Chapter 25
Page 1 ¦ 2 ¦ 3 ¦ 4 ¦ 5 ¦ 6 ¦ 7 ¦ 8 ¦ 9 ¦ 10 ¦ 11 ¦ 12 ¦ 13 ¦ 14 ¦ 15 ¦ 16 ¦ 17 ¦ 18 ¦ 19 ¦ 20 ¦ 21 ¦ 22 ¦ 23
What the Council derived from their speculations still left them very little to go on. They could say with relative certainty that Uriel had appeared in Khaballe either to confront the evil that was taking place or assist it, knowingly or not.
Khyrhyelle might have been eliminated for several reasons. She could have been getting too close to Uriel for someone's liking, perhaps interfering in their plans. The former High Witch could have known or had suspicions of what was happening. Or maybe some things which needed to happen were unlikely to as long as Khyrhyelle ruled at the Towers.
More disturbing than even Khyrhyelle's death were the questions of why someone wanted the Rune and how it was tied in with the other events, if indeed it was. It was possible that someone was trying to discredit the Witches of the Moons or Uriel. The reasoning behind the former theory was not very stable. The witches could not think of a reason why anyone would want to cast them in a bad light. However, if it was Uriel they were after, making him appear responsible for all that had been happening would certainly serve their purpose. But that only led to other questions. Who were they? The witches knew Satarsmyt was involved, but did it go beyond him? Had Thaum somehow returned? Had the confiscation of the Rune been the first step in their return and the domination of Khaballe?
That was as far as the Council could get. Too many answers eluded them. They did agree to keep a close watch on Uriel and Jukhuule through the Guardians. Dhynelle and Qelharre had sought a more strict restraint, arguing that a Guardian had been stationed in the Sanctum and that it had done little good. But Arhyvhynne, Xenyssa and Eyrmysse felt that it might be too extreme. The Council also decided to reconvene later in the day after they had a chance to do a more thorough investigation of the Towers and give the situation more thought. Arhyvhynne would also let them know at that time whether she would be up to performing a mind scan on either Uriel or Jukhuule.
§
