"Follow my lead."

As soon as they had retreated a safe distance, Teysa held up her hands. "Li," she began, "you don't have to do this if you're not comfortable with it. I don't want to sign you up for anything. I know you just came here because I wanted to see a priest, and--"

Aliara cut her off with a wave of her hand. "Tey, come on. I saw your face. You're not going to not help this guy. I mean, isn't this what paladins do? Isn't it what you're for? What kind of partner would I be if I tried to stop you?"

Relief flooded Teysa's face. "Thank your for understanding," she said. "You're right. I can't turn my back, especially if it's a direct request from the Church." She turned back to Ansium, but Aliara laid a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. She held up a warning finger.

"However," she said, "I do have a condition. I'm happy to help you run around solving mysteries or whatever you want to do, but, and I say this with love, I've seen you operate. You are not subtle."

Teysa smiled ruefully. "Well, the Abbey wasn't big on subtlety," she said. "Agamor's all about light, not darkness. We leave the cloak-and-dagger stuff to others."

"Others like Quz?" Aliara asked. "I am cloak-and-dagger stuff. I'll help you, but you have to let me take the lead here. I smell a rat here."

Teysa shot a glance at Ansium. "Him? You think he's-"

"No. Well, maybe, but I don't think so. But look around-- we're in a big cave here. It's not like the old man could just wander off down the road. Someone in here knows where he is. And I very much doubt he chose to take an unannounced early retirement, so he's probably not there by choice."

Teysa's expression hardened. "Someone would kidnap a priest? Why? There's no money to be had here."

Aliara shrugged. "Everyone has enemies," she said. "Even priests. Maybe there's more money than you think. Or he got mixed up in something illegal. Or maybe he was just a target of opportunity. Some people will do something wrong just to say they did it."

"But attacking a priest?" Teysa's mouth twisted in a scowl of dismay. "That's vile."

"You've killed priests," Aliara said. "Those priests of Ungeen? Four years ago, in that old tower?"

"They don't count," Teysa said, crossing her arms. "Demon-worshippers. Just calling yourself a priest doesn't make it so. Anyways, they had weapons. It sounds like poor old Father Tuubel never lifted anything heavier than a thurible." She paused, then nodded. "Anyways, yes, I accept your condition. You're better at this stuff anyways. And Li... thank you. Really." She leaned down and planted a kiss on Aliara's cheek. The half-elf brushed her cheek with her hand and giggled.

"Not in front of the holy man, Tey!"

Together, they turned back to Ansium, who was nervously wringing his hands together. He looked up as they approached. His eyes flickered from Teysa to Aliara and back again. "Sister," he said, "I beg you, please--"

Teysa held up a hand and he trailed off into silence. "I'll help you," she said. "You don't need to ask twice. In fact, we'd like to start now, if that works."

"Really?" said Ansium. He seemed slightly dazed. "That's, that's wonderful! Yes, of course, at once! What can I do to help?"

"You can let us into the Father's room," said Aliara. "And then you can leave us alone for a while. I'm sure your flock needs your attention, and we need to be able to work undisturbed."

"Of course!" said Ansium. His head bobbed up and down like a balloon on a string. "Right this way!"

He turned and led them through a door in the back wall. The tunnel on the other side was carved out of the bare rock, with shallow depressions set in the wall every few feet. These held flat white stones that gleamed with pearlescent light. The soft glow, along with a threadbare carpet on the floor, lent the passage a sort of homey charm. They followed Ansium down fifty feet before pausing in front of an arched doorway with a rough piece of canvas stretched across it. He lifted the curtain to reveal a cramped cell.

The room was not big to begin with, and was made smaller by cot, desk, chair and bookshelf. There was barely any navigable floor space. The desk was piled high with papers and several ponderous-looking leatherbound books. On top of the stack was a candle in a dish. The candle had burned all the way down to a little stub and wax had dribbled down the side and along the books' spines. Two more of the glowing stones set in the ceiling lit up the room. Teysa took in the rest of the details in one long look: the neatly made bed, the inkwell on the desk, the jars and poultices laying on the table. She sniffed. There was a faint, leathery odor, the smell of shaving oil and melted wax and the various potions and nostrums that men of advanced age always found to staves off aches and rheumatisms.

Ansium stood in the doorway, still twisting his hands against each other. "We'll take it from here, sir," Aliara said. "I'm sure the parishioners would feel better for your presence."

He looked unsure, but nodded once, quickly. "If you need anything... anything at all... please come see me," he said.

"We will, don't worry," said Teysa. She tried to project a confidence that she wasn't feeling. "We'll find him, Ansium. I promise."

With a last backward glance, he retreated and let the curtain drop. Aliara turned to Teysa and cocked an eyebrow.

"Promise, huh?" she said. "That's kind of presumptuous. What if the old man's dead?"

