Convinced he had interrupted something very normal and very holy, the guard shook his head sheepishly and backed away from Duncan, bowing from the waist. As Duncan turned toward the altar, the man hurriedly glided back up the center aisle to the pew where his colleagues knelt, to join them and cross himself superstitiously.

Duncan ascended the altar with relief. He knew the man was still watching, and he was certain he was telling his henchmen what had just happened—though all of them appeared to be immersed in prayer. But he doubted they would make any move to interfere again, providing he made no glaring departures from routine. Of course, someone would go to tell Jehana of Kelson and Alaric’s whereabouts as soon as he left, but that couldn’t be helped.

Duncan bowed slightly before the tabernacle, then carefully retracted the green silken curtains from in front of its golden doors. As his right hand unlocked the doors, his left shifted its grip on the gryphon seal. Then, as he withdrew a veiled chalice with one hand, it was a simple matter to press the seal to the altar stone with the other.

At the touch, a square section of the altar directly in front of Duncan indented slightly, then withdrew to disclose a flat black box slightly larger than a man’s hand. Working quickly, Duncan brought out two more chalices and made a show of consolidating the contents of the three into two. Then, instead of simply covering the empty one with its linen pall and veil, he slipped the black box between chalice and pall and veiled both with green silk.

This done, he replaced the other two chalices and closed the doors with a flourish, locked the doors again while his other hand closed the opening in the altar stone. Then he picked up the remaining chalice with its added burden, bowed once more, and swept out of the sanctuary. The entire operation had taken less than two minutes.

Back in the sacristy, Duncan whisked off his stole and glanced through the peephole again. As he had suspected, one of the guards was on his way out of the basilica—to tell the queen, no doubt. But apparently Duncan had aroused no further suspicion. For no one else seemed interested in the least where he had gone. The other guards had not moved from their places.

Duncan tucked the flat black box into his sash and placed the empty chalice with several others, then returned to the study and locked the door behind him.

“Any difficulty?” Morgan asked, as the priest withdrew the box and placed it on the table.

“None at all,” Duncan replied. He dropped the gryphon seal into Morgan’s hand and sat down. “There will be a messenger on his way to tell Jehana where you are, though.”

Morgan shrugged. “That was to be expected. Let’s see what we’ve got here.” He picked up the box.