Nighttime reigns in the skylight immediately over Tahir's bed where Leeta has chosen to curl up, unused to the sheer softness and comfort of the bed that the Technopriests gave her. Air currents hiss quietly through the room, vented from a grill – of course the Candidate would be placed in one of the best quarters available. And yet, even as an edge of the Procession glitters white in the skylight, as she rests at her master's feet, the slave has been unable to get to sleep.

Something keeps nagging at the back of her mind. It could be any one of the many things that she's seen in the past few days, what with the many Inquisitors hustling about the Temple, involving her into their chaotic business…

Leeta stares up at the Procession, her thoughts racing round and round in a never resolving circle. She tries to relax, tries to find some comfort in the constancy of the night sky. Again, letting events flow through her mind, looking for the one thing that won't let her sleep.

Was it the temple guard that questioned her in a manner unlike a guard, and more like an inquisitor? Was it that coat that hid the knife, is that familiar somehow, along with the assassin? Was there something Moffat told her to do, something she saw on his desk, that got forgotten in all the commotion and now sticks in her memory like a thorn? What was it! The stars illuminate the room, still fail to shed light in that hidden corner of her mind.

Through the skylight, a solitary shooting star burns like a thin line across the sky. An omen; these 'falling swords' have been said to herald the passing of princes and the coming of wars.

The Savanite watches the sword fall. {Oh star, what does it mean. What won't let me sleep. Is it because everything is too much a dream, I'm afraid to close my eyes, and wake up underneath the temple again?} There must be something else, the guards? the Rose Templar?

A soft sigh comes from the bed that Leeta is curled up against. Tahir stirs ever so slightly and rolls over in his sleep.

{Why did master accuse me? Is that it?} Her muzzle clenches as she thinks of the ingratitude. {Is that what's bothering me? Why. Too meet with the Champion, something. Why would he take the assassin and go see her. He had no grand plans, just petty lust. That's what Cloud-Mark said, did he have plans at all? Plans that made him enemies? He must have!"

Leeta's thoughts drift back to when she first met Moffat, when she was waiting beside the door, crouched in the dark and unsure if she was even supposed to be there. The inquisitor came in, he was snarling about assassins, and his enemies … and he had a list!

"… Canaan… " Tahir hisses softly in his sleep. "… petty. Seeks power… " He groans softly and rolls over again. The human has always had fitful dreams. This is no different.

{The guard! He wanted to know who might be after the Inquisitor. Would that say? Would it tell me who I could trust." She tries to concentrate, her fear that something she gives away to the wrong person will have her out of Tahir's room in a second. {I wish he had trusted me more, enough that I knew who I could tell things to, and who not.}

Her thoughts turn to the cold Aeonian. {Can I trust her? She was angry at Moffat, but she's new. She seems to have shared the Champion's experiences with him. Tahir says she can't lie. Would she tell me the truth if I asked her? Would she take any truth I find. How did that guard know I played for the candidate!}

The candidate shuffles more in his bed. Suddenly *plop*, his blanket tumbles off the bed and lands on the red haired Savanite. Tahir dozes on.

The human mmmmmmms softly as he's covered back up. He flops over again and then curls up into a ball.

{Are they going to question me again? What if the Inquisitor insists I did it!} Her thoughts turn to Vindicta, {No, she'll take everything, about Dadee, all my sisters. I couldn't stand up to that. How can I prove it wasn't me? The knife, was there something special about the knife?}

Leeta tries to think of all the things she's done for Moffat, all the things that might be unusual. Those were what the guards were interested in. {His enemies, the people I brought to see him, the things I delivered. Was there anything I can remember that might be useful? Some way of telling what was normal temple business, and what was for just Moffat? His ladies, was there something about his ladies… }

{Why did they move me from the interrogation room.} She wonders, {They heard something, what was it, is that what is bothering me? Oh Star, I'm getting nowhere, why won't it come up so I can get some sleep!}

Leeta tries to relax, and see Moffat's office as she last saw it last night, {Maybe something was missing… }

"Leeta?" a sleepy voice whispers down to the Savanite from the edge of the bed.

