Chapter 90

"It seems a great many people have been availing themselves of the Priestesses." The Grand Cardinal began the meeting with a twist to her mouth. Reports had trickled in at first, but then more and more as priestesses from around the city filed reports confirming true dreams. Not just limited to the clergy, either. Ordinary commonfolk, peasants, dockworkers, whores, even the city guard all rushed to the priestesses, babbling about dreams and miracles. Cows thought dry, suddenly giving milk. A statue in a city square, posed with one hand pointing south across the oceans now stood, holding aloft a sword, her once serene, saddened face now glared challengingly towards the Church. A guardsman at the docks cured of an embarassing malady. Gardens suddenly blooming with new fruit.

The Lady Cardinals that made up the Book of the Golden Lady, the ruling body for the entirety of the Anglish Empire, eyed each other uncomfortably.

"I take it all of you had visions yesterday afternoon as well?" The Grand Cardinal asked, and her mouth twisted as none of them volunteered anything. Traditionally, dreams were secret things, full of power, and having them could be leveraged to gain even greater power and authority. Cardinal Gabrielle looked a little green around the edges, Olivia blushed, Yuriko ran a delicate finger over her eyebrow, Celeste put her hand over her heart, and Phoebe’s glance to the side had a haunted cast to it.

"It seems your silence is more revealing than the usual dissembling." The Grand Cardinal remarked dryly. "Does anyone know the cause?" She asked, and Celeste compressed her lips together.

The Grand Cardinal sighed. "Is there anyone that wants to reveal what they saw?" She asked, and was once again met with silence.

Phoebe barked a short laugh at that. "And would you share what you experienced, Grand Cardinal?" She asked, and the Grand Cardinal shifted uneasily. "I would be willing, assuming the rest of you were just as free." Silence greeted this proposal.

The Grand Cardinal suppressed a sigh. "My vision was an indictment against the Church." She announced, to the startled and shocked gazes that swung her way. "We are not doing enough. We need to reaffirm our convictions or suffer the consequences of failure."

Phoebe paled at this. "I think-" She began in a weak voice and then cut off.

"What?" The Grand Cardinal asked, and Phoebe shook her head and picked up her pen. She wrote quickly. She eyed her work with a critical eye, and then handed the parchment to the Grand Cardinal.

"This is what I dreamed." Phoebe announced quietly.

Francesca read the slip of paper, her eyes going wide.

"This..." She began, and rubbed the side of her nose with a pudgy finger. "This sounds like prophecy." She finished in an awed voice, her face going pale.

"The Golden Lady hasn’t gifted us with a prophecy in a thousand years!" Gabrielle argued. "Let’s hear it." she urged.

Francesca looked to Phoebe, who shrugged, and then nodded.

‘First the holy books will be restored, which have perished even from the beginning, and were taken from the first that lived.’ The Grand Cardinal began pensively. ‘And herein has deciphered perfect truth from imperfect falsehood, true religion from false and damnable errors with all arts which are proper to the use of man, the first and sanctified perfection.’ She added, and the other Lady Cardinals eyed each other over the archaic wording. ‘When it has been revealed; then comes the end." Francesca finished in a strong voice.

"The holy books?" Gabrielle asked. "There’s only the one: The Book of the Dawn."

"Unless you look to myth and legend." Phoebe remarked uneasily.

"You’re referring to the Emerald Tablets." Olivia noted, and Celeste nodded.

"They don’t exist. If they did, the Golden Lady would have made certain they were available to us." Celeste announced decisively.

"Has anyone ever looked for them?" Yuriko asked, and the other Cardinals in the room gave her baffled looks.

"Why would you say something that insipid?" Gabrielle barked at the Yamato woman, receiving a withering look in reply.

"In order for something to be found, there first needs to be someone searching for it." Yuriko explained patiently.

Celeste rolled her eyes ostentatiously at that. "The Golden Lady would not have let them vanish in the first place, if they were real."

"Who are you to say what the Golden Lady would or would not do?" Yuriko retorted severely.

Celeste brought her hand to her chest again; she could still feel where the blade in her dream had driven through her body. The pain was constant and sharp.

"Anyone else care to share what they saw?" The Grand Cardinal asked, and Yuriko shook her head.

