Perhaps she could invite them for drinks and serve them some of Zhek’s special tea. Imagining them toppling over, she swallowed a giggle. Ilan glanced at her in concern.
As they watched, a handful of people passed by at various times, a quartet of deacons arrived, and the Arch Deacon on the far right scratched his nose seventeen times.
“How long are we going to stay here?” Ilan whispered to her.
“Until I figure out what they’re doing inside.”
“They’re melting platinum.” He wrinkled his cute little nose. “Can’t you smell it?”
“Yes, but I need more information.” She sensed about a dozen inside, but, with all that platinum, there could be a dozen more deacons. And without a constant watch, she’d never learn what was really going on inside. She needed to hire a couple vagrants to collect the information.
“All right, let’s go,” she said. Her injured muscles had stiffened with the inactivity and her leg almost buckled underneath her when she moved.
Ilan grabbed her just as a group of six deacons left the chapel. He pulled her back into the shadow. She watched as the deacons sorted themselves. Two carried about ten platinum torques each and the other four formed a defensive circle around them.
But it seemed odd that they were worried about being attacked. Or were they just trying to hide the torques from view? Did the priestess suspect the Invisible Swords would be very interested in her operations here? It was almost as if they were putting on a show. Did the priestess want them to know they were making more torques?
Then the group disappeared. Not gone as in around the corner or down a tunnel.
No. They literally disappeared.
Ilan sucked in a breath. “They’re gone.”
Shyla recovered from her shock. She knew only one way to disappear from sight like that. Magic. Concentrating, she located the chanting rhythm of a magical command pressing on her. She shoved it aside. The group of deacons reappeared.
Scorching hells. The deacons had wielded magic. Somehow the Heliacal Priestess had figured it out. Somehow she’d recognized the magical potential in her conscripted deacons and had taught them how to direct it.
How in the seven hells did the priestess learn— Shyla almost groaned at the depth of her idiocy. Someone in the Invisible Sword had passed that information on to the priestess. She’d suspected a traitor all along. So why hadn’t she done more to find the person? She hadn’t wanted to upset Jayden. And look at what happened.
They were cooked.
“Can you explain your logic?” Jayden asked after she’d filled him in on all that she’d learned.
They were in her room at Orla’s commune.
“I shouldn’t have to, Jayden,” Shyla said in annoyance. While the cane helped, her leg still throbbed.
“How do you know the traitor’s one of us and not one of the vagrants or deacons? You’ve been telling everyone about us. Maybe you told one of them your theories about cracked deacons.”
She clamped down on a nasty reply. Instead, she drew in a breath. “I only told trustworthy people, Jayden.” She held up a hand. “Trustworthy, because I read enough of their souls to know their intentions.”
He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “All right. Say you’re right and the priestess found out about the potential magic wielders in their midst. Then why did the deacons wield magic at that moment? They could have just hidden the torques under their robes or in a basket. There was no need to use magic to hide from the prince’s guards or any other watchers.”
“It almost seemed rehearsed, as if they were performing for an audience. I think they knew we were watching.”
“How? You were well hidden, right?”
She ignored the implication that she’d let them spot her. “You’re thinking about it the wrong way. Now that the deacons can wield magic, it changes everything. They sensed us. It’s an easy skill to learn even for the newest of beginners.” She rubbed her temples. “They correctly guessed we were affiliated with the Invisible Sword. It’s logical that we’d consider shutting down their torque-making operation. In fact, that’s why I was there, to check it out and see if it was possible to stop them or to steal their platinum. When they sensed us nearby, they staged that little demonstration just for us.”
“Why would they tip their hand? Surprising us with their own wielders would give the priestess a big advantage.”
True. A sudden thought occurred to her. “We need to act quickly.”
“What?”
“The priestess only has a few wielders. Otherwise she wouldn’t have shown them to us.”
“Wait. Where’s this logic coming from? How do you know she only has a few wielders?”
“You asked why she showed us at all. There’s only one reason to tip her hand. Because she wants to scare us off. Make us hesitate and wait so she can find and train more of her deacons. Which is why we need to act quickly.”
“Doing what?” Jayden asked.
“Getting to those deacons before she does.”
“Do you think you can after those sixteen people left?”
“It’ll be hard. But it’ll be even harder the longer we wait.”
“We need to train our people. And don’t forget that caravan is coming in two sun jumps.”
She stifled a groan. “You’re right. We need to get back to headquarters right away and figure it out.”
Jayden glanced at the sand clock. “It’s angle one-sixty. We’ll be spotted leaving the city.”
“Then we’ll just have to be clever. I’m not waiting another angle. I’ll go tell Wazir and his family to get ready.” She hurried off.
Disguised as two rich merchants, Wazir and Jayden and their four retainers left Zirdai via the north exit around angle one-seventy. Shyla used her magic to influence the guards nearby to see familiar faces.
“Masters Pramod and Fath, so good to see you again,” the one guard called to Wazir and Jayden. “What brings you out so close to darkness?”
“I want to check on Fath’s velblouds that are for sale. Make sure it’s a healthy flock before I purchase it.” Wazir waved to the guard. “You know I can’t trust Fath. He might have tied sun cloaks onto sand demons.”
The two Arch Deacons that had been edging closer turned away at the friendly banter, no longer interested in the group. Shyla relaxed.
Once they were out of sight, they headed toward their headquarters. Shyla soon discovered that using a cane in sand was difficult. Every step soon became an effort. Jayden walked beside her, helping to support her weak leg. He also erased their tracks.
“Are you going to be able to meet up with the caravan? Or should Ximen and I go?” he asked when they reached the temple.
She considered their strategy to purchase the platinum. Surely her leg would be better by then. And then it hit her. “We can’t follow our original plan with the caravan.”
“Why not?”
“Because there’s a good chance the priestess knows about it.”
“Not this again. Shyla, your logic is flawed. Banqui—”
“That’s enough.” She’d reached her limit and was finished with being nice. “Let’s go settle this right now.” She limped to the ladder.