Hal - The Duellist #1

Chapter Six - Faith

Hal was passing the temple on her way to the academy when a flood of harmony spilled out onto the street. She stopped, cocking her head on one side, and listened to the melodies soar and diminish. Women's high, throaty voices worked in counterpoint above the men's deeper notes.

It was a hymn to the Emperor ─ the human manifestation of the divine ─ his praises set to music by templar composers. Hal smirked, thinking of his majesty Diodiné, third of that name. The Emperor was a slight, stooping man renowned for his quick wits and short temper. Not an obvious vessel for divine authority. But as to question that authority was heresy, she chose to keep her doubts to herself, and enjoyed the singing as it reached its climax before it drifted away into silence.

The high priest intoned a few muffled words to mark the end of the ceremony, doors were thrown open wide, and worshippers streamed out between wide sandstone columns accompanied by the heady scent of incense. She slouched against the temple wall, wrestling with an uncomfortable sense of guilt as she observed them. Since becoming a duellist, Hal had not stepped foot inside the temple, just as she had never returned to the court.

A small group of worshippers had collected on the temple stairs ─ she noticed one of Marc's friends, a senator, amongst them. His face was tense, etched with worry. A merchant stood with his back to her, arguing with the man. She recognised Léac's broad shoulders, his legs set apart at a confident stance. He rocked back and forth on his heels, hands clasped firmly behind his back. As the conversation grew heated, the senator paled, and she felt her own blood race. Evidently their discussion had more to do with the worldly than the spiritual.

A pang of remorse struck Hal like a blow. She had goaded Léac's daughter in the library, almost accusing her of cowardice. But Meracad was this dangerous man's only child and she had every reason to be afraid. He intimidated everyone, even senators.

Léac's head snapped round and he glared up the temple steps. Meracad was descending, accompanied by a portly blonde girl ─ probably her maid. Hal sank back further into the shadows, sucking in her breath, almost flattening herself behind a column. When Meracad reached her father and the senator she dropped into a graceful curtsey. Léac uttered a few sharp, angry words but Hal could not catch them.

She noticed Meracad's already slight frame shrink even further, the maid giving her mistress's hand a covert squeeze of support. Then they all turned to go.

Against her better instincts, Hal released herself from the shade, following them as they moved through the crowd away from the forum in the direction of the merchant's district. She would be late for training again, but she didn't care.

A street hawker set down his cart of votive relics right in front of her, blocking her path. She gave him an angry shove and wound onwards through the mill of citizens, but she had already lost them. They were too far away, heading down a distant boulevard.

Hal stopped, kicking at a loose cobble in frustration. It skittered free of the road and bounced beneath the feet of passers-by. Meracad had almost disappeared from view. But as she turned a corner, she looked back straight through the crowd as if searching for someone.

Hal stood, rooted, ignoring the bumping and jostling, the heat and noise, her gaze fixed on Meracad's face. The girl scanned the crowd with troubled eyes, but then her maid slipped an arm around her waist, drawing her away and out of sight.

Hal turned slowly and trudged back in the direction of the duelling academy. Had Meracad seen her? She doubted it. The throngs of people had been densely-packed. Who had she been looking for? Was there some young man in the city who had caught her attention? Perhaps Meracad had not been entirely truthful, that day in the library. Perhaps she had been protecting herself ─ or someone else. Her father was too powerful, she had claimed. He demanded her absolute respect, her obedience. She had implied that she had no choice but to do as she was told, even in the question of her own marriage. And Hal had just witnessed her search the crowd ─ evidently for someone she knew, and her father, presumably, didn't. A feeling not unlike jealousy dogged Hal's heels as she headed for Beric and the academy.