I opened the door to Austin. His weathered face was tense.

Katya had unlocked some of the mysteries of Joel's relics. Not all of them, not nearly. But she had discovered a chip embedded in a brooch that I had brought her. Through her esoteric investigations she had unveiled that this chip was a personal Footfield generator. Such things were not completely unheard of. They were amongst the rarest and most precious of relics, but they did exist. I understood that court in Miami had a courier equipped with such a relic. The Western Empire were said to have two.

The cape, which now adorned me, was related to that device. It was run through with fine but seemingly indestructible gold-colored filaments. These filaments could be seen on many relics, they were virtually a constant. This cape condensed the Footfield of the wearer. It allowed for even faster movement and tightened the field, making proximity to objects less dangerous. It explained a lot about Joel's ability to be in unexpected places. He might not have been a Griidlord, but he could travel like one.

I had retained the cape for myself, but the field generator would do nothing to amplify my own Footfield. So I had given it to Austin. Zeb had nearly been the choice, but Austin was already a messenger and courier, on top of other things.

So… he had brought a message to me. I was unconcerned with his seeing Dirk and Balthazar with me. I hadn't shared my plans with him, but since granting him the Footfield he had been with me more, delivering relics, fetching contracts, coordinating the most private elements of my affairs. I trusted him.

Seeing the look of distress on his face, I blurted, "What is it, Austin?"

He didn't step inside, hovering just beyond the door. "It's the Tower. Something's happened to the Tower!"

I said, "What Tower? Our Tower?"

He nodded rapidly. "There's been fighting in the Tower. The Bishop's nearly dead. His Templars got him out. But the Oracle Chamber's been locked out. We can't get in there."

Cold dread shot down my spine all the way to my heels. "By the Oracle… no…"

Balthazar pushed past me, urgent. "We have to get back! Now! If the Oracle Chamber has been seized… it's impossible, but if it's happened… Albany will be defenseless. Oracle's sake, Boston herself will be nearly defenseless."

I turned to Dirk. "Next time, Dirk."

He nodded, "Will I gather the Bloodwulfs?"

I said, "Yes. We can't wait for you, but be ready. If there's need I'll send Austin back to let you know. His Field will only support him and his horse, so you'll be marching the old-fashioned way."

Dirk nodded.

Then I was outside in the cool night air of the summer. Pine needles and damp earth, wet with dew, tickled my senses. I was coming to like my one-day home.

Balthazar's knights, his retinue of guards that had accompanied him for the rendezvous, were already mounted. One of them held the reins of his own mount. The Lord Supreme wasted no time, climbing to the saddle.

We needed no words. Balthazar and the knights broke into a gallop. I ran easily alongside them, extending my Footfield to encapsulate us. The air popped as we entered a different reality to the outside world. The scaffolding of the castle faded quickly, the trees and stumps of my domain blurring past us.

Balthazar leaned low over the saddle, urging his horse, whipping it to its greatest possible exertion. He spoke severely, "We knew there was a traitor. We knew someone was passing information to the outside."

My own legs pumping as I ran parallel to him, I said, "If they attacked Ra, they might have done more. I know what I would have done if I was in their position."

Balthazar nodded, driving his horse. "Kill all the priests."

I nodded my head as I ran. "With the priests dead we'd have to send for more. It could take a day, more, to arrange. In a day without Order Fort Albany would be swallowed. Dammit, Balthazar, it's the guns and cannons alone that are keeping the fort from being overrun. If they've taken the Order down then it won't last hours."

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The Lord Supreme rode hard. He didn't respond to me. His gears were turning. He was running through the implications, the consequences. With Albany in their hands the city would have control of the bridge and the hordes of brutes could sweep across the land. It would spell disaster for the war. It would spell disaster for the citizenry. Robbery, rape and murder would visit every Bostonian town between the city and the river.

The previous night I had used the Midnight Door to visit the basement of the monastery. I had no temptation to sacrifice my soul to Anubis, but Leona was still arranging books for me there. Books I could read outside of Enki's view. It was a habit I'd made, these last weeks, when the opportunity afforded itself. I had learned little, but the prospect remained. Knowledge that was mine and not Enki's would be valuable in future struggles for my autonomy. But it meant that the Door skill had been used since midnight. It was late, but still too early for my skill to reactivate. I had known there was a risk of this. I had made my choices.

