Heldane sat down facing me.
There's no love lost between us, Eisenhorn. I won't insult you by pretending there is. Make things easy for all of us. Confess/
'Confess what?'
'Your heresy/ said Osma.
'I am not a heretic. And this is not a tribunal of my peers. I cannot be judged so/
I knew damn well I could. Grand master or no grand master, Osma could deal with me however the hell he wanted.
'Confess/ he said again, sitting down in the seat next to Heldane with a whine of armour servos. He really was fascinated by Barbarisater, turning it over in his gauntleted hands.
'Confess what?'
'We have a list of charges/ Heldane said, producing a data-slate from his cloak. 'Your man Fischig was very specific about his concerns. You have consorted with daemons and conjured one of them as a daemonhost on more than one occasion. You have hidden proscribed texts from the Inquisition. You have shielded a known heretic from the Inquisition and allowed him to roam free/
I fixed Heldane with a hard stare. 'You mean Pontius Glaw? I'll admit nothing, but I'll tell you this much. If you detain me here, you'll pay a much greater price than you can ever imagine. I am sworn to stop Pontius Glaw and you are preventing me from performing my holy duties/
Your days of performing holy duties are long gone/ said Osma.
Where is the Malus CodiciumV Heldane asked.
I toughened my mind shield, hoping against hope that the simple surface truth would not get out. In my pocket. In my damn pocket. Your men searched me for weapons but they didn't bother about a battered old book in my coat.
Heldane didn't read it/ 'He's still wonderfully resilient/ he told Osma.
They were assuming the Codicium would be in a secure place. A void safe, a strong box, under my damn mattress! They had no idea it would be right there in front of them, covered only by a layer of leather coat. I had to keep that simple, stupid fact from them.
'Millions will die. Tens of millions perhaps. If you don't let me finish my work/
'That's what they all say/ said Osma. He rose and leaned over at me, his blunt, grizzled face looming close. 'You're going to burn, Eisenhorn. Burn
and suffer. I am only grand master today because I have never suffered heretics like you. You are the worst kind of fool/
'Tell us about the daemonhost/ said Heldane. Where is it secured? How can we find it? What are its command words?'
'Command words?' I replied. 'Why would you need those? Do you intend to control the daemonhost yourself?'
Heldane sat back and glanced at Osma.
'Of course they don't!' said Fischig, who had been lurking on the mezzanine steps. 'They're not heretics like you… they wouldn't-'