Leeta makes a small bark, moving to the edge of the bed.

Tahir pulls himself upright and rubs his eyes, looking for all the world like you'd expect a sleepy seven year old to look. "I'm sorry, did I wake you? It just that… uh… " he smiles sheepishly. "I'm thirsty. Could you get me a glass of water?"

The Savanite smiles in the light of the Procession, shaking her head first then nodding. She runs her hand through Tahir's hair as she turns for the door, then stops and goes into the washroom to get the water. {I thought for a second I had to go down to the pipes.} She fills a glass of water, and brings it back to the candidate.

As she hands it to him, she shivers again. Her thoughts going back to when she served Moffat the wine, and they were discussing how she would look, as a coat. {I had to go through a lot of trouble to get this coat. She said that, didn't she! Where did she get it? Cloud-Mark would never let her do that to a Savanite!}

"Thank you." Tahir take a sip… and then goes into coughing fits. "Oh… ugh. *gack* I think that the pipes have messed up again. The circulator must be malfunctioning."

Leeta feels a shock shoot straight through her. {Poison! I'm supposed to taste everything!} In a panic she sniffs at it, everything crashing around her in her mind.

The human wipes his mouth and hops from the bed. He flips a switch and blaring florescent light floods the room.

The Savanite stares at the glass, and at the human, {Please Star… }

The human blinks his eyes in the light, he looks oddly at Leeta. "Is something the matter?"

The water smells of rotten eggs and has a slightly yellowish tinge to it… revealed by the lights in the room.

Leeta slips to the desk and writes, 'I thought … poison. Are you okay?'

"Of course. The water system is just not working properly." Tahir scratches at the back of his head. "I'm finding that most things here break down at some point. We'll just need to call in the technicians and have it repaired."

'I couldn't sleep, something is bothering me.' She writes, then moves to pour the water down the drain as he reads. Returning, she finishes. 'A lot of things.'

The human sits at the edge of his bed and wraps himself up in his blanket. "Such as?"

'There was a guard, but … she behaved strangely. She knew Savanite, and questioned my like an Inquisitor. I was never properly questioned though, no one was taking down what I said. I'm afraid I told the wrong people things.' Leeta writes.

"Guard?" the human scoots closer to Leeta. "You mean like one of mine? Was this when we spoke with the Aeonian?"

'It was before, an Elite guard, in Black and Silver.' The Savanite writes, 'I'm trying to remember if I heard their names. Nebo was there, he's one of Moffat's, I know him, but the other two.'

Leeta adds, 'They decided I knew too much, and had to be put someplace safe. She was worried about witnesses. That She'd need witnesses because something might happen to her. When they were moving me, that's when I met you and the Aeonian. They moved me around a lot.'

Tahir frowns. "Did they mistreat you?"

The Savanite shakes her head, 'No, they didn't even press me on things I didn't want to talk about, like you or my family. They KNEW I played for you, would anyone know that?' She gives a small bark 'Nebo even gave me some candy, though it was very old.'

"Given my station, I am sure that many of the guardsmen know that you play for me." Tahir says. "After all, you cannot enter or leave without passing the four outside."

Leeta nods, then writes, 'That would make sense. They talked about Inquisitor Melchizedek and the Champion. I heard he was sent away, for something his slave took. They were very interested in Inquisitor Moffat's enemies.'

"Inquisitor Moffat has many enemies if I am to believe much of what I have heard." the human says dryly. "I have been warned against any further dealings with him by my teachers."

'SHEMEY' Leeta writes suddenly, 'One of the ones that questioned me, his name was Shemey. The one questioning me called him that, when they heard Moffat had left with the Templar.'

Tahir begins drumming his fingers against his cheek. "I do not believe I have heard that name." His young brown furrows as he ponders something.

'They were very worried that something was going on. Some kind of conspiracy,' the Savanite writes. 'I saw a falling sword tonight, through the skylight. They only fall when something is going to happen.'

An eyebrow quirks upwards from the human. "A… falling sword?"

