Chapter 34: Laurentius

                                    

                                              
It felt like an eternity. Laurentius waited, hanging by a thread,  as the Hight Priestess cleaned the knife in the Keeper's own robes. She walked to the entrance, made sure the door was closed; she concealed the dagger back in her clothes, straightened her mask. She looked around. Laurentius climbed up, tangling with his own legs; he turned his body around to look at Wyn, who remained hidden.
                          
Laverna grabbed the Keeper by the armpits, dragged him to the room, previously closed, leaving a red trail in her wake: she was making a mess. Through the tiny hairs on his spidery legs, he could hear her footsteps, urgent, circling motions over the stone floor; he could only wonder what she was doing inside there. He didn't have to wonder long, as she burst out, dragging him again, this time leaving foot tracks over the Keeper's bloody trail. She ran to the front door, looking agitated by the effort.
                          
"The Keeper has been murdered!" she screamed. Heavy armored feet followed her cries. Laurentius couldn't see her face behind the mask, but he was certain he would've seen a smile underneath as she turned around and looked at the bald, bloody, man sprawled near the desk.

                          
Laurentius didn't dare to move. Moving would mean attracting attention to himself, and to Wyn hiding behind him. Armored Knights particularly loved spiders : the creatures were sneaky, armors were hard to get out of. He'd be better off out of their sight. 
                          
He watched as they moved the Keeper's body with utmost care; he looked light, like a child in their arms; when Laverna had dragged him, anyone would've thought he had been filled to the brim with lead. They said a prayer as they placed him over the desk, an improvised altar. One of the knights placed a flower over his chest, from one of the pots. They all looked at each other, wide-eyed, pale, shaking. First the king, one of them whispered, now the Keeper. There were low, hurried, murmurs. 
                          
Laverna had been in a corner up until that moment, crying fake tears. She stood up. The doors of the Keeper's chambers were wide open, Laurentius could see Wyn's frozen Knights standing there, beginning to melt. It occurred to him that they had seen her; his body contracted into a ball. They had seen her, which meant they'd come looking for her for the murder of the Keeper of Blood. No doubt Wyn had come to that conclusion before he had. She was cornered, with a bunch of bombs sitting in her satchel; not deadly, apparently, she had promised. But she had mentioned the possibility of blowing up the door where the Keeper had been, apparently, kept prisoner— and she was Wyn, after all. He had to get to her, before she did something regrettable. They were in the middle of the Cathedral of Mist, blowing up the Keeper's chambers with Laverna in it, and the Keeper, wasn't the best idea, no matter how tempting it seemed at the moment. She had all but admitted to sending assassins after Gerard, they had seen her murder the Keeper. But killing her wouldn't bring justice to any of them, it would only make things worse, wouldn't it? He climbed up, as fast as he could. The Knights were enthralled, listening to Laverna's speech about the Keeper's many good deeds. Laurentius managed to reach Wyn's shoulder, but he had no way of speaking to her. He could see her hands tightly clutching her satchel, her eyes steely, her face immobile. She barely breathed. He would've killed for a glimpse into the girl's head.
                          
Laverna went on with her sorry speech, telling how the mage who did it would be brought to justice: divine justice. The Knights at the entrance had seen their attacker, they would come back from their spell. One of the knights asked, his voice barely audible, "what about the mage-knight, your Holiness." Laverna spoke of mages, as a whole, as the enemy, yet one of them had been there to protect the Keeper; they had friends, companions, in the Onturian Knights. They were what they were thanks to magic: it ran in their blood.
                          
"Some mages are good, of course, if properly contained;" she said, her voice soft and calm, still a little shaky from fake sorrow. "Magic is a powerful tool, imagine if people really knew what it can do? What you can do thanks to it? Soon, mages will be profiting with it, there will be armies of knights with your abilities. They've run unchecked too long, it's time someone did something about it. We'll take care of that, the Keeper, he—" her voice broke, but she didn't fool Laurentius. "He had plans set in motion. The Knight Commander of the Onturian Knights will take care of everything, now that he's — gone," Laurentius looked at Wyn. Her hands hanged to the sides: killing Laverna was pointless, maybe she came to the same conclusion. Killing her would make her a martyr, an explosion would only prove her point and the Knight Commander, Gerard's replacement, would go on with her legacy with an ever stronger backup. Killing her would be satisfying, but it would accomplish absolutely nothing. At least he hoped Wyn would see it that way. Killing her wouldn't be smart, not for the moment.