Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156907 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
True did not touch on that either.
“They may have trained in their aim, but they were not trained archers,” he continued. “And they may not have leaked vital secrets of this Rising, but all of them eventually talked. And we learned that they were all recruited through Go’Doan temples, or Go’Doan priests, but this Rising is clearly not officially of the Go’Doan religion. Indeed, they speak of the overarching faith in a sneering manner. Thus, it is a subset of the Go’Doan who have an aggressive mission that does not coincide with that of the Dome City, making it not truly Go’Doan at all.”
“Then this is good,” she noted.
“Yes, though we cannot tell who is of this Rising and who is Go’Doan, which will serve to make things difficult. We also learned that information within this Rising is highly compartmentalized, something else that will make things difficult. Their leader, the one who recruited them, called them to this mission, trained them, strategized it and carried it through, was the one who fled and died in the fleeing. He was a priest of the Go’Doan. They know not names of others. And the two priests taken, who likely know more, refused to say anything at all.”
“And this is bad,” she murmured.
He gave her a careful squeeze. “Not exactly. First, they are not soldiers. This is definitely in our favor. And it leads me to believe whoever is at the top of this is not trained in that manner, which could also be in our favor. I do not think they realize they declared war, in a sense, back at Catrame Palace, and definitely that declaration was made today. And you cannot win a war if you don’t realize you’re waging one.”
“Are you sure they do not think this?”
He shook his head. “The only thing I’m sure of at this time is that this is not a house of cards. You can’t pull one from the bottom and it all comes tumbling down. The hammer has to fall at the top. Thus, we must find our way to the top.”
“It does seem this is true,” she muttered.
He gave her another careful squeeze and a small smile before he went on, “Second, they are not Go’Doan, so although they recruit amongst the people of the realms in which they serve, if we can disseminate information, citizens can be made aware, or even come forward with information.”
“This would be most useful.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “And last, it is far away, but it could be even more useful considering the lower downs know little, thus we need information about what is happening higher up. And Lorenz, Mars’s captain in Fire City, has a priest who is formerly of this Rising, though this faction does not know this is ‘formerly.’ And he’s willing to learn what he can of their plans and share it.”
Farah brightened, but asked, “Can he be trusted?”
“I do not know. I know Lorenz trusts him and Mars trusts Lorenz. So I take heart in that.”
She nodded before she said, “But it does not seem much to take heart in when so much is being lost.”
“The priests of this Rising in the temple in Fire City fled after the attack. Some of them have been tracked down and they await Mars’s return in the necropolis. But they do not await their interrogations. Lorenz and Guard are already interrogating them.”
Her brows went up.
True kept speaking.
“Sadly, however, it seems, thus far, it’s proving most of them are underlings, not those in authority. But it’s clear with Carrington’s placement in this very castle that these plans have been brewing for a long time. And we’re getting a picture that perhaps there are some zealots higher up who are calling the shots and doing it poorly. And now that plans are being carried out, their followers are finding they’re not quite as loyal as they believed, what with men in pieces in Fire City, or walking into the tar pits. Or what they will see happen to Carrington, which will be grisly, and the other traitors publicly hung.”
“So you don’t think they will feel some triumph at what they achieved today?” she asked quietly.
“I think citizens of this city still line the streets silently in mourning for their queen,” he answered. “I think as gruesome as it will be, there will be cheers at Carrington’s execution and the traitors will be led to the gallows with the Dellish spitting on them as they go. I think today, Chu capitalized on the fact nineteen archers expected to be captured, but their leader alone tried to escape. And Chu made it very clear to those in that torture chamber that they were sacrificed while their leader expected to get away.”
“Oh my,” she said quietly. “That was very clever.”
“Yes. And Chu had further instigated a situation where there was no small amount of animosity of those underlings toward the priests who Chu also made it clear were higher ups who in some way got them in their present position but were saying not a word to get them out of it.”