The High Chapel

Rachel had to catch herself from referring to the false shrine as the "High Chapel," its usual name in her conversations with Cador. Its tented roof was built out from the main keep, as far away from her own tower and the castellan's chambers as possible. The gods of the outer world held no power over them, but a soul touched by the Pit could not help but feel uneasy surrounded by holy symbols. It was a small place shadowed by Ugelor itself. On either side of the altar there was a lantern burning, as was custom among those clerics obsessed with holiness. They would think that they were maintained by temple servants, as the priests did, not knowing that it was Cador's own magic that kept the fires burning.

Lefwald walked past the reliefs between the windows, searching for violations of orthodoxy. Confronted by the altar, he picked up the carvings of the married gods there. Rachel remembered being told a tale of demons carved into holy icons, but she had long since dismissed the tale. The deep gods needed no images; they demanded other pieties.

"Is all in order?" asked Odo uneasily. He was staring at the divine couple. Until the **** of his wife three years before he had been unflinchingly devoted to Argel and Flodis both, but now it seemed that the memory of that service unnerved him. Or perhaps he wondered whether Cador's claimed devotion to them suggested something more about his intentions toward the woman who was his captive.

"The chapel is untainted," said Lefwald with some satisfaction.

John Osteler smiled, and the light of the room seemed to bend around him. "Wonderful," he said.

"But there are other blasphemies that could be at work here," added the priest.

"Indeed," Osteler said.

Scowling, Cador approached the priest. He did not need to do anything at all to make his presence a threat. "What proof are you looking for, father? Should I pull a miracle out of my throat? I've never done it before, but if you demand it, I'll try."

Lefwith steadied himself with a hand against the altar, but could not hide the quiver that Cador's nearness ingrained in him. "I don't mean to insult you, my lord," he said matter-of-factly. "Only, that we should be open to any signs of malfeasance, should they appear."

"So thorough," intoned Cador. "I pray the gods reward you for it."