Page 37 of The Necromancer's Prisoner

“Your…yourprotection?” She whirled to glare at Kelvin. “Isthisthe kind of help proffered by the Church’s vaunted Order? We asked for aid eradicating our undead infestation and they sent us a toothless pup!”

Kelvin’s face hardened. “Choose your words carefully, Liliana, unless you wish them to reach my superiors in Qori.”

Liliana flushed, but the warning did little to dim her anger as she turned back to Alistair and Iggie. “Explain,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Y-yes,” Maxwell stammered. “I think that would be for the best.”

Nodding stiffly, Alistair took several steadying breaths to clear his thoughts.Remember, you are a Knight of the Order—the person others turn to in times of peril. Act like it.

Channeling memories of his father’s calm assurance, Alistair launched into a bare-bones account of the past week, starting with his pursuit of Iggie’s undead at the warehouse and concluding with their recent return to town. He glossed over most of the details of their time together, especially their last night in the cave. However, he made sure to capture the abomination in vivid detail.

“Ignatius claims to have no knowledge of the missing villagers,” Alistair concluded. “And after everything I’ve witnessed, I believe him. Some manner of magical beast lurks in these mountains. It is what attacked your missing villagers, much as it did Iggie’s tower.”

Liliana raised a condescending brow. “And we’re just supposed to takeIggie’sword for all this, are we?” Alistair winced when he realized his slip of familiarity hadn’t gone unnoticed. It wouldn’t help their case if he and Iggie appeared too close. “He’s as good as admitted to terrorizing our town and raiding our precious supplies!”

“I am truly sorry for any hardship I’ve caused you,” Iggie whispered. The misery in his voice chipped away at Alistair’s heart. “Like I said, I didn’t see any other choice. There aren’t many options for…someone like to me to hide. I swear, I’ll do whatever I can to make amends.”

“Your head in a noose would be a start,” Liliana said.

“Enough!” All eyes in the room locked on Alistair, Liliana’s narrowed in appraisal as if really seeing him for the first time. He flushed and continued in a quieter voice. “Iggie—Ignatius—faced a difficult choice. Sometimes, necessity demands that we do things we’d rather not. And while his situation does not excuse his thefts,” he said with a placating gesture toward Liliana, “surely, such thefts don’t warrant death.”

“Those supplies—” Liliana began.

Alistair cut her off with a raised hand, focusing his attention on Maxwell. The mayor wilted beneath his steady gaze. “Master Maxwell, tell me—were those supplies critical to the town’s survival? Is the village in danger of running out of food or freezing to death without them?”

“Well…er…no,” Maxwell admitted, looking for all the world like he wished he was anywhere else. “Most of what was taken had been set aside in extra storage and is easily replaced. We remain well-stocked without it.”

“That’s beside the point,” Liliana said, pounding her fist on the table. “Theft is theft! We can’t simply turn a blind eye.”

“I’m not asking you to,” Alistair said. “Ignatius has already made it clear that he is more than willing to offer suitable reparations. As a start, we’ve brought what remains of those supplies back with us. We can discuss other appropriate measures at a future date, once the current crisis is resolved.” He looked at Maxwell, who paled. “I assume that’s an acceptable compromise?”

Maxwell sputtered helplessly, turning to the other elders for guidance. It was Brother Kelvin that came to his aid.

“That is all well and good, but petty larceny is hardly our gravest concern.” His lips curled in a cold smile as he regarded Iggie. “This man has admitted to practicing necromancy. Khordan’s laws are clear. So far as the Church is concerned, such a crime has a single viable punishment.”

Iggie shuddered hard enough against Alistair’s back that he felt the motion past his breastplate. “You can’t!” Kelvin’s brows shot up, and Alistair cleared his throat, struggling to slow his pounding heart. “Apologies, Brother Kelvin, but I strongly disagree with that chosen course. We have far bigger problems right now than a necromancer who wishes to be left alone.”

The priest snorted. “So you claim. But does it not strike you, Sir Alistair, as an incredible coincidence that a necromancer arrives at our doorstep precisely the same instant as another grave threat? Now, I do not dispute what you saw. I believe you when you say you were attacked. Yet, you cannot know for certain from whence this creature came. Is it not possible that this necromancer’s duskflamecreatedthe very menace you faced?”

Alistair began shaking his head before Kelvin had even finished speaking. “He couldn’t have. It attacked his own tower, threatened both our lives. A good chunk of his undead perisheddefendingus from the abomination.”

“And yet, you both escaped miraculously unharmed.” Kelvin spread his hands as if to say,There, you see?“This could all be a clever ruse designed to gain your trust.” His lips quirked in a rough facsimile of a smile. “One that appears to be succeeding.”

Alistair tensed at the priest’s suggestion even as shame flooded him at his inability to protest. What was he supposed to say—I know I can trust Iggie because of the intimate moments we’ve shared?Confessing how close they’d grown or what he knew of Iggie’s past would only serve to further weaken his already damaged credibility. So instead, he said nothing.

A tense silence hung in the air until Erys finally broke it, shaking his head with a light chuckle. “Forgive me, Brother Kelvin, but I’m afraid your expertise in matters of the Light is not so easily extended to the mysteries of the Shroud.”

Kelvin flushed, shooting Erys a hateful look that the mage didn’t seem to notice.

“Speak plainly, Erys,” Liliana snapped. “What do you mean?”

“Why, simply that I believe Iggie’s innocence in the matter of our missing villagers.”

“Really?” Kelvin said, recovering his composure. “Do explain. I am eager to learn more of these so-calledmysteries of the Shroud.”

“Well for one, the creature the good Knight described sounds far more in line with a monstrosity conjured via either runeflame or its corrupted counterpart voidflame than it does with an undead created by duskflame. The tentacles alone are a dead giveaway, as is the azure light.”

Alistair muffled his surprise. He and Iggie had reached a similar conclusion. Did that mean Eryswasn’tresponsible? Surely, if he were involved, he wouldn’t willingly implicate himself.