Leeta nods, 'A streak across the sky, of light. They only last for a second or two. They foretell great upset and changes. They were going to DO something Tahir, they were going to go through with it, to prevent a coming darkness.'

'That's what they said, I don't know what it means.' She writes, and stares, wondering why she only sees enough of things to be confused, and not enough to know.

The human laughs and then catches himself. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh at the beliefs of the people here. Since I myself am part of the religion now after a fashion." He rises from the bed, the blanket trailing behind him like some long patchwork cloak. "Leeta, I think your key lies in some investigation of your own. If you could get out of my room tonight, would you? I'm sure I can find an appropriate excuse." He picks up the glass that he drank from earlier.

Leeta nods, and writes, 'Will that be okay master? I have had a lot of … discipline, because of my curiosity. I am trying to be a good slave, and not cause problems. Investigating would be a problem … if I was caught.'

The human hands Leeta his glass. "Fetch me another glass, slave. And see that the technopriests see to my plumbing this very night." He winks and then says much softer, "If anyone questions you being out and about they may come to me. You wear my colors now, I am responsible for you."

The slave nods with a grin, and takes the glass. She goes to the door and opens it, slipping through and closing it. She nods to everpresent guards, and holds up the dirty glass as means of explanation.

The guards nod – somewhat surprisingly, they haven't nodded off. "To the kitchen with that, eh?" says one of the gray-furred Jupanis. "It'll be quite a hike, be sure you don't wear out your legs." The others guffaw.

Leeta wiggles her ears at the guard's joke, then walks down the corridor till she passes a corner. She sprints for Moffat's office. {The kitchen is closed, and what is the Arch Inquisitor's is the candidates. I'm sure my old master won't mind lending him a glass. Oh, and I can get paper there too, to write to the technopriests, as they don't understand my sign.} She smiles at her rationalization.

Her ears pan, listening for anyone in the hallways. She doesn't want to be seen, and runs much slower than she can, trying to avoid anyone that might be wandering at this late hour.

And indeed, someone *is* walking the corridors at this late hour. As Leeta sprints down the hall, she catches sight of an imposing-looking black-robed Inquisitor directly in her path to Moffat's office. He turns and addresses her, a slender canine muzzle poking out of the hood. "You! Slave."

Leeta stops moving and nods to the Inquisitor, holding the glass in both her hands, and looking down respectfully.

The Inquisitor draws back his hood to reveal the typical long-haired flop-ears of a saluki, his dark eyes peering at the Savanite in a vague frown. "Have you seen the Arch-Inquisitor Majoris Moffat?" He rustles some papers that he is holding, as if by doing so, he could somehow conjure that poodle into existencein the hall.

Leeta shakes her head, but holds out her hand for the papers. Hopefully the saluki will remember her from Moffat's earlier errands. She signs, "I will give those to him." but doesn't expect him to comprehend.

"Hmm. You are his slave – or rather, were," the Inquisitor says. "I expect that new collar of yours is a step up in the world. Any road, yes, I want you to deliver these to Arch-Inquisitor Moffat, if you see him, or to his office. And don't lose them. Or read them. Or even think about showing them to anyone else." He smirks as if the joke were obvious, then hands the papers over to Leeta. They are in a folder which is held shut by a fancy black ribbon with a large wax seal of the Arch-Inquisitor Supreme.

The fire-haired slave nods, understanding how totally obvious that instruction is, then she bows. Taking the package she starts towards the Arch Inquisitor Moffat's office, hoping any further encounters will be as smooth, or preferably, non-existent.

The saluki Inquisitor moves down the corridor, away from Moffat's office, apparently in the full confidence that the papers will be delivered intact. Or else.

Corridor, intersection, go straight, corridor… And then Leeta stands before Moffat's office, its hatch closed and the intercom panel shut. The lighting flickers.

The Savanite listens, no one's seen Moffat, but that doesn't mean he isn't in his office. She opens the intercom panel a crack to hear a little better. The light, she finds strange. it's ever worked before.

