“Well, I hope to God that we can prove it!” Cardiel muttered. “Personally, I like most of what I’ve heard about Morgan and McLain. I can even understand why McLain hid his Deryni powers all these years. And while I can’t condone his entry into the priesthood, knowing as he did that he was Deryni, he appears to have been a very good priest.”

“Which, in itself, may say something of note about the Deryni,” Arilan said with a faint smile. “Remember when you asked me, several months ago, whether I believed the Deryni to be inherently evil?”

“Of course. You said that there were undoubtedly some evil Deryni, just like anybody else. You also said that you didn’t believe Kelson or Morgan or McLain were evil.”

Arilan’s eyes glinted a deep blue-violet in the dim light. “I still believe that.”

“So? I’m not certain I take your point.”

“Do you not? You said yourself that Duncan appears to have been a very good priest, despite the fact that he is Deryni. Doesn’t the fact that he became a priest, in direct defiance of civil and canon law, and that he is a good priest in spite of this, perhaps suggest that the Council of Ramos was in error? And if the Council was in error in this very important area, why not in others?” He arched an eyebrow at Cardiel. “It could force us to reevaluate the entire Deryni-human question.”

“Hmm. I hadn’t thought of it in those terms. Extending your logic, we could eliminate bars to the priesthood, bars to holding public office and owning land….”

“And so much for any great Deryni conspiracy,” Arilan said lightly, with the trace of a smile.

Cardiel pursed his lips, then shook his head with a frown. “It may not be as simple as that, Denis. I heard an odd rumor a day or so ago. I meant to mention it to you earlier. It’s whispered that there may, indeed, be a Deryni conspiracy—and a formal one at that. According to rumor, there is a council of highborn Deryni who purport to speak for their race, who somehow monitor the activities of known Deryni. They haven’t moved outwardly as yet, but—”

He straightened and began twisting his hands together, his gray eyes grave and worried as he toyed with his amethyst.

“Denis, suppose there is a Deryni conspiracy? And what if Morgan and McLain are a part of it? Or Kelson, God help him? It has been more than two hundred years since the Interregnum ended, two centuries since human rule was restored to most of the Eleven Kingdoms. But the people haven’t forgotten what life was like under the dictatorship of sorcerers who used their powers for evil. What if we are coming to something like this again?”

“What if, what if?” Arilan’s voice became clipped and a little impatient as he locked eyes with Cardiel. “Thomas, if there is a Deryni conspiracy, it lies in the mind and plans of Wencit of Torenth. It’s very likely that he and his agents are responsible for the rumors you’ve been hearing.