Volias snorted. “I would think Joss here is one of the foremost devotees of the Merciless One. I can’t imagine how he would have come to offend the holy Hieros, as he never seems to turn down any offer made to him.”

Cursed if the old fawkner wasn’t the finest kind of fellow, able to sail right past that idiot comment by Volias as if it had never been spoken.

“It’s about that Devouring girl who tended to Marshal Alyon in his final illness, and then stayed and kept house—or so some claimed—for Marshal Yordenas during his vile tenure. But perhaps you don’t know who she is.”

“I know who she is.” Joss was amazed at how cool his voice sounded. He picked up his cup and shook it, hoping there were a few drops to wet his throat, but he was dry.

“It’s like this,” said Askar, sketching gestures in the air as folk did to start a tale. “The young woman was sold to the temple as a girl, as happens, and was trained as a hierodule. Then just before the northerners besieged Olossi, her brother bought out her debt. I wasn’t told the particulars, but the Hieros was forced to accept the payment he offered and therefore to let the girl walk free. Any fool with eyes could see the transaction made the Hieros unhappy, that her hand had been forced. Now it transpires the payment the brother offered didn’t belong to him at all. She had to give it up to its rightful owner, and so she wants her hierodule back. And the brother punished for cheating the temple.”

“What’s this to do with me?” asked Joss, as his thoughts tumbled. When had he seen her last? About two weeks ago, twenty-four days. She’d been riding away from Olossi with packhorses and gear. By the Herald! What were the last words she’d said to him? “Had I known you were so full of yourself, I’d have known I need only wait until you fill up with the poison of self-love and strangle on it.”

Desperate, he found the teapot and poured cold ginger tea into his empty wine cup. The powerful flavor—it had been steeping all day—made his eyes sting.

She’d done her part in saving Olossi from the army that had marched out of the north and east. She’d earned the reward she’d asked for: to leave Olo’osson with her brother before the battle was fought. But it seemed she wasn’t a free woman after all. It seemed she still had obligations here.

“What’s it to do with you?” mused Askar. “That I don’t know, Marshal. The Hieros wants to talk to you particularly. She’s not so willing to bring the council of Olossi into the matter, maybe due to this outlander, Captain Anji, who stands so high among them now. Anyway, our eagles can search quickly for the woman she’s wanting back.”

“The Hieros wants me to find her.” The taste of ginger still buzzed on Joss’s lips.