Born of Darkness (William King) - William King Page 0,37
laughed. “Indeed but it only takes one strong army to conquer a country. Someone needs to keep watch. Someone needs to stand guard. Your order does that against individual Old Ones. King Aemon and my order seek to do that on a much larger level, among the nations and princedoms. Surely you can see the necessity.”
Kormak felt like saying he had seen that claim used to justify all manner of power grabs. People who set themselves up as guardians against a hidden enemy were always tempted by wielding secret power. Who knew that better than his own order? It hardly seemed diplomatic to say so he nodded.
Jonas took this for acquiescence. “Lady Marketa is centuries old. She is a sorceress. She is an agent of the Courts of the Moon. She is one of the favoured creatures of the rulers of that ancient empire. Be aware of this if you plan on having any further dealings with her. She is not our friend. She is the agent of a powerful rival and she will do anything she can to undermine the King-Emperor and his realm. At the moment, we are the last bulwark against the ambitions of her masters.”
“You are hinting that she might be behind the Vorkhul problem.”
“I doubt she would admit it but it is a possibility worth considering, is it not? Our realm is thrown into chaos, the power of her gods is displayed, even here in the shadow of the Angel. She is, as you have pointed out, an expert on the Old Ones.”
“The sarcophagus did not come from her. It came from your own governor in your own colonies.”
“Lady Marketa has friends even there. They might not love her, but they love the king even less. They could aid her in getting the sarcophagus sent here, even if her own agents in the colonies could not.”
Kormak wondered about this. A lot of secret enemies were suddenly appearing, and this would be a useful pretext to clamp down. He saw the hand of Prince Taran in this and the fine mind of Frater Jonas. This crisis could be used to advance their agenda.
Kormak turned the possibilities over in his mind then dismissed them. His task was simple, to find Vorkhul and end his rampage. He did not have to care about the schemes of kings and dukes and nobles.
“I am a simple man, Frater,” Kormak said. “My goals are simple goals. Protect the innocent. Oppose the Shadow. Uphold the Law. That is what I intend to do. I shall leave you to worry about the political ramifications.”
“I do not think you are so simple, nor is it so easy to do the things you claim to want to. Often it’s hard to tell the innocent from the guilty, the followers of the Shadow from deluded fools, those who seek to uphold the law from the criminal.”
“That is not the Law I was talking about.”
“I know. I was talking to myself more than to you. Sometimes in order to protect the greater good, you must break the law and even do things against your own conscience. I have.”
Kormak had too, but he did not want to give any ground. “We need to try to make those distinctions though,” he said.
“Aye, we do.” Jonas hesitated for a moment, rose from the chair, walked over to the fire and studied the flames. “There are times when I wish I saw the world as you do,” he said. “I fear my vision is clouded sometimes.”
Kormak felt guilty, pretending to a clarity of purpose he lacked.
“I would see this moongate that Lady Marketa is so interested in,” he said.
“That is easily enough arranged,” said Jonas. “Come with me.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
THEY WALKED TOWARDS the large building on the far side of the courtyard. It loomed several stories high. Its stained glass windows contained mosaics of elder signs. Statues depicting kings and saints stood sentry in alcoves in its walls.
Jonas strode along. His hands were behind his back, left hand clasping right wrist. His eyes looked down as if he were concentrating hard and did not want to be distracted.
He paused at the foot of the stairs leading up to the Museum’s heavy oaken doors. The ironwork reinforcing the wood was moulded into protective runes. It looked as if the doors could resist a battering ram. Jonas gave a sign to one of the guards in the sentry box. The doors to the Museum swung open.
The priest strode up the steps and Kormak followed.