At the Sign of Triumph (Safehold)

.VII.

City of Zion,

The Temple Lands.

The sound of the doorbell startled Alahnah Bahrns up out of the sketch she’d been working on. The short winter day had ended hours ago, and heavy snow swirled down over the city streets. It was unlikely that the trolleys would be running much longer if the snow was as deep as it looked like being. All of which suggested there wouldn’t be many visitors wandering around those same streets.

The bell rang again, and she felt a sudden tingle run down her nerves. A tingle, little though she wanted to admit it, of fear. A woman of twenty-five years shouldn’t be afraid when her doorbell rang in the middle of God’s own city! But there was so much uncertainty, so much fear.…

The bell rang a third time, and she gave herself a little shake. One thing it obviously wasn’t was someone here to arrest her! If someone had come to do that, they’d hardly stand patiently in the hall and ring the bell again and again. The thought actually made her chuckle, and she crossed her apartment’s small sitting room to open the security slide in the stout door. She peeked out onto the landing, and her eyebrows rose. Then she quickly unlocked the door and pulled it wide.

“Uncle Gahstahn! What in the world are you doing here at this hour?”

“Hello, Lahna,” he said, using the childhood nickname that only he and Krystahl ever applied to her.

She opened her arms and embraced him, despite the snow clotted on the outside of his heavy coat. Then she caught him by one gloved hand and drew him into the apartment. She couldn’t afford a very big fire, especially these days, but the room was well insulated and she’d hung heavy, warm blankets as extra curtains to cut down on the windows’ drafts.

“Take off that coat. Let me make you some tea.”

“I really can’t stay, Lahna,” he said, and her smile faded as his expression registered.

“What do you mean, you can’t stay?” Her grip on his hand tightened. “You just came over ten blocks to get here on a night like this! Surely you can sit down long enough to let me fix you a cup of hot tea!”

“No, really.” He shook his head. “I just … stopped by on my way.”

“On your way where?” Her eyes narrowed. “Uncle Gahstahn, you’re starting to frighten me.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to do that!” He shook his head again, harder, and summoned up a smile. It was rather feeble looking. “I just … I just wanted to ask you if you’ve seen Krys in the last day or two.”

“If I’ve what?” Alahnah blinked. Then her face tightened. “What do you mean if I’ve seen her? Are you saying she hasn’t been home in two days?!”

For a moment, he looked as if he wasn’t going to answer. But then his shoulders slumped and he nodded.

“I haven’t seen her since Wednesday, right after mass,” he said heavily. “She said she was going out to run an errand. That’s the last I’ve seen of her.”

Alahnah’s fingers rose to her lips and her eyes were huge.

“You’ve checked the hospitals? Talked to the Guard?”

“Of course I have!” Concern for his daughter brought Gahstahn Bahrns’ response out more sharply than he’d intended, and he laid his free hand quickly on her shoulder, his expression contrite.

“Of course I have,” he repeated more quietly. “Nothing. It’s like she disappeared into thin air. That’s why I was hoping you might’ve seen her. Might have some idea where she went on that ‘errand’ of hers.”

“Oh, Langhorne,” Alahnah breathed.

“You do know where she went?” Gahstahn’s eyes, the same hazel as his daughter’s, widened with sudden hope.

“Uncle Gahstahn, she told me she was going to meet with friends.” Alahnah released his hand to put both her own hands on his upper arms. “She said one of them was Sebahstean Graingyr. They were going … going to discuss a petition.”

“A petition?” Gahstahn repeated sharply, but there was less surprise in his voice than Alahnah had expected. Or than she wanted to hear. “A petition to whom?”

“Vicar Rhobair,” she said quietly. “They wanted … they wanted him to … look into their concerns about all the arrests the Inquisition’s been making.”

“Sweet Bédard.” Gahstahn closed his eyes, his face sagging suddenly. “I knew she hiding something from me—I knew it!” He opened his eyes and managed another fleeting caricature of a smile. “I could always tell when one of you was up to something. But I told her—I warned her—that sometimes, in the middle of something like the Jihad, you can’t just.…”

His voice trailed off, and Alahnah nodded slowly while tears welled at the corners of her eyes.

“We don’t know—don’t know—that … that anything bad’s happened,” she half whispered.

“When was the last time Krystahl didn’t warn me if she wasn’t going to be home?” Gahstahn asked bleakly. “At the very least she would’ve sent a message!” He shook his head. “She’d never have done something that would have caused me to worry this much—not willingly, anyway.”

“What … what are we going to do?” Alahnah asked in a very small voice.

“We aren’t going to do anything,” her uncle told her sharply. “You’re going to stay entirely out of this, young lady!” She opened her mouth to protest, but he shook her sharply by the shoulders. “Listen to me, Lanah! I don’t want you doing anything that could get you in trouble, too. If … if Krys is already in trouble, you need to promise me you’ll stay as far away from it as you can. I don’t want anything happening to both my daughters!”

The tears broke free, rolling down her cheeks, and he gathered her into a fierce embrace.

“Then what are you going to do?” she asked in an even tinier voice, one that was almost inaudible over the wind blowing about the apartment building.

“I’m going to find Krystahl.” His voice wasn’t a lot louder than hers, but it was carved out of granite. “I’ve checked with the Guard, and I’ve checked the hospitals. I haven’t checked with the Inquisition. Yet.”

“But if … if—”

She broke off, unable to complete the sentence, and his expression was as granite-like as his voice.

“If the Inquisition’s arrested Krys,” he said unflinchingly, “it has to be a mistake. I can’t even begin to imagine anything she could’ve done to get herself into that kind of trouble, but young Graingyr and his lot…” He tossed his head, his worried eyes touched with a flicker of anger. “I could see them doing something stupid, and if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Inquisition might have taken her in for questioning.” He swallowed. “Even if they did, they have to let me at least talk to her—that’s the Inquisition’s own law! And when I talk to them, explain that they must’ve made a mistake, I’m sure they’ll release her as soon as they can.”

Alahnah nodded quickly, although she was sure of nothing of the sort. Neither was he, she thought; he just wasn’t going to admit that to her.

“You’ll tell me what you find out?” The question came out as a command, but he shook his head.

“If I can. But if the … misunderstanding’s more serious than I hope it is, I may not be talking to you for a while.” His lips twitched another smile. “I’m sure we’ll get it all straightened out eventually, but for now it would be best if I didn’t get you involved in … anything.”

She started to protest, then closed her mouth and nodded unhappily.

“Well,” he said with forced brightness, “I suppose I’d better be going. If I’m lucky, I’ll find Father Charlz in his office. We’ve known each other a long time, Lanah. I’m sure he’ll be as shocked as I am by the notion that the Inquisition could have any reason to take Krystahl into custody!”