She looked at the first, which had her name on it. She opened it and read: “Sandreena, if the Goddess wills it, we will meet again. Know the Order’s trust rests with you and I have faith you will discharge the duties I’ve given you as well as if I undertook them myself. I’ve left you a list of those whom you may rely upon”—she knew he meant those who would be trusted in dealing with the Conclave and the matter of the demons—“and a report you must attend to at once. May the Goddess go with you.” It was signed only “Creegan.”

She looked at the list and found it had only five names on it. Four were priests and one was the orderly assigned to this office, the only member of the Order of the Shield who apparently knew about the Conclave of Shadows.

She looked up to see the man named on the list, a Prior of the Order, Brother Willoby. He was a round-faced, stocky man with a constantly worried expression. He said, “Sister? May I be of service?”

She sat down in Creegan’s chair and said, “I will let you know, brother.”

“I will be outside if you need me,” he answered. The clerical branch of the Order were administrators. Unlike the Knights, they worked within the temples, as lay priests, but they were not properly of the clerical calling. These were men and women who had the calling, but not the strength of arm to serve in the field. Like most of the Knights, Sandreena hardly gave the priors a moment’s thought, but she suspected she might come to appreciate them when she looked at the rest of the documents beside the desk that would require her attention.

She took the list of names and folded it up. She would burn it later. She already had memorized the names.

Then she opened the report given her by the nameless Kingdom noble and read it. She put it down, picked it up, and read it a second time.

Standing up, she shouted, “Willoby!”

Within a moment, the cleric appeared, asking, “Yes, sister?”

“Three things. First, do I have a second-in-command?”

The question seemed to startle him for a moment, as she was the Father-Bishop’s adiuvare. “Why, no,” he said, “I mean, you are the second-in-command, but with the Father-Bishop gone, you are…I mean, no, there’s no one designated as such.”

“Very well,” she replied. “You are my adiuvare, as of now.”

He blinked, then said, “I guess that’s all right.”

“As I am currently the highest-ranking member of the order west of Malac’s Cross, of course it’s all right.”

He seemed to take this in stride as she stood up and put the report under her tunic. “Next, have my horse made ready with a week’s provisions.”

“Your horse?” asked the clerk.