"Then we find his body," said Teysa firmly. "He should be laid to rest according to Agamorian tradition. If he's dead. Which he isn't necessarily. I mean, why go to all the trouble to sneak him away in the night? If someone wanted to kill him, why not just do it?"

Aliara shrugged. "That's what we're here to find out. Now let's look around."

"What am I looking for?" Teysa asked. "A clue?"

"I wouldn't know a clue if it bit me on the ass," said Aliara, running her finger along the edge of the bookshelf and inspecting the accumulated dust. "Look for stuff that doesn't belong here. Or stuff that belongs here but isn't. I mean, you know what kinds of things a priest of Agamor might have in his room?"

Teysa carefully lifted the melted candle out of the way and perused the books on the desk. "Well, he should have his copy of the Catechisms, and that's here... and the Enchiridius, and that's here... and it looks like this book is just a journal..."

"A journal?" Aliara said, whirling. "Crack that open! There might be something in it we can use." She rolled her eyes. "A clue, if you like."

Teysa carefully opened the book and laid it flat on the desk. The pages were smooth vellum, the writing on them the cramped and crabbed hand of an old man who had stubbornly kept at it as his eyesight failed and his joints seized. She flipped through entries. Most were dull; details of a planned sermon, or meticulous records of donations received and money spent with merchants. Others were embarrassingly personal, and she tried to flip past them quickly. K Confessed today of a dred'ful Lapse with a Lady of poor Comportment; advis'd him to do a tenfold penance, and avoid future such Encounters Or: eas'd the passing of Mrs. M, who had always been Stalwart, and comfort'd her Widower thereafter.

She turned to Aliara. "There's nothing here, Li. And it's not right, reading a priest's personal journal."

"Flip to the back, then," Aliara said. "See the last entries."

Teysa did; the journal was about three-quarters full, and plenty of the pages were blank. She had half-expected a long cut-off scrawl or even a bloodstain, but the last entry was as tidy as the others. It described the Father's dinner and his intent to take an "evening Constitutional." She flipped back a few pages. "Nothing!" she said. "It's just... meals and things."

"Let me see that," said Aliara, and Teysa obediently stepped backwards to allow her access to the desk. She craned her neck to read over Aliara's shoulder. The half-elf's lips moved as her finger scanned over the page. "There!" she said. "What's that, then?"

Teysa squinted to read. Met with E today after lunch. Was offer'd a handsome Sum, per terms previously discuss'd. I cannot help but suspect something Unwholesome, and yet I have ****. Funding thusly secure'd , construction of new Apse can began forthwith. I trust Agamor will see my Necessity, yet I must shrive tonight. She frowned as the import of the words sank in. "That novitiate did say that they had recently secured the money for the apse..." she mused.

"Looks like he was a little crooked, Tey," Aliara said. "Maybe he got mixed up in--"

Teysa bridled. "He was a priest, Aliara! Look at that entry! He was doing his best! I'm sure he wouldn't have done anything really wrong. Nothing... evil."

Aliara laid a hand on Teysa's shoulder and spoke gently. "You're right, Teysa. I'm sorry. I'm sure he is a good man. But it looks like he got involved in something unsavory down here. We have to figure out what it is."

They resumed searching the room. Teysa shuffled through the papers on the desk. She found a stack of accounting ledgers; a brief glimpse into them confirmed her suspicions. The Church here was a skeleton operation, and their coffers were nearly dry. She wondered bitterly if this place was too far from the sun. The people here like the darkness. They revel in it. There was no surprise large payment recorded on the ledgers, but that didn't surprise her. If the priest had cut a deal with some malcontent it would be strictly off the books.

Aliara, meanwhile, was rummaging through a tin chest at the foot of the bed. It was mostly full of robes and socks so moth-eaten that they could have been used to catch fish. She sniffed at the chest, and her nose wrinkled. "Tey, there's something here..." she said. "Something... familiar..."

Teysa had been looking through clay pots of salve and couldn't smell anything beyond its acrid bite. One pot advertised its usefulness "for the abatement of corns and bunions (all sizes)," another promised an end to joint pain. All were nearly empty. She dropped the last one and looked up as Aliara buried her arm to the shoulder in the chest. She withdrew and held up her hand, clutching a pair of sandals like a trophy. "Here!" she said. "I found something!" She turned the sandals over and inspected their soles.

"What is it?" Teysa asked. The tinctures and salves were forgotten in an instant. Now she could smell it too-- a faintly familiar whiff, sweet like honey, with a taste that lingered on her tongue. She tried to remember where she had smelled it before. Aliara was fiddling with something stuck to the sole. She reached down and plucked whatever it was between thumb and forefinger. Her face creased in a worried frown and she held it up for Teysa's inspection.

