there is a significant difference between travelling over land and the mysteries of flight."

Katarina grit her teeth. Certainly, she was honored. Honored and humbled with awe. A female drake was extremely rare and expensive. Drakes were said to be cousin to the legendary Dragons of myth, but there the resemblance ended. Drakes were counted as being intelligent, though incapable of human speech, and were roughly the size of a horse. Female drakes were capable of flight, a distinct advantage over the wingless males. Rare, expensive, and valuable.

Still, she could not see her way around the situation. Her eyes lit up.

"A drake- a female drake- is potentially amazing." She agreed, but tossed the sheaf of papers indifferently to the floor of the High Court. "But it would require a radical rethinking of my entire way of life." She rolled her eyes. " How am I to hunt rogue witches in the forest if I cannot see through the trees?" She asked pointedly. "I know how to track on the ground. From the air? Yeah, I don't think so." She sighed. "For every one Witch I am assigned, I usually kill three to four additional mages." She explained. "Because I am very good at tracking through the forest."

Katarina spun her scrollcase on her hand meditatively. "You think you're rewarding me, but where would I find food for such an animal? Were I to land such a beast in the center of a logging village, exactly how long would it take the local militia to decide to kill me?" She wondered aloud.

The Grand Cardinal snorted. "You certainly have a unique way of expressing gratitude, young lady. Perhaps you can work on that." Her eyes shifted to the other Lady Cardinals for a moment.

The Grand Lady tapped her finger on her desk for a moment. "As for Armilla Chancy, whom I believe you met, she's been moved to the Witch Hunter Initiate class, and there she will stay until she dies or until you have mastered flight, whichever happens first. The Handlers say that it takes at least two months of intense, diligent study to master the absolute basics of drake flying. Everything else depends on you."

She looked at Katarina, then. "She will study with the Witch Hunters, and assuming she survives, she will leave here with you as your apprentice."

"Bullshit." Katarina stated flatly.

The Grand Cardinal's eyebrows raised wonderingly as she shifted her attentions back to the Witch Hunter. The Lady Cardinals regarded her with expressions of shock at her affront and leaned back angrily.

"Excuse me?" The Grand lady remarked coldly.

"You heard me. Bullshit. I reserve the right to choose my own apprentice."

"How convenient then, that you have been elevated to the rank of Justicar and thus are capable of assembling a retinue." The Grand Cardinal replied comfortably, and nailed Katarina with an iron hard gaze. "But you will do as you are told, Katarina." The Grand Lady interjected with a deceptive kindness.

Katarina's jaw clenched. The Grand lady eyed her amusingly.

"You need to understand something, child." The Grand Cardinal spoke quietly, kindly, warmly. Everything was poised at this moment. She wondered distractedly if she was sweating. She hoped not. Her vision beckoned her. She smiled as warmly and as amusedly as she could. "I am no pastor of an inkblot village on the frontier that you can bully into doing what you like." She reminded gently.

Katarina's jaw worked. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. She glanced down at her feet, and the Grand Lady dared to hope.

Katarina struggled with her fury. The shameless audacity, the sneering contempt of them! It galled her with bitter, impotent frustration, driving her to greater depths of anger. The anger called to the blaze of Glory, which surged to meet it. Instead, her right hand forcibly gripped her left wrist, where the Bracer of the Healer was hidden under her shirtsleeve. Calm! She shouted in her mind.

She could use a dose of calm about now. She was a hairsbreadth from simply quitting. Abandoning everything and returning to her parent's house. She took a tortured breath, her chest so hot and tight the air seared her lungs. Where was that prepossessing sense of calm and self-awareness? Where was that overwhelming serenity that radiated out from her chest when she needed it? What did it feel like? How did it bloom in her breast, smoothing away the raw, ragged feeling of hurt, the searing flame of anger, the jagged acid of irritation? Where was that tranquility, the steadfast impassiveness that rippled through her like a soothing balm? Where was that sense of being wholly in control of herself and the world around her, where was the feeling that resolved her to believe that she could easily and overwhelmingly address anything that came at her with simple application of wit and skill, the result guaranteed?

A realization, then. It was there, within her. It always was. It never came from the sacred relics she'd found, they only magnified what was already there. She took in a cool breath and mentally repeated the Golden Lady's words:

Do not forget the song, do not forget the prayer, do not forget me. I relieve you of all burdens. May it be so that there is no deception.

Retaliation unto forgiveness, betrayal unto belief, despair unto hope, darkness unto light, death unto life. May you rest in my hands. Let there be a mark of your sins.

Eternal life is found only in death. Forgiveness is before you, and so my incarnation vows.

