43 "There's a Priest from the temple here," the old
woman snapped, "with reasons to talk to you; GOLDEN reasons!"
44 "Go away!" the voice insisted. "Have
him wait."
45 The old woman spit at the door, then turned
and walked away. A few moments later the door opened, revealing a
very muscular man dressed only in a loin cloth. A great scar ran from
the top of his head down the left side of his face and stopped half way
down his chest.
46 He motioned the Priest inside and shut the
door. The room was empty, save for a bed pot, and, a bed.
On the bed lay a beautiful young girl, naked, without even a sheet to
cover her. She rolled away and covered herself with her
hands. "We must talk alone," insisted the Priest.
47 "It's all right," the scar-faced man
remarked. "She's deaf. That's why her family sold her so cheap. But
having a woman that can't hear is handy. She can't know anything
to tell."
48 The girl on the bed was weeping, but the
Priest paid no heed. "We want The Voice of Spirit dead," the
Priest continued, "The Hoods are offering two-hundred-and-fifty.
We'll match that and give you fifty to seal the bargain; the rest to
come when the job is done."
49 "Five-hundred gold!" the man grinned.
"I was thinking of trying it for two-hundred-and-fifty! But this
makes it even more tempting. I've already picked a place and a
time." He grabbed the bag of coins and nodded. "You've got
a bargain. If I fail you get these back. If I don't, within ten
hours you pay me."
50 "Agreed," said the Priest, "within
half-a-day."
51 The scarfaced man looked to the bed.
"Want to join me?" he asked. "She's fun!"
52 "No," sighed the Priest. "I have to report
back. I will be ready to pay you as soon as it's done."
53 He departed quickly. The door was not
even fully shut behind him, when he heard the girl cry out. The Priest
returned to his temple and told The High Priest of his success.
54 "Now, we wait," announced The High Priest.
55 That evening, in their camp outside the
city Gray Deer dreamed a Dream. He and The Voice were walking
into the city when he looked up on a roof and saw a man with a bow. He
saw the man's face clearly and distinctly, the terrible scar running
down it.
56 As he watched, the man let fly, the arrow
whizzed by him, struck The Voice, and he fell. Gray Deer awoke,
screaming, and ran into The Voice's tent, Bright Sword and the others
following him.
57 "What's the matter?" asked The Voice.
58 "I am sorry, Lord," explained Gray Deer. "I
dreamed a Dream. It was so real I thought you were under attack!
I am sorry, everyone!"
59 "You have seen the face of my murderer,"
comforted The Voice, "Remember it well!"
60 As everyone turned to leave, Gray Deer
brushed into Bright Sword, and she cried out. He noticed her arm was
still braced and bandaged. "Has your arm not healed enough yet,"
he asked, "that it still causes you pain?"
61 Bright Sword looked worried. "Lord," she
explained, "it has not healed at all. The Healers say if it does
not start to mend soon, with all they have done, they may have to take
it."
62 "Lords forbid that!" answered Gray
Deer.
63 They went back to their beds. The
following morning through the crowd-filled streets they marched back
into the city to rejoin the Celebration. As they walked through
an area full of storage buildings, there was a sudden hiss, and a loud
THUD!
64 Gray Deer turned in horror, to see an arrow
protruding from The Voice's chest, but The Speaker was only smiling and
putting his hands together in prayer. "Oh, Lords," he prayed,
"unto You I commit my eternal Spirit."
65 As he began to fall backwards, Bright Sword
caught him with her good arm, and held him up until others took her
burden.
66 "He's on the roof!" cried Gray Deer.
"That one, over there! Find him!"
67 The Voice was laid on an empty ox cart
nearby, and the people began to mourn. The searchers returned and a
Warlock reported the assassin escaped. The only thing they had
found was a torn piece of his robe where it had snagged on a ladder.