It was a question of how this could have happened. The Priesthood had their own Templars, elite holy knights as good as or better than the most elite units in our city. It wasn't that such events had never occurred in history, but they were exceedingly rare. The security around the Oracle Chamber was utmost. It had to be. It was the beating heart of a city. Without it…

I ran on, my mind racing. Who could have done this? How?

The foyer of the Tower was pandemonium.

Medics tended wounded Templars. More men were bearing stretchers of the dead from the main room. Knights surged, these wearing weave instead of plate and bearing automatic rifles and submachine guns instead of swords. The knights were thronged, huddled, shouting plans and call signs, bearing coils of rope and grappling guns.

Screams and shouts rang through the Tower. I did not know the population of the Tower but it was far more than a thousand people. These people were suddenly in a state of horror. Their home, the safest home in all the land, was suddenly a warzone.

Nobles clustered, some peering over the wounded with curious detachment, others hovering near the knight assault squads, venturing their own instructions. Lords shouted in each other's faces, arguing over the need to reinforce Albany, or the pressing matter of reclaiming the Oracle Chamber.

Balthazar immediately owned the room. In moments he had banished the majority of the bystanders, sending mighty lords shuffling away ashamed of the distraction they had brought. He made his way immediately to the cluster of knights. I moved to join him, but a voice called to me.

I turned and saw Bishop Ra.

The man lay on a gurney. He was pale beyond death. Blankets covered him and yet he shivered still. I could see blood spotting those blankets. SIGHT showed me wrappings on his trunk, binding terrible stab wounds. Medics hovered around him like worker bees about their queen.

"Tiberius…" he rasped.

I glanced at Balthazar. I wanted the situation report badly. The other Griidlords were posted elsewhere or on trains as Enki had indicated no attack was imminent. It would be I that would lead the assault on the Oracle Chamber. For all the stress and terror of the moment, I thrilled. I had never been inside the chamber. None were allowed save members of the priesthood. Even on the day that Ra had been compelled to consult the Oracle, after my misuse of the Footfield during the Choosing, Balthazar would have been forced to wait outside. It was a religious experience. It would be a chance to see the face of god.

I stepped over to the Bishop.

"Tiberius… Betrayal… most foul…"

I spoke earnestly but softly. "Who did it? Who's the traitor."

He fixed me with a long stare. Weak and wounded he might have been, but his faculties were completely his own still. He said, "Mario."

I blinked. I may have taken a step back. I echoed, "Mario?"

Ra nodded.

I said, "That righteous prick? He… that bastard, and forgive me your grace, but he is a bastard, would be the last I could imagine doing something like this. He's so… so… so oracle-damned self-righteous!"

Ra said, "He's lost his mind. Paranoid. Spouting crazy talk. He thinks demons dwell among us. Tiberius… uhhhh… a moment…"

He shuddered, struggling to control his breathing. I waited. He said, "He's insane, Tiberius. I can't explain it… he has Templars with him, a dozen, maybe… maybe more… they're all afflicted… Tiberius… listen to me…"

I listened, but my only reward was rasping breathing. I twitched, urgent to reach the top of the Tower.

He gathered himself, waving off medics as they pleaded for him to rest. "The damage… the incomparable damage they could inflict in the chamber… Tiberius… you must slay them… as quickly as you can… if you hesitate, if you give them the chance… uuunghh… the damage they could do…"

Ra leaned forward. SIGHT showed me wounds stretching their stitches, blood oozing. The medics pushed on his shoulders, urging him to lie back. But he strained, his eyes panicked and wide.

"Kill them, Tiberius. Their lives are… uhhh… forfeit. Slay them all."

I nodded. I hardly needed the instruction. I knew the urgency of securing the chamber. It might be existentially important. I couldn't deny a thrill, a dark terrible murderous thrill, at the chance to see Mario cowed before me. His face flashed in my mind's eye. So many times he had scorned, mocked and insulted me during the Choosing. The chance to do him harm… justified harm… it woke that awful hunger that shamed me.

But in that moment, there was only room for hunger.

The shame could come later.

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