She took another breath, and it seemed as if the High Court seemed dimmer, or perhaps the tiara across her brow was radiating the halo again. Bothersome thing.

She locked her eyes with the Grand Cardinal, who seemed to twitch at her gaze.

"Fine." Katarina replied smoothly. "While beastmen, mutants, mages and abominations torment the cities of the Anglish Empire and conspirators high and low rend the empire with knives of deceit, I will allow you to drag me into your ridiculous and petty machinations and plots one last time."

A chorus of gasps met this announcement as she took a deep and shuddery breath, feeling drained and weak.

"'One last time'?" Lady Cardinal Gabrielle answered, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Katarina nodded. "I don't need the Anglish Empire to live." She explained. "I don't need you." She emphasized. "I will give you your time to prove to me your relevance."

She left the stand, picked up her belongings and strode for the door, her bootheels clocking on the basalt floor.

"You have not been dismissed, Lady Katarina lon Pavlenko." The Grand Cardinal announced.

"I don't care." Katarina replied dismissively.

"Hold a moment." The Grand Cardinal replied, and Katarina sighed and spun around to face the High Court.

"We accept your challenge." The Grand Cardinal decided, and the Lady Cardinals eyed the large woman with mystified expressions.

"If that is what you decide, Grand Lady." Katarina replied simply, after a long silence.

The Grand Lady quietly let out a breath she didn't remember holding.

"Now you are dismissed." The Grand Lady replied.

Katarina spent the next couple of hours going over the things in her pockets, pouches, satchels, saddlebags, and backpack, and that's where Olivia found her, at table in her sitting room, every conceivable inch covered in trinkets and charms, rings and bracelets and necklaces and brooches, pendants and crystals and the like. Olivia's eyes widened at the spread.

"What is all this?" She asked curiously, and Katarina glanced at her.

"Olivia, would you answer me a personal question?" She mused as she worked, taking up a bracelet and examining it carefully.

"You can ask me anything you like, Katarina." She replied simply.

"Where were you born?" the Witch Hunter asked, and closed her eyes.

"A little north of Begierde." She replied. "The Noble house of Wolfe is my family."

"Hmm." was all Katarina had for a reply. The Wolfes had a Seat on the Twenty-seven, the merchant council that ruled Begierde. Relatively small holdings, and no threat at all to the Pavlenkos. "And your parents?"

"Norman von Kleine and Cristyne von Wolfe." was Olivia's immediate response. Katarina shook her head. "No, you misunderstand the question."

"Was there something specific you wanted to know?" Olivia wondered, and moved a chair to the other side of the table so she could sit down.

"As you were coming in I had a thought, is all. I wondered where it was you came from that taught you that it was appropriate to waltz into a woman's apartments without knocking."

Olivia started at this, but the Witch Hunter was right.

"I'm sorry for not knocking." She apologized, as she sat. Katarina opened her eyes, dipped her quill into the ink, and jotted down some notes.

"What are you doing?" Olivia asked.

"Working." Katarina replied shortly. "And you didn't ask permission to move my chairs around, or to sit." She remarked with a smirk.

Olivia raised an eyebrow at this sally, but remained seated. Katarina arched an eyebrow at this, and her smile grew.

"All of these are magical." Katarina said by way of explanation. "I'm determining their function, and whether or not I can use them."

"How do they make the grade between useful and useless?" Olivia wondered.

Katarina pointed with her free hand at a brooch in the shape of a Bel-Arib scarab. "That, when attached to clothing, keeps them clean and free of dirt, and even repairs them over time." She informed the other woman. "Unfortunately, it only works on cloth, so it won't do anything for my armor, my pants, or my coat."

Olivia smiled a little at that. "So... useful, but not to you." Olivia finished. Katarina nodded. She pointed to a strange lump of metal that Olivia could see no practical use for. It looked gnarled and twisted up like a pretzel, and was the size of a large book.

"That shovel-" She began, but Olivia interrupted her,

"That's a shovel?" She exclaimed, and Katarina grabbed it, pulled and twisted in some way Olivia couldn't immediately understand, and it unfolded into an entrenching tool.

"When commanded, it will dig in a specific pattern until commanded to stop." Katarina replied.

"Useful." Olivia murmured.

"Very useful." Katarina replied.

"How can you tell their abilities?" She wondered. Katarina examined a small bracelet set with green stones, and closed her eyes again. She murmured something, and added text to her parchment. She opened her eyes, a vibrant shade of green in her pale face.

"Concentration." Katarina replied.