"I dreamed of my family. There was nothing particularly noteworthy." She reported.

Olivia colored, remembering her own dream. "Mine was equally ordinary." She reported quietly. Gabrielle grimaced.

"Did Katarina say anything to you of her dream- if she had one?" The Grand Cardinal asked, but Olivia shook her head. "I’m sequestered, remember?" She reminded sardonically. "I haven’t seen her in several days."

It was on the tip of her tongue to mention her encounter with the Im Adad, but remembering her vow to Katarina, she kept her mouth closed.

"Well, it seems as though we’ve got a timeline." Gabrielle muttered. "The ‘holy books’ have to be restored, true faith divided from false doctrine... after which comes ‘the end’." She mused. "But what end?" She asked. "There are those we have conquered that have had end-of-the-world prophecies, but none have been revealed by the Golden Lady before."

"That we know of." Yuriko added sharply, and Gabrielle gestured, acknowledging the Yamato womans’ point.

"Whatever ‘end’ has been foretold, we can easily postpone it by not looking for the ‘holy books’." Phoebe replied comfortably. "We can postpone whatever apocalyptic disaster awaits us, until we’re better situated to weather it. We still have a host of problems in Rothgar. The Scourge still lurks in Sarkomand. There are the beastman purges in Philppa and Metzcal. We haven’t yet quashed the problems with the Urthan to the north of us. There’s the menace of the Ishamaelites west of the Yamato islands. More than ever before in recorded history, we are beset upon from all sides." she explained. "We need to solidify ourselves."

Olivia found that to be a profoundly stupid proposal, and she told Phoebe as much. "If the Golden Lady wants the ‘holy books’ to be found, then they will be found, and there’s nothing we can do about it." She remarked ascerbically.

"We’re not going to get anywhere squabbling." The Grand Cardinal broke in sharply. "We’ll look into this. Carefully and discreetly. Whatever response we make, we will need to make on behalf of the entire Anglish Empire."

Katarina came back to herself with a groan. Her head hurt and it felt like her limbs were filled with sand. No, she corrected herself, everything hurts. She sniffed the air, and blinked a few times. Was that chicken she smelled?

Simurgh suddenly appeared next to her desk, causing Katarina to jolt in her seat, nearly upsetting her onto the floor. "By the Golden Lady!" Katarina spat, startled. She scrambled out of her chair to embrace the Angelic Spirit, who returned her affection.

"I wasn’t expecting you to-" Katarina began, and the angelic spirit of the storm frowned up at her.

"Should I be expected, human?" She countered angrily. Katarina shook her head, and the angel gave her a complicated look.

"The correct answer is yes." Simurgh growled, circling the Witch Hunter to the other side of the desk. She gently traced her fingers across the emerald tablet, black fingernails squealing against the gemstone slightly, and looked back to the Witch Hunter. "There is a price to pay for you to read this." She reminded.

Katarina took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You’re right." She replied, and struggled to understand why she was smelling chicken, oranges, and aromatic spices and herbs. "When do I have to pay?" She asked, and Simurgh responded by reaching out, lightning-quick, and seizing Katarina’s left breast.

"We are linked, you and I." the herald of the storm sullenly reminded. There was a long silence between the two of them.

"Do you... remember?" Simurgh asked uncertainly, almost in a whisper. Katarina was shocked at the sudden sense of vulnerability and uncertainty radiating from the celestial.

"The..." Katarina began, and coughed abruptly, clearing her throat. "That time... at the riverbank." she began, unable to look the angelic spirit in the eye. Likewise, Simurgh refused to look at the Witch Hunter. The awkward, vulnerable silence stretched between them.

"I... I think I'm still in shock." Katarina replied. "I can almost-" She began, and hesitantly reached out and grasped at the air. She held out her hand, empty. "There's so much."

Simurgh's breath caught at that, and she looked to the Witch Hunter, eyes filled with pain and longing. "You don't remember." She whispered dully.

Katarina turned back to the celestial. "I didn't say I didn't remember." She argued. "There's just... so much of what happened makes no sense to me. " She paused. "I do remember, I just don't understand." she urged. "There's... too many questions, no answers, and..." She trailed off, "I don't even know how to ask the questions." She paused, and looked to the celestial. "Can you tell me?"

