DemonWars Saga Volume 2: Mortalis - Ascendance - Transcendence - Immortalis (The DemonWars Saga) by R.A. Salvatore Read Free Book Online Page A

formal connection to the murder of the Baron, other than the fact that Bishop De’Unnero is known to be proficient with the tiger’s paw gemstone. Hardly damning evidence.”
    “Then why has he run off?” asked Braumin.
    “I will support your nomination if he does not return with some plausible reason why he should reassume the leadership of the abbey, as Father Abbot Markwart had determined,” Je’howith said resolutely. Brother Braumin, after a moment, nodded his concession.
    From Je’howith’s posture, though, Braumin soon came to realize that there would be a price for that support. “What do you want?” the young monk asked bluntly.
    “Two things,” Je’howith replied. “First, we will treat the memory of Father Abbot Markwart gently.”
    Braumin’s expression was one of sheer incredulity, fast transforming into disgust.
    “He was a great man,” Je’howith insisted.
    “Who culminated his life’s work with murder,” Braumin retorted quietly, not wanting to draw anyone else into this particular phase of the discussion.
    Je’howith shook his head. “You cannot understand,” he replied. “I’ll not argue concerning the final actions of Dalebert Markwart, but you cannot judge the whole of his life on an errant turn—”
    “A wrong choice,” Braumin interjected.
    Je’howith nodded, apparently conceding the point—but only for now, Braumin understood.
    “By either definition, an errant turn in his life’s work,” Je’howith said. “And we would be in grave error to judge all he accomplished based on the failings of his last days.”
    It was more than just “his last days,” Braumin knew, and the whole manner in which Je’howith was framing the discussion left a sour taste in the idealistic young monk’s mouth. “A man might lose sainthood over a single indiscretion,” he reminded him.
    “I am not asking you to beatify Dalebert Markwart,” Je’howith replied.
    “Then what?”
    “Let us honor his memory as we have his predecessors’,” Je’howith explained, “as we have for every father abbot, save the few who led the Church far astray.”
    “As did Markwart.”
    Je’howith shook his head. “He was a man thrust into a difficult situation, a position complicated by war and by the actions of those two men you so dearly cherish. You may argue that he chose wrongly, but his reign as father abbot was not one marked by controversy and terror. Indeed, under the guidance of Father Abbot Dalebert Markwart, the Church attained great heights of power. Had there ever been such a cache of gemstones granted in the most recent stone showers?”
    “Avelyn’s work,” Braumin dryly put in; but Je’howith hardly seemed to notice, so caught up was he in his mounting tirade.
    “Under his leadership, we achieved the position of bishop of Palmaris. Though that did not end well, the mere fact that King Danube allowed such a maneuver speaks volumes for the Father Abbot’s diplomacy and influence.”
    Braumin started to shake his head, but merely sighed instead. He did not want to allow any mercy into the discussions of the wretch Markwart; he wanted the Father Abbot condemned throughout history as the downfallen sinner that he had become. But there were practical considerations here. Je’howith might well prove an unconquerable obstacle to any tributes, canonization or otherwise, that Braumin and his companions tried to formalize for Avelyn or Jojonah. Braumin held no love for Je’howith—he considered the man a kindred spirit to Markwart—but he understood that Je’howith stood at a crossroads now, that the man could either become a dangerous enemy or, if Braumin managed to handle him properly, aninconsequential onlooker.
    “And you should consider the emotions of the populace,” Je’howith went on. “They are nervous and hardly certain of whether good or evil triumphed in Chasewind Manor that fateful day.”
    “Markwart had fallen long before that battle,” Braumin Herde stated