A faint rustling can be heard in the room. It doesn't sound like Moffat, but someone is definitely going through the office rather quickly and thoroughly by the sound of it.

Leeta opens the panel a little wider, trying to see through it, and see who might be inside. She was expecting an empty room, or one with Moffat, not this.

A flash of yellow spotted fur whizzes past Leeta's eyes through the black wire.

{Another slave?} Leeta thinks, {Well, at least I'll be able to find out what's wrong.} She opens the door and slips inside.

The Savanite gasps as Leeta enters. Her mouth moves, and then she raises her hands to sign. "Close the door! What are you doing here?"

Leeta shuts the door behind her. "I have things to deliver and things to fetch, what are you doing rummaging around?" the fire-haired Savanite signs, then wonders why the other slave looked as if she was trying to speak.

The other Savanite pauses, and then runs a hand through her hair. "I am looking for something. You startled me. What do you have to deliver here? I will deliver it for you." She looks at the folder in Leeta's hands, her spotted tail-tip twitching.

Leeta watches as the Savanite brushes her hair, then replies, "I was the Arch Inquisitor's slave until 3 days ago. He never had me here at this hour, and you are… ?"

And there the coat is, almost out of Leeta's line of sight: it was cast to one side, behind the couch. Golden fur dotted with black spots rest in a crumpled heap.

"Chaser," the second Savanite replies. "I am running some late night errands. There has been much excitement as of late and I have been asked to look for certain… papers."

"The same has been happening with me." Leeta signs, "Well Chaser, who is your master? I know the Inquisitor's method of filing things, and would be easily able to find them for you, especially if you tell me what they look like."

Chaser's ears flatten. "I work for Bridge officer Nimiss." She continues to eye the folder. "I have been ordered to find any records of illegal dealings or anything incriminating, do you have any idea where he might hide his secret papers?"

Leeta looks for Chaser's collar, trying to place the colors. "Why would the bridge officer send just you, and why would you be concerned about the door being open if you're supposed to be here? Arch Inquisitor Moffat dislikes nosey slaves, I can attest to that, and the one he previously caught snooping now hauls chamberpots."

"After he was … disciplined … of course," the fire-haired Savanite signs.

"And Bridge officer Nimiss dislikes having too much attention drawn to matters such as these. If the whole Temple knows that Moffat is under investigation then he may use his spies to destroy any evidence. Things such as this require a much more subtle hand. Who would suspect a slave quietly slipping into his room? What would a slave do with papers except take them to his master?" Her eyes narrow. "And what of you? You have said that you no longer work for the Arch Inquisitor, what business of it of yours to come in here?"

"As I signed, things to deliver, and things to pick up. I am still owned by the Inquisition, and this is one of their offices." Leeta moves over to the desk, looking at the items on it. "Yes" She signs.

Chaser begins rummaging through the desk again. "Then do your job, I shall do mine." On top of the desk are several folders that have been opened up and rummaged through, but kept in reasonable order. Moffat's private safe on the wall has been untouched.

Leeta looks at the picture on the wall. She never got a clear view of Moffat opening the safe behind it, though, maybe she can remember … if she concentrates. She tries to think back to the first time. {What was the combination? Did he ever mumble it in his sleep, what could it be.} She searches the dim memory, trying to see how the Inquisitor moved the dial.

"There should be some drugs in the desk, Chaser," the red-maned Savanite signs. "Is that evidence?"

"No," the other Savanite signs impatiently. "I am looking for names. Contacts."

Chaser looks again at Leeta's package from the inquisitor. "Let me see that."

"He keeps his lists in the safe," Leeta signs, still holding the folder under her arm. "My instructions were to make sure only Moffat got this, but I think I can open the safe for you."

"What if it is a message from one of his conspirators? My master is from the bridge. He will understand and protect the both of us from any punishment," Chaser signs. "Do you think I wold dare risk such a thing as angering an inquisitor if I was not assured of my safety?"

The other Savanite also shows an interest in the safe. "Do you know what ke keeps in there?"