The Angel frowned and pointed past the Witch Hunter.

"Eat. Drink. Regain your strength." Simurgh commanded, and just like that, she was gone. Katarina turned, and goggled; there was a whole dinner cart right next to her desk. When had Simurgh brought that? On the top of the cart was an entire chicken fresh from the oven, layered with greens and slices of oranges. Below that was a heavy ceramic dish covering cheese-covered potatoes, a pot of mixed greens, and two entire pies, one apple, one peach. Arranged across her desk was seven dusty wine bottles.

Surely Simurgh didn’t expect her to be able to eat all of that in one sitting? Katarina wondered, and then began serving herself.

As she ate, she looked over what she’d written, and shook her head. She had no idea she’d written so much. The blank book she’d began with was nearly filled with margin-to-margin text. She looked at the tablet and frowned. She had no idea how much was left to translate. She flipped back to the cover and was unsurprised to see "The Numinous Writ of Golden Perfection" embossed on the cover.

"Well, there’s four more tablets." She muttered. Four more Tomes of Power.

When morning came, Katarina found herself at her desk, head pillowed on her arm. She blinked a few times and raised herself up to a sitting position. In front of her was a stack of books, filled with her handwriting. The wooden crate with the five tablets was next to her desk, and Katarina glanced down, noting the tablets had been placed back into the crate. Did she do that? Was it Simurgh? Someone else? She froze, a jolt of adrenaline clenching her heart in her chest.

Katarina placed the lid back on the crate and entered the closet, which was as large as some of the rooms shed stayed in at various inns.

She slid the racks of dresses, slips and petticoats to the side and placed the crate next to its twin tucked in the back. Next to the two crates was the long leather bundle, which Katarina picked up and unwrapped, revealing a sheathed sword.

It was a thing of beauty, with a long grip wrapped in some leather that was luxuriously soft but provided a rugged grip, and dyed a deep, emerald green. The crossguard was swirled gold and emerald inlays depicting a fleur-de-lys. The entire thing was made from a milky white metal that caught the faintest light and shimmered.

As Katarina’s hand closed on the hilt, she was filled with a wave of confidence and surety. She could do anything, command anyone, cut anything. None dared stand against her. Once again, she tried to draw the blade from the scabbard and was unable.

She released the handle, and the overwhelming feeling of righteous dominion faded, and she shuddered with the release.

"Why hesitate?" Simurgh spoke up behind her. "It is yours. Take it up. None could stand against you."

Katarina shook her head. "You’re right, I could. I might have to." She added. "But not yet."

She turned to the Angelic Spirit. "The books and tablets?" She asked, and Simurgh sighed. "Your translation is complete." She rolled her eyes.

Katarina nodded, and returned Galatine to the closet.

"You are behaving strangely." Simurgh accused. "This is not you. You are as relentless and unforgiving as the storm. The things you are doing-" She cut herself off as Katarina looked at her.

"You want to shout your thunder at the world." Katarina accused with a smile, and Simurgh nodded.

"You will." Katarina replied.

"When?!" Simurgh shouted at her, and Katarina held up her hands.

"Ever since you and I have been speaking like this, face to face, you have always checked to make sure I have not attempted to restrain you." Katarina said by way of reply. "I have never, and will never attempt to do so." Katarina vowed. "We will be leaving soon, I’m sure."

Simurgh glared at her angrily, and then whirled to stalk away. As she stomped across the bedroom she lost substance, becoming gauzy, translucent, and disappearing.

Katarina turned to the stack of books on her desk. "Book one, a translation of ‘Numinous Writ of Golden Perfection’, as set down by Katarina lon Pavlenko." She read on the first page of the first book, and opened the second. "Book two, a translation of ‘Numinous Writ of Golden Perfection’, as set down by Katarina lon Pavlenko." She read, and flipped to the last page in the second book.

"This being a translation, concluded here, on this date." followed by her signature. The other tablets were similarly translated.

"The Numinous Writ of Golden Perfection, the Secret of Secrets, Thundering Clouds of the Summer Months, the Numinous Book of the Nine Heavens, and the Bright writ of the Primordial Spirit..."She trailed off. "They’re all here. All translated." She murmured, and then shock hit her.