"Am I a distraction?" Olivia asked, and Katarina let out a sigh and tossed her quill onto the table. She didn't answer, instead eyed Olivia expectantly.

An expectant silence filled the room.

"I suppose I must be." Olivia answered her own question. "Have they been cleansed?" She asked, and Katarina nodded.

"Katarina." Olivia began, and plucked at her dress. "In order to foster our trust, I'd like to make some promises to you."

Katarina nodded and levered a book onto the table, bound in wood and worked leather, tapped her finger on the book, and gestured at Oliva to continue.

"On my own honor, and as Lady Cardinal, I, Olivia Wolfe vow to keep everything you tell me in the strictest of confidence. I won't tell anyone anything you say to me, unless you explicitly allow me to do so."

Katarina's eyebrows shot up in surprise at this, and eyed the book she put on the table. The book was magical in nature, and anything spoken within range of the book was recorded as text. It was something she'd earned during her examinations as an Interrogator of the Inquisition. She suspected Olivia knew what it was; as a member of the Book of the Golden Lady it seemed impossible for her to not.

"I have no plots or plans of my own for you." Olivia continued, and then smiled, "except what I've already revealed to you."

"You're being awfully forthright." Katarina replied, and Olivia nodded. "I want you to feel welcomed and appreciated. I want you to know that I can be your ally, friend, and confidant, if you will let me."

"You never let up with that." Katarina replied dismissively.

"You seem bent on ignoring it." Olivia replied.

"Tenets of war." Katarina replied simply. "No one begs for peace more than the man with a sword in his hand." She paused, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Do not think my promise to the Book of the Golden Lady idle words." She added warningly.

Olivia rolled her eyes and threw up her hands, exasperated.

"We can go around and around on this." Olivia replied. "But I thought you might like an advocate on the Book of the Golden Lady."

Katarina eyed Olivia. A shrewd call: dangle a bit of a reward on a hook, a reward also wrapped in a threat. Olivia could be an advocate, if Katarina were to trust her, but at the same time, the warning was the obvious: Olivia belonged to the most powerful governing body in an empire that spanned five continents. Katarina could trust her, but she'd have to swallow the hook and let it twist in her guts- or she could spurn the woman and face the wrath of the Book of the Golden Lady. She smiled wryly. She'd already nearly felt that wrath with the threat of arrest, torture, and finally, execution.

"We're making progress." Katarina allowed. "You've already earned an amount of trust." She allowed, and then frowned a little as a trickle of pain lanced through her.

Thoughts of trust led to Simurgh's accusations of heartlessness. A cold, rigid inflexibility that refused love. Should I sleep with this woman? She wondered. Is refusing her the correct thing to do? She wondered. No, her heart was her own to govern. She wasn't expected to sleep with everyone.

Katarina opened the book, and flipped to the most recent page. The book had done its job well. She flipped the book around, and handed it to Olivia.

"What is this?" She asked, and her eyes widened as she realized what it was. "Oh!" She yelped, and dropped the book onto the table. Katarina retrieved the book, and tucked it back into her satchel while Olivia stared at her, wide-eyed.

"What- what else is in there?" Olivia asked, and Katarina shrugged. "Whatever other conversations I've had while it's been near." She replied.

"How long have you had it?" Olivia asked, hand over her heart.

"Ten years." Katarina replied. "But I didn't show you to scare you." She advised. "I showed you, because I've a record of your vow." She paused. "I'll hold you to it. I'll-" She paused. "I'm going to try and trust you." She admitted reluctantly.

"Thank you, Katarina." Olivia replied. "Is there something you need? It will be a few hours until dinnertime."

Katarina shook her head. "I just want to finish this up." She replied, and gestured to the mess on the table. Olivia nodded, and rose to her feet. "I'll leave you to it, then." She decided.

Several hours later Olivia returned with a pair of maids and a cart filled with several dishes and a carafe of wine.

"Still not knocking?" Katarina asked, sheathing a knife in her boot. Olivia shrugged.

"I suffered through your idea of lunch, and now it's your turn." She replied. Katarina raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing as the maids artfully laid out each dish, and filled two glasses with a pale wine.

After the dishes had been cleared, Olivia headed for Katarina's bedroom like a woman with a purpose.

Katarina followed her into her bedroom, and gave the woman a confused look.

"I wonder what it will be like to fly." Olivia wondered as she climbed into Katarina's bed.

"What're you doing?" Katarina remarked with a frown. "I told you-"

Olivia nodded. "Trust goes both ways. I'm sleeping here to make sure you don't bolt and run at the first chance you get." She patted the mattress. "There's room enough for the both of us." She smiled invitingly.