The Spirit Thief(67)
“What are you doing?” Miranda hissed, fighting Josef’s hold.
“You haven’t been open with us,” Josef said, tightening his grip. “You were the one who asked for our help, Spiritualist. You don’t get to string us along, telling us whatever you think we need to know. I’m not going a step farther until you tell us why Renaud being in the treasury is enough to make you go white.”
Miranda briefly considered lying, but Josef’s face was murderous in the dim light filtering through the warped cracks in the closet door. She swallowed against her dry throat and decided it was time to come clean.
“It’s not like I was hiding it,” she said, slumping against the back wall. “I just didn’t think it would be an issue.”
“Obviously it is,” Josef said, releasing his grip. “Talk.”
“Fine,” Miranda said. “I wasn’t just wandering through Mellinor when I found out you three had stolen the king. I was sent here by the Rector Spiritualis.”
“Figures,” Eli said. “That old windbag probably couldn’t stand having a country in the Council that didn’t buy into his Spiritualist mumbo jumbo.”
“Ignore him,” Josef said, cutting off Miranda’s retort before she could open her mouth. “Why did the Rector send you?”
Miranda shot Eli an icy glare. “We received a tip from Coriano that Eli was in this kingdom.”
Josef arched an eyebrow. “Coriano works for you?”
“Worked,” Miranda corrected him. “We couldn’t let someone”—she glared at Eli—“continue to ruin our good reputation, so the Spirit Court paid Coriano to tip us off since he was following your trail anyway. Everything was fine until I got here. Then Renaud bought Coriano out from under us.”
“That’s the problem with mercenaries,” Eli said. “They always live up to their name.”
“Stop interrupting,” Josef said flatly. “What about the pillar?”
Miranda shook her head. “When Master Banage sent me here, we didn’t know the king was the target. He thought Eli was after an obscure wizard artifact that has been in Mellinor’s possession since its founding, Gregorn’s Pillar.”
“Obscure?” Eli looked insulted. “Why would I want to steal something no one’s heard of?”
“Gregorn,” Josef said and frowned. “I’ve heard that name before.”
“I’m not surprised,” Miranda said. “Gregorn was Mellinor’s founder, and, despite their current rhetoric, he was actually quite a famous, and quite a nasty, enslaver.”
“What does Banage care about the pillar then?” Josef asked. “He’s not an enslaver. Why would he want something that belonged to one?”
“To keep it away from other wizards who want to follow Gregorn’s path,” Miranda said.
“What’s it do, then?” Josef asked. “Does it amplify powers somehow, or call spirits to you?”
Miranda began to fidget.
“I’m not actually sure,” she admitted at last. “Master Banage never told me exactly. All I know is that it’s bad news for everyone if a wizard gets his hands on it.” Master Banage’s exact words had been ‘soul-imperiling danger for both the human and spirit worlds,’ but after Eli’s earlier comments, she didn’t think they would appreciate the gravity of that statement.
Eli scowled at her. “I thought the Spirit Court was around to keep stuff like that under control.”
“We do,” Miranda snapped. “Why else do you think Master Banage sent me to keep the pillar from being stolen? I’m a fully initiated Spiritualist! I’m not exactly an errand girl.”
“So why let it sit in Mellinor all this time if it’s so dangerous?” Josef scratched his chin. “Seems awfully irresponsible.”
“We’re a neutral power!” Miranda threw up her hands. “We can’t just waltz in and demand a country’s national treasure! Besides, in case you forgot, Mellinor hates wizards. Gregorn’s Pillar is perfectly harmless to normal people; so leaving it in a country where wizards are deported on sight seemed like an acceptable risk.”
“Let me get this right”—Josef bent down to look her straight in the eye—“you think that Renaud, an enslaver, is trying to get this pillar, which is named after another enslaver, and is, in your words, ‘bad news’ if a wizard gets his hands on it.” He arched an eyebrow at Miranda. “Don’t you think you should have told us about this earlier?”