She got up and went to the window in her bedroom and threw open the drapes. It was midmorning, but which morning? Had it all been done in one night? She staggered on her feet. She’d put the books on a shelf in the closet, and get some food. No, she’d get some sleep, first. Then food. No, She’d just woken up. Food was clearly the higher priority.

Thus debating which was the priority, she stumbled on her feet and was asleep before she hit the floor.

"The last seven bottles of De Cazanove Citrus, aged twenty years." Olivia murmured amazedly. "How did you manage to get your hands on this?" She asked.

Katarina opened her eyes and discovered she was in bed. Olivia stood at Katarina’s desk, turning the dusty bottle over in her hands.

A bolt of panic shot through her; had Olivia seen what she was doing?

"I thought you were busy." Katarina murmured from her bed, and Olivia glanced at her and set the bottle down.

"I completed my work." She replied simply, "It’s in Phoebe’s hands, now." She added, and then frowned down at the Witch Hunter as she seated herself on the edge of the bed. "You just missed the healer." She informed the taller woman.

"Healer?" Katarina asked, confused.

"Katarina darling, what were you doing that required you to work yourself to the point of exhaustion?" She asked, and Katarina frowned at her.

Deciding to play it safe, she feigned ignorance. "What are you talking about?"

"You were found passed out on the floor." Olivia replied. "The healer wrote it off as exhaustion, and recommended bedrest."

Katarina rolled out of bed, but Olivia shoved her back onto the mattress.

"You’re not going anywhere but back to bed." She commanded.

"I’ve got flying lessons." Katarina growled, but Olivia shook her head. "Not until you’ve had rest."

"When was I found?" Katarina asked, laying back down slowly.

"Two days ago." Olivia replied. "You’ve been asleep the entire time."

"Fuck." Katarina spat. Olivia rolled her eyes at this.

"So now can you tell me what you were working on?" Katarina asked, and Olivia gave her a look.

"Sealed, Katarina. Even if I could tell you , I wouldn’t." She explained. "But there were a lot of reports that I had to review and render a vote on." she replied dismissively. Katarina nodded.

"Anyway, you’re going to spend the rest of the day in bed, and tomorrow you can get back to work." Olivia announced. "I’ll be joining you for dinner tonight. Until then, get some rest."

Katarina nodded, and waited until Olivia had left, then waited an additional two minutes before she got up. She padded over to her desk and frowned. No books, no tablets.

She moved to the closet and slid the racks of dresses, slips and petticoats to the side and sighed at the sight of both crates tucked in the back, and the books stacked neatly on the shelf.

Instead of taking Olivia’s advice and resting, Katarina dressed and headed to the Basilica of the Torch, the home of the Inquisition. She still had her investigation to work through. Likely they’d assembled all of the records from the Norn church by now.

As she strode through the Grand Cathedral she tugged on her hat and adjusted her vest, something tugging on her mind. Something was amiss, and she couldn’t pin it down. She ran through a mental checklist of everything she’d done since Olivia had left, and couldn’t figure out what was nagging her.

As she approached the staircase that would take her down to the first floor, she spotted Lady Cardinal Celeste approaching from the opposite direction. Katarina, still preoccupied with trying to figure out what was bothering her, gave the Lady Cardinal a dismissive nod and ticked a salute off the brim of her hat, in the manner of a man. Celeste blanched, going white as a sheet as Katarina passed, her hand clenched over her chest. As soon as Katarina passed her by, she hoisted her skirts and dashed down the hall.

Katarina, in the meanwhile, had wholly missed this reaction. She was still trawling her mind through the morning’s activities, step by step, trying to pin down where this irritating feeling had come from. Something wasn’t right. Something was off. She was fully dressed, she had her sword and gun, she wore Alicia's war banner about her hips the way the Saint herself had, she had her glass knife tucked behind her belt against her back, so what was it? Some detail she’d missed. She mentally retraced her steps as she stepped outside of the Grand Cathedral and trekked across to the Basilica.

Once in the Basilica, she relayed her request, and was allowed to take the records in sealed leather satchels back to her quarters, and it was there she sat, going over the documents and ledgers, when Olivia showed up.

"What are you doing? I thought I told you to rest." Olivia immediately demanded after coming through the door.