"You are easily forgotten, and easily lost, I am not. The Arch Inquisitor has many enemies, and many friends, and they are much harder to identify than I am." Leeta signs, "I don't know what he keeps in it, but I think I can open it. Watch the door."

Chaser growls quietly to herself. "Fine. I shall watch the door."

The red-haired Savanite moves aside the picture on the wall, exposing the safe. She stares at the combination, and tries to envision what Moffat did the first time she was in the room. {What did he do? … I couldn't see clearly.} Her ears strain to hear any noise as she turns the dial and tries to remember.

*tick* *tick* *tick* *clack!*

Leeta looks hopeful, and tries for the next number, her ear pressed against the safe as she dials it back.

*tick* *tick* *tick* Another tumbler falls into place with a satisfying *clack!*

The Savanite's grin gets wider under her red mane. Her memory may have failed, but her ears haven't. She tries for the next number, dialing forward carefully.

Chaser keeps her eyes glues on the door, she dances anxiously from foot to foot.

*tick* *tick* *tick* For the longest time, it seems like nothing's happening…

And then with a clack, the knob locks into place.

Leeta gives a quiet sigh of success and turns the handle, pushing to open the safe. A paranoia inspired by Moffat makes her stand back as she opens the door, and once she's sure nothing is going to shoot out, she looks inside.

*hiss* And with an almost inaudible squeaking of invisible bearings, the door swings open to reveal several folders, a velvet bag of some lumpy stuff, and a scattering of gold and silver shekels; also, a beautiful wooden-handled matchlock gun that must be worth almost as much as the shekels, next to some pellets and a powderhorn.

Chaser cycles the door open wide enough to look around outside. "What have you found?" she signs behind her back.

The red maned Savanite just stares at the wealth, then pulls out folders, trying to remove them without disturbing the other contents of the safe, she wants those to stay quiet, and inside.

Chaser's tail-tip lashes even more nervously. She looks into the safe, then back out the door.

Leeta closes the safe, and holds up the folders, signing, "These. She spins the dial to make sure it's locked, then replaces the picture. The red-maned Savanite goes over to the desk, and looks at the new folders.

The folders contain thick writing. Part seems to be a list of places in Rephidim and a shopping list – it's hard to be sure at a quick glance, and it doesn't seem reasonable that Inquisitor Moffat would put his shopping list in a safe – but it would be difficult for Leeta to decipher them without a number of hours.

The other Savanite looks nervously out the door again, and then back at Leeta.

Leeta just stares, more answers than questions. She looks up at Chaser, "Is someone coming?" The problem remains, who to trust, when everyone is acting suspiciously.

Chaser shakes her head, and then goes to the desk to examine the papers Leeta removed from the safe.

Leeta makes sure Chaser doesn't grab them and run. She signs, "These are what you are looking for. Likely so is the folder I brought with me. I can't give them to you. You could just as easily be wanting to destroy the evidence."

"As could you," Chaser responds. She opens a drawer and pulls out a sheet of paper, then snatches up a pen and begins copying the list down.

"Yes," Leeta signs, then picks up the folders, interrupting Chaser's copying of the list. "But I won't. I can't protect these, and I don't know who it will hurt. You have enough of a list there that Bridge Office Nimiss will know you did your job, and found the information."

"You can tell him to ask Inquisitrix Turtle for the rest of it," Leeta signs in formal, holding the folders tightly against her with her other hand, watching Chaser carefully. "She is an Aeonian, she won't lie, and she will make sure this is dealt with properly."

Chaser SNARLS at Leeta. "I see that serving under Moffat has taught you his cruelty at least. If my work is not done then I will be punished. I will be punished even more severely if this gets out to anyone except Nimiss."

Fire-Mane glares back at Chaser, feeling the rush again, as with the knife before, "Back! I don't know who you are, or who you work for, and I know how long it takes the guards to get here if I start making noise. I don't trust you and I don't know any Bridge Officers. You will just have to take what you have, its more than you would have got on your own. If knowing where the information is, isn't enough for your master, then, sorry, but that you will be punished only convinces me more that you aren't supposed to get it in the first place."

