Retribution (Drakenfeld 2)

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Book: Retribution (Drakenfeld 2) Read Online Free PDF
Author: Mark Charan Newton
more unfortunate than us. When he wasn’t preaching he was giving alms to the poor. He was not involved in corruption like priests you might find elsewhere. That is all I can tell you about him. I can’t understand where he has gone and why he would abandon his temple.’ He paused as if recalling what it was that the Sun Chamber did. ‘That what you’re here for? Have you come to find him?’
    ‘I’m interested in his whereabouts,’ I admitted – which wasn’t entirely untrue.
    ‘Say no more!’ Jejal whispered with some urgency, and proceeded out of the room.
    Listening to his steps fading downstairs, I turned to regard the room. ‘Well, we seem to have done rather well. Not as good as my home in Detrata, but not as bad as our small dwelling in Venyn City, that’s for sure.’
    Leana made for the large couch and placed her belongings on the floor beside it.
    ‘If you want, you can take the bed instead,’ I said, ‘you’re more than welcome to.’
    ‘You know how I feel about comfort,’ she replied. ‘It dulls the senses. Blunts your wits.’
    ‘I’m only being polite,’ I replied.
    ‘So you believe what he said, about the bishop?’
    ‘I see no reason why not. It was interesting that his death has not been formally announced to the city. Sulma Tan was convinced the man was dead, so surely the issue must have been mentioned to the people by now.’
    ‘As she reminds us, she is a busy woman.’
    ‘She is. Well, we should first find the bishop’s temple and take a look around there.’
    Out of the window, down below, a couple of carts were being drawn by hand from the marketplace, which was starting to pack up for the night. It was going to be a clear evening. The last of the day’s sunlight glimmered on the red roof tiles, which were of a similar sloping style to those found in Tryum. In fact, a lot of the buildings here appeared to be familiar – as if the designers had constantly looked to Tryum for inspiration when they constructed this city. There were even long colonnades and column-fronted buildings just like at home. Statues and busts adorned the fronts of buildings. More than once a fresco could be perceived through an open doorway. The temples were Detratan styled, too, and not like the tall, wooden, spired structures we saw throughout the Kotonese countryside on our way here.
    ‘This city is trying too hard to impress,’ I commented out loud.
    ‘Those on the other side of the wall would see things differently,’ Leana replied bluntly. ‘For them it does not seem so impressive.’

Two Gods
     

     
    The last few rays of the day’s sun skimmed across the low slate rooftops of the prefecture, and the hills in the distance were now dark shadows. We walked through the streets, navigating by the answers of locals towards Bishop Tahn Valin’s temple. A gong was struck several times a few streets away, the sound carrying along the quiet lanes amidst the scent of woodsmoke from the evening fires.
    The bishop’s home and place of worship was like those dedicated to Polla that I had seen in Tryum recently, a fact that unsettled me at first. I had expected a different religion – different gods in a different country – for it to have its own identity. Set back from a busy street, it was a large rectangular building made from stone, with reliefs along the top and a triangular pediment at the front, with two columns on each side of a large wooden door. I stared up at it, and for a moment it felt as if I were back at home.
    As we climbed the steps towards the door, we were presented with small statues of two very different gods. A woman’s torso blended into the legs of a horse; a male god’s muscular torso met with the lower half of a fish. Both of them carried glaives and directed them to the heavens.
    ‘Can I help you?’
    A man marched towards us, a stern look upon his aged face. He wore layers of claret-coloured cloth – from tunic to cloak – though there was no emblem or markings
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