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Jemel nods, although the Immurite cannot see him. Light sparkles through the high windows of the chamber. The incense seems particularly heavy today. He says, “I will complete it soon, but…,” he swallows; should he speak of this? He has never kept anything from her before. “I have also discovered something else that occupies my attention.”

“And what is that?” The Immurite’s voice is smooth and cold.

Jemel has not told anyone of this. But he feels he must. And in the continuing absence of Doroth, the Immurite is the one person he knows he can confide in. “I recently found something I believe to be related to the death of Pershel the Moon Truth.”

He is certain he hears the Immurite make a small sound before she says, “The Great Moon Truth, Holy Zai Mother, killed herself with snap adder venom. It was declared such over a year ago. But I understand this may not mean the matter is closed for you. I know you were close with her. Does her passing still pain you?”

“No…,” Jemel stops. “Yes, yes it does. I am not inventing tales to soothe myself. But I was indeed close to Pershel and I do not believe she would do such a thing. It was not in her nature.”

“We can often be surprised by the actions of those we know well,” says the Immurite.

Jemel wonders how the Immurite could understand such a thing. He says, “It does not make sense. I was told by Doroth Zain, by Doroth, that she read the runes on the body of Damon Darekul’s slave. They are written in Ur-Ambolk. Few in the Rose Palace would have been able to understand them, but Pershel was a great student of languages. She was the one who taught me much of what I know myself.”

“You believe she read something on the slave’s body that distressed her so?”

“Yes, she must have. But what?” Jemel says, frustrated. The Immurite does not seem to be understanding him. “What could she have read that would cause her to do something so desperate? So unlike her?”

“Until someone else can read what it says on Lyr’s body, we cannot know.” The Immurite pauses. “You can also read Ur-Ambolk?”

“I can. I was not allowed to read the runes on Lyr’s body. Even when he was recaptured after Pershel died. If they had allowed it, perhaps I would know the truth of what happened. Perhaps if I had been bolder, but now I am just left with…” He tails off. His throat feels thick and sore — if he was not keeping tight control of himself he would begin to weep. Perhaps begin to weep and not be able to stop.

“Jemel, you must try to accept the facts of the matter. It will bring you peace. Pershel read something on Lyr’s body that caused her to go mad and take the snap adder venom.”

“No,” Jemel says, quite forcefully. “The only way I will find peace is to discover what really happened.”

There is a long pause. Jemel waits. The Immurite takes an audible breath and says, “the night she died, Pershel came to me. You know I cannot speak of any of the words I share with others. But I can say this to you. You must do what you believe will bring you peace.”

“You mean I should do this? I should try and find out what happened to Pershel the Moon Truth?”

“If it is the only way you can find peace, then your path is clear. If you have been sent a sign, follow it.”

“Is this the bidding of Zai?”

“It is the bidding of the Immurite,” she says clearly.

Jemel swallows. The Immurite has never given him such a command before. He has never been charged by her to do anything except wash himself of his sins. “Then I will do as I have been commanded, my holy Immurite.”

“I have many visions about you, Jemel,” The Immurite says. “You have great work to do in the battle to come.”

Jemel sighs at this. Again this battle to come. The Immurite mentions it often. Jemel does not know what the Immurite truly knows of Ur-Durik and she will not be drawn on it. Conversations with her are always strange and run in circles. He senses she knows far more than she reveals. Doroth told him once that she knows all. That she sees every truth. But how can that be? She is a pillar of Zai, a creation of Ferra the Blessed, the first Zai Mother and so sacred that many say Zai would fall if there were no Immurite in the chamber at the heart of the Sarelik Temple. But if she sees the truth of what Zai is, why does she remain in the chamber, giving her life to a God she knows to be a demon?

Perhaps she is like him, struggling to find a path through the tangle of demands of a faith she knows to be false, but still clings to nevertheless.

He sometimes wonders if the Immurite is quite sane. It is almost impossible to imagine she could be.

Back in his own chambers, Jemel decides not to eat to sharpen his wits. He draws his papers from the linden box.

He will focus on his tasks. He is sure that deep down that is the true lesson of his visit to the Immurite. He has far more to concern himself with than base desires. He will not think of Xan the Plumian. Zai’s teachings are not all worthless. He is better not distracted.

Pershel was the one who had taught him languages. He knows Old Magaar because of her tutelage. Without it he would not be able to decipher the work of Batreous.

He will do his work in tribute to her. And he will discover the truth of what happened.

When the time comes to collect Xan and take him to Atticul, he is so dizzy from his work and his abstinence that he has to grip the edge of his table as he stands.

7

XAN