The Savanite's ears plaster against her head. "So be it then… " The folds her paper and exits the room quietly.

Leeta sighs, {She's just as caught up in this as me, I wish I didn't have to do that, but I can't trust her. Whatever is going on, its got to come out.} Quickly Leeta grabs up the spotted cloak from behind the couch. Disgusted at having to touch the unbearable thing, she folds it around the papers from the safe. She grabs a pen, and a few forms from Moffat's desk, and puts them in her robe, then exits quickly, turning off the light, and watching for a surprise from Chaser.

"THERE IS AN INTRUDER IN THE ARCH INQUISITOR'S OFFICE!" Comes a shrieking shout from the hallway.

Leeta bolts

Fire-Mane tears for Inquisitrix Turtle's personal chamber, heading away from the shriek, and where the guards will come from.

A Jupani lieutenant and four Zelaks step into the corridor from another intersection. They proceed immediately toward Arch-Inquisitor Moffat's office; one calls to Leeta, "You! Stop!"

She doesn't stop. She ducks down a corridor close to the intersection, putting on a full sprint. Leeta's thoughts race as fast as her feet. {The Inquisitrix, if not, the furnaces. I'm not going to be caught holding these if I can help it}

The Jupani lieutenant looks surprised, then gives chase. "Stop that slave," he orders the Zelaks. "Bring her back to me!"

The Zelaks burst into motion, though they must slow down at the intersection to turn and follow Leeta; it seems they're not as agile as she is. The Temple corridors blur into an almost frightening alien sameness. Which way is it toward Turtle's quarters? That way?

Leeta turns corners, her feet flying as quickly as she can, and quietly. She knows these passages, she ran deliveries in them for weeks, she's got to know them better. She takes long routes, shortcuts, trying to lose the Zelaks. She stops, when she can't hear them behind her, trying to think where she is, and where the Inquisitrix's room is. Moffat sent her there for the wine, it was only a few days ago.

As the Savanite runs, she passes a group of guardsmen speaking to a siamese Kattha. The Kattha glances at Leeta as she passes and just smirks to herself.

The Zelaks stop just as Leeta passes a corner, then begin to move more slowly as if they are forced to determine which way she went by some sort of scenting process. They move purposefully down the hallway.

The Jupani lieutenant charges in behind the Zelaks. "Which way did that red-haired slave go?" he yells to the guardsmen.

The red-maned Savanite doesn't stop to glance back, and quickly turns through a few more passages. {Where is IT! Where am I? STAR! Was that a warning to me and I missed it?} She tries to lose her pursuers.

"She went that way, and her hair was brown I believe," the Kattha's voice echoes through the hallway. "You'd better hurry… It sounds as though she has you running in the wrong direction."

"Thanks," the lieutenant says. He reins his Zelaks in and sends them down the hall.

And so free of pursuit at least for the moment, Leeta finds herself heading down one last hall… And finding Tahir's door before her, the guards standing vigilant to its sides.

Not Turtle's door, but if she isn't safe behind this one, she will never be safe anywhere in the Temple.

Leeta approaches the guards, nodding to them, trying to be outwardly calm while inwardly falling apart. The technopriests told her to be good, and Tahir to avoid politics, and the first thing she does is bring it all to him. She tries to hide her feelings on her face, and walks to her master's room.

The excitement has apparently proven too much for the little human. He's fast asleep in bed again.

One of the guards opens the door. "Looks like you've had a rough night," the Jupani says consolingly to the slave, wagging his tail. "Oh! You know what we forgot?"

The other Jupanis grin. "Yeah, we forgot to ask you to bring back some ale for all of us. Next time, eh?" They slap each other on the back, and then stand aside for Leeta.

Leeta smiles at the guards as best she can, and goes into the room. She doesn't wake Tahir. She considers sending everything down the chute to be consumed in flames, but then it would never end, never anyplace good. She lies on her cot, staring at the Procession, waiting for the knock that never comes. When the waiting becomes unbearable, and sleep doesn't come, she opens the bundle, and starts to read…