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the archives, and then she went in here and didn t come back out 
 The nexus portal, she said. She nodded at the door.  Odd. That portal leads to the
city limits. I don t know of any business we have currently that she would need to go
there. And she isn t the high priestess.
Bosaru stared at the woman. She looked more like his mother s age.  Am I to
understand 
She dipped her head graciously.  I am Mirel do-Farnot, the high priestess of this
shrine of Ixtr. And you are?
Great start, Bosaru!  You re the high priestess. But I was told 
The high priestess because it was clear that indeed, this woman was exactly that
tilted her head in the same way that Daegon had seen his mother do.  By whom? she
inquired.
 By someone who called herself the h  he stopped. Come to think of it, the
woman never had identified herself by title. He had assumed.
He was an idiot. After a decade of exemplary service with the SSP, all that training
had promptly gone out the window.
Just because the woman had been the one from his dreams.
 Imreen Dal, he said, recalling the other priestess s name.  She came out of the
chambers of the high priestess your chambers and I assumed she was you.
The high priestess frowned, the fine lines around her mouth deepening.  I will
speak to her, she paused then, looking at him.  I think I know who you are, she said,
a smile gentling her features.
 I m sorry. I should introduce myself. I am Daegon en-Bosaru, and am I right in
thinking you know my mother ?
 I received her message, and indeed was expecting you. So was Imreen Dal, since
she was the one who gave me the message.
Her face softened.  If you do not mind my saying, you favor your mother. You
have her eyes. I was sorry to hear about your father, she went on, regarding him
37
Eilis Flynn
frankly.  He was a calming influence during those parlous times. I do not think his kind
will be seen again.
For a moment, they were both silent. At least she doesn t think I am a monster, he
thought. At least his father s reputation was intact in one place.
 About the message from my mother, he began.  It is for him that 
The priestess nodded.  I know. When we moved the archives from home world to
here, we kept the records of the Great Conflict intact, and your father s papers that your
mother sent to me. They cover both sides, she told him.  They should be helpful to
you. Why anyone would want to stain his name, now of all times, I do not know.
 The timing is suspect, he agreed.  And even if he will not know it in the here and
now, I want him to have a clear name when he arrives into the Great Void.
The high priestess smiled.  You are a good son.
If I were a good son, I would have been there for him. Instead, he had been working to
make the Amalgamation safe for what? He had his suspicions, but that was all.
But that seemed to be his theme for the day. He didn t like the idea he was as
clueless as he felt.
 And Imreen Dal is she a priestess here? he asked.
 She is. She was one who came to us from the great move. She&  the priestess
trailed off.
Bosaru understood. There was no delicate way to refer to the side of the conflict
that had had the burden of a madman at the helm.  When I first saw her, she looked
familiar, and I don t know how I would have known her, he said. No need to mention
she had been in his dreams for nearly two decades.
The priestess looked startled.  She came as a refugee, like so many others, en-
Bosaru. If she has ancestors of note, or other relatives who could have given her more of
a name, she would have told me. When she came into the shrine, she said she had been
traveling since the fall of our home world and asked for refuge. And we gave it to her.
She has been with us since, and she has never spoken of her life previous. And we have
respected that.
Bosaru shook his head.  I can t name wherefrom I know her face.
 I do not know if she had ever been off-world as a child. If so, she has never
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