"I ignored you." Katarina replied comfortably. "You said I’d been asleep for two days already. What’s one more going to do?" She asked, looking over an accounting ledger.

Olivia glowered at her, and then seated herself at the table. "What’s all this?" She asked, picking up a sheaf of papers.

"Ledgers and reports from the Church of Norn." Katarina replied. "I opened an investigation. They’re behaving oddly."

Olivia raised an eyebrow. "Like how?"

Katarina frowned. "Hard to say, exactly. Just one of those things that gets your neck hairs up. The gate to the Church was closed and locked. When I entered the church, the clergy warded me away until I practically thrust my Writ and Warrant under their noses." She explained. "They didn’t have a Priestess, or anyone from the Arm of the Sword, which doesn’t make sense because Norn is right there." She made a meaningless gesture. Olivia nodded slowly.

"The most damning bit of evidence comes from my assignment. Alsabet had been gone for a month before they submitted the report, and they didn’t report her accomplices missing, either." Katarina finished.

"I admit, when put together, there’s a lot ot be suspicious about." Olivia commented. "What is Norn’s purpose?" She asked, and Katarina set aside one sheet of paper and picked up another.

"Right now? Three things. One, they’re a logging town, though that’s not their primary goal. Their primary goal is to expand the lands around the town for farms. There’s a few up already. The Empire needs its foodstuffs." Olivia nodded to show she was following along.

"Finally, it’s a waypoint between Darnell and Aston." Katarina finished.

"Do they have a port?" Olivia asked, looking at a requisition list.

"No. They’d need construction mages like Aston to carve out the cliffsides." Katarina replied dismissively.

"Then why would they need to request six fishing boats?" Olivia asked, holding up the paper she was looking at. Katarina seized the sheet and scanned it quickly.

"Huh." She replied, dumbfounded. "There should be no reason for this. There’s no cove, harbor, or anything there. There isn’t even a proper beach."

"So what could their reasons be?" Olivia asked.

"Smuggling is the first thing that comes to mind. They may be moving stuff to Aston or Darnell ‘unofficially’." She explained, looking through some more documents. "Another reason is the request is a cover for something else entirely."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "So what will you do with this information?" She asked.

Katarina glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. "What? I can’t do anything right now. If it were up to me, I would put all of them to the sword." She replied easily. Olivia’s eyes widened at this declaration. It wasn’t spoken from coldness or malice, just a simple matter of fact. "Corruption of this sort doesn’t stop with one or two people. Everyone in the church is suspect. Either they’re guilty of committing the crimes themselves, or they’re complicit in allowing them to be committed." Katarina shook her head. "The Golden Lady will be the final arbiter of their worth, and in the meantime, we can install new clergy, trustworthy clergy, in Norn to continue the Empire’s work."

Olivia raised an eyebrow at this. "You can’t kill everyone that you suspect is guilty, Katarina."

"No? Why not?" Katarina asked, setting her papers on the table and regarding Olivia with a speculative look.

"Because everyone is guilty of something, Kat. We’re all weak and flawed creatures, and it is our divine goal to aspire to be worthy of the Golden Lady’s light." Olivia explained. "To kill everyone you think is guilty is to kill everyone, which in turn makes you guilty of wholesale murder." Olivia explained.

Katarina frowned at this. "Pure sophistry. You’re trying to turn a clear-cut case of corruption in the church ranks into a morality exercise." She complained. "Is the thief a thief when he steals to feed his family? Is the difference between a revolutionary and a terrorist purely based on whether his insurgency is successful?" She offered scathingly, and waved her hand to show it didn’t matter. "To paraphrase Saint Alicia, ‘A blessing for the living, flowers for the dead. A sword for the wicked. Thus shall we arrive at the altar of the saints’." She quoted, and Olivia blinked. That wasn’t in any of the material taught about Alicia.

Katarina sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I’m glad I’m a Witch Hunter." She muttered. "The quickest solution is the best solution, and that’s all there is to it." She added.

"Justicar." Olivia replied in a dulcet voice.

"Hmm?" Katarina replied.

"Justicar Witch Hunter." Olivia answered. Katarina rolled her eyes. "I’m not about to assemble an army and go hunting Witches that way. I’ll do the same as I’ve always have." She jotted down some notes on a sheet of paper, and kept digging.