The she began rubbing a crystal ball over me while the other woman pulled the scarf off my head and began running her fingers though my hair. A body search! My blood turned cold. Oh Aumaz. The necklace. She was sure to find it. And wearing such a strange iron necklace was going to look very suspicious. In fright I put my hands over my face and stood so for the whole search, shaking, in a state of the most shameful terror, while they patted over my torso and then lifted my skirts and felt over my legs and through my petticoats. I tried to bring to mind what I must do when they brought in the witch manacles but my mind was too filled with panic. Why did they go on? Why didn't they just get on with bringing on the witch manacles and dragging me off for a mind search? They were just getting a perverse pleasure out of tormenting me.
Suddenly they had finished.
"That's it. You're clean," said the tall one and the other one pushed me out of the alley. "Put on your scarf," said the tall one as she passed me going back to the cordon. "What kind of slut, are you?"
I stood there bemused with fear and relief. They hadn't found it. Why hadn't they found it? It was so pointy. I put my hand surreptitiously to my chest. Strangely enough I couldn't feel it either although I could feel the weight of it. Then finally, I remembered something Tomas had told me about how it couldn't be felt. I had been too busy being revolted by the necklace itself to really pay attention at the time. What a fool! All that fear for nothing. Yet how fascinating. An iron necklace that couldn't be felt. And couldn't be magic either or it would have shown up in the crystal ball. So how?
There were two priests seated on horses near the cordon. One of them, an extremely handsome fellow with a finely sculptured face and chestnut hair, glanced lingeringly at me and there was something in that glance that reminded me that I was standing here with my hair all uncovered and coming down. Quickly I smoothed and tucked in my hair, tied my scarf back around my head and started looking for the others.
A moment later the priest caught my attention again, when one of the officials came up to him and said, "This lot's clean, Priest Stalker."
Stalker! Why did that name sound familiar?
I wondered about it as I stood at the edge of the cordon waiting for the other travelers to file out. Parrus came over leading our horse and looking very shaken. We squeezed each others arms, both too relieved to be pretend detachment.
Then I heard Tomas's voice.
"Priest Stalker?" asked my brother politely addressing the handsome priest. "I wonder if I might speak with you."
The priest inclined his head, in much the same way as a saint would graciously accept our homage.
"My name is Tomas Holyhands. You visited our Inn in Annac. The Inn of the Holy Hands. Near the Monastery of the Healing Holy Hands of St Belkis.
"Ah yes I remember it. A lovely place. That explains your colorful name, my brother."
"You spoke with my sister while you were there. Tasha Holyhands! You words were an inspiration to her and after you left she decided to follow you south. Since then I have not seen her. It's almost three months, Holy One."
A strange expression came into the priest eyes. Then I felt something, a frisson of magic. My blood ran cold and I turned away quickly lest he see the knowledge on my face. Priest Stalker was obviously a very powerful priest-mage. This spell was strong but very subtle. What was he doing? I relaxed into the magic and a wave of liking for the priest washed over me. How sinister. He was using magic to make us like and trust him. I was a little shocked. Such magical tricks were forbidden to normal mages and would have brought a severe reprimand and maybe even jail if reported to the White College in Gallia. But here in Moria, of course, the Burning Light made its own rules.
Even though part of me knew quite coldly what he was doing, it was difficult for me to resist the feeling now I had let it in. I found myself nodding and smiling at him. Just like the other three were.
"I do remember her, Tasha Holyhands. Poor troubled creature. She wanted to become a priest-mage, but of course quite impossible for a woman. Forgive me, I know nothing about her. She never caught up with me, I'm afraid. Your Inn is the last place I saw her."
"But you told her of a place. A place she could serve the Church and use her powers."
"Did I? I wonder what I can have said."
There was something in the priest's manner that was not right, but I could not work out what it was because I liked him so much.
"And who are these good people," he said suddenly, running his eyes over us. "More of your family? I remember they were numerous, weren't they?"
"Just some people I met on the road," said Tomas. "My sister, Priest Stalker, can you remember nothing?"
"No I ... Wait, I may have told her of Sanctuary."
"Sanctuary?"
"Aye, it's a community of holy people started by Hierarch Jarraz whose prayers support our efforts to reclaim the Great Plain of Despair. Yes ..."
There was a shout from inside the cordon. A new batch of travelers was being searched. The Priest turned.
"I am needed. Tomas Holyhands, I would be glad to help you. If you call on me tonight at St Agnes Church House, I would be glad to tell you more."
He turned and spurred his horse away.
As we were mounting our horses, they brought a couple through the cordon, wearing witch manacles. Behind them rode the other priest, a very fat man. He was holding up a magic lens, the kind healers used to look at the life force of a patient and crying, "Behold these sinners. Be warned by their disgrace." The soldiers and the women searchers cheered. The malicious cheering reminded me of my flight from Moria back when I was 16 and I shuddered.
"Let's get out of here," said Tomas and we set off. We threaded our way through the narrow streets. I had forgotten the conversation with Darmen Stalker in my distress at seeing the couple in the manacle and so I was surprised when a short time later we halted outside an inn.
"I'll bespeak us some food and some beds," said Hamel as he jumped down from the horse.
"No Hamel," said Tomas. "Only food for the moment. I'll see to the horses."
It was early afternoon and the dining room of the inn was almost empty. Hamel found a seat by the fire and by the time Tomas came in from seeing to the horses, the maid was bringing out bowls full of savory smelling stew and a plate of bread and cheese.
Hamel waited till the maid was gone before he asked the question that was obviously most urgently on his mind.
"Are we not going to stay here tonight? What about this meeting with Darmen Stalker?"
"I'm not fully sure that I should go and see him," said Tomas.
I sat quietly and ate my stew while the men argued in low voices; Parrus adding his urgings to Hamel's. They all of them felt that they were closer to finding Tasha than they had yet been, but Tomas was mistrustful of Darmen Stalker, who was, after all, Hierarch Jarraz's secretary. Though initially I had planned to let the men decide because I thought my fear of the Witch Hunters might be clouding my judgment, I gradually became more and more sure that Tomas was right and that I must stop him from going to see Stalker.
"That man was using magic to make us like him," I said, breaking into the discussion. "I don't think we should trust him."
There was a stunned silence.
"You can't know that," snapped Parrus. "I didn't feel anything."
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I was more powerful than he, but instead I said, "I've felt such things before. It's not an unusual technique for Witch Hunter's to use if they can."
"You speak like some kind of expert," sneered Parrus.
"Well I'd obviously know more about it than you," I snapped.
"For God's