It looked like a fragment of a wheat stalk, but a rich russet color. Teysa could smell the sweet scent pouring off of it. A bout of dizziness overtook her, and she leaned against the desk for support. "Is that..." she breathed, "is that what I think it is?"

Aliara nodded grimly. "Amberhaze. I think he really did get mixed up in something bad, Teysa."

The two of them headed back to the front of the church. Ansium was busy at the altar, replacing the candles and straightening the altar cloth. He looked up as the women arrived. Hope was written all across his face, though at the sight of their expressions it ebbed quickly. He hurried over to intercept them at the entrance to the tunnel.

"Well?" he whispered. "Did you find anything?"

"Did Father... Tuubel have any meetings in the days before he disappeared?" Aliara asked. "With anyone whose name starts with E?"

"E?" Ansium's brow wrinkled in confusion. "There's Edish Trow, but she's nearly ninety... and Eddard Willis, he's getting married next month... but no, Father Tuubel didn't meet with either of them recently." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "He hasn't been out much lately. We took a big delivery and he was here the whole time keeping inventory. He does a lot for the Church, you know. He orders supplies and what not."

"A delivery?" Teysa asked. She hadn't recalled seeing any recent deliveries in the ledger books.

"Yes. You know, food and candles and things," Ansium said helpfully. "It's all stored in the back."

"Could you show us?" Teysa asked. She tried to sound as casual as possible, but her heart was thudding in her chest. Ansium looked from her to Aliara and back again, then shrugged. "Sure," he said. "Follow me."

He led them down the same corridor as before, past Father Tuubel's room and to a T-intersection, where he turned left. Up ahead the corridor terminated in another arched doorway, this one much taller and wider. Ansium ushered them inside.

The room they found themselves in was little more than a dank cave, its walls and ceiling unfinished stone. Clay pots stood in serried ranks, marching back into the darkness. Only a couple of the glowing stones lit up the cave, enough to navigate by but not enough to banish the darkness. Ansium gestured vaguely at the pots. "This is pretty much it," he said. "We just keep food and things here. Salt fish, mostly." His face wrinkled in distaste. "Candles. Sometimes clothes people donate. We don't have much. We're a pretty small mission."

"Thank you," said Teysa. "Do you know which ones were recently delivered?"

Ansium shrugged. "They all look the same to me. Sorry, I don't really handle this stuff. I just take care of the chapel, make sure Father Tuubel has everything he needs. This is my first assignment." He sounded as though he just knew he would be blamed for whatever had gone wrong here. Teysa laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Ansium, we'll do our best to find him. You did the right thing asking for help. I'll keep you informed of our progress, ok?"

Ansium nodded and tried to bow at the same time, causing his whole upper body to jerk and weave. He regained his equilibrium and withdrew with an embarrassed look plastered across his face.

Aliara was already walking along the closest row of pots. Their wide mouths were sealed with pressed tin lids, held in place with blobs of wax. She selected one and peeled the lid off with a flick of her dagger. Her arm plunged inside, rustled around and came back with a half-dozen candles clutched in her fist. She let them spill to the floor, where they bounced and rolled away.

She tried the next one and came up with more candles. The third and fourth, likewise. Then she stopped and a thoughtful expression crossed her face. She took a step backward and shoulder-barged into the nearest pot. It rocked on its base but didn't fall. Aliara looked up at Teysa. "Did you see that?" she asked.

Teysa shook her head, mystified. "It moved wrong," Aliara explained. "Loaded down with those wax candles, it should have barely shifted. I nearly knocked it over." She plunged her arm in deeper, bending over so that her ear was pressed against the pot's lip. Her face narrowed in an expression of intense concentration, then a grin blossomed across her features and she straightened. When she pulled her hand out she was clutching a bundle of what looked like wheat stalks. Teysa could smell Amberhaze from across the room.

"I thought so. Who needs that many candles?" Aliara said. She punched the air triumphantly. "I knew it!"

"I don't understand," said Teysa. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "He's... selling ****?"

"Maybe," Aliara said, "but I don't think so. I think he's just storing them for someone. It makes sense. Who's going to search a church? Maybe he didn't even know what was in the pots. Maybe he snooped, and that's why he's missing."

"Someone..." said Teysa. She thought back to the journal and a horrible thought crossed her mind. "E. Aliara, who do we know whose name begins with E? Who loves Amberhaze and would need to store it in great quantities."

Aliara dropped the bundle and wiped her hand off on her pants. She looked confused for a moment, then recognition dawned. "That bitch? Is she--" she abruptly cut herself off. "Jez'ria said. 'Calls herself after some fish.' I can't believe I didn't catch that." She shook her head. "God, I hope you're wrong. That cunt scares me."

"I'm not a fan of hers either," Teysa said. "But if the Eel is involved, Tuubel is in real danger. We have to find out what's going on."