Sylin waved away the argument. “I ran back to Lucky Island to see why it was glowing blue.”
“Because Vormalt’s explosives blew up the temple, I assume.” Rylana hoped the gnome peacekeepers who had been left in the area hadn’t been nearby when that had happened.
“The explosives blew upatemple.”
Rylana had been about to ask if the gnomes were all right but paused at the emphasis in Sylin’s sentence. “What do you mean? The new-god temple is the only one on Lucky Island.”
“That you knew about, perhaps. What the explosion revealed is another buried—formerlyburied—troll-god chamber. It’s larger than the one under your castle. It looks like someone brought in a lot of dirt a long time ago and that the new-god temple was deliberately placed on top to help cover it up.”
“I’ve heard that some of the new-god temples in Tranquility were built over old religious sites. Is that where the blue glow is coming from?”
“It is. And your castle is still glowing.”
“I’m aware. If Vormalt hadn’t been here at the time, I would think he’d tipped over the idols again.”
“Is that your offering?” Sylin peered past her shoulder.
Per Mya’s instructions, Jildarin was holding her box, but he was also watching them speak.
“Bread dough, yeah,” Rylana said.
“You may want to bring it to Lucky Island.”
“After the bread is baked? To leave as an offering? That’s the plan, though that wasn’t the temple I’d been thinking of.”
“You may want to bring it to the islandbeforeit’s baked,” Sylin said.
“Uh, just the dough?”
“Bring a shovel too. One full side of the troll-god temple is taken up by what I think is an ancient brick bread oven.”
25
Since peacekeepersand elves lingered in the street out front, ostensibly directing a search for Vormalt but also availing themselves liberally of the coffee shop’s samples, Rylana, Sylin, and Jildarinallslipped out of the bakery the back way. Mya, saying she needed to get bread, scones, cookies, and a couple of special cake orders underway, had declined to accompany them, but she’d been confident that Jildarin had enough experience to bake the sacred bread. Whether he had enough experience to get an ancient oven working after it had been buried in the ground for centuries was another discussion.
Their trio hurried down the waterfront street, skirting the crumbled sections that had sloughed into the lake and dubiously watching the green miasma that lingered in the city. As daylight brightened the area, Rylana glanced at her elven comrade a few times. While Rylana had been grabbing her bow and quiver and Jildarin the dough, Sylin had acquired a shovel from who knew where. It wasn’t her usual weapon, but shehadmentioned a need for one.
“What prompted you to return to Lucky Island?” Rylana asked.
“A bad feeling.”
Rylana arched skeptical eyebrows.
“Also, I encountered Captain Laridon while avoiding the elves swarming through the city streets.”
“Can three elves swarm effectively?”
“Very much so. The captain asked me to investigate Lucky Island independent of his team. For some reason, he thought I might have insight into glowing blue beams and how to handle them. Iamskilled at dealing with atypical situations, as I’ve proven. He’s relying on me more now for unorthodox methods of resolving crimes.”
“And offering you a suitable amount of coin?”
“Coin and coffee.”
“The preferred compensation of assassins.”
“Ofsomeassassins, yes.”
Jildarin, who was striding along beside them with the dough inside Mya’s proofing box, looked over but didn’t opine on the conversation. He kept glancing toward the sky at the southern end of the lake, something that gaveRylanaa bad feeling. She hoped his mother and aunt hadn’t changed their minds and returned to the area.
