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.She gasped when she saw the bracelet he was holding.If she'd allowed herself time to think, she might not have said what she said next."Yes, where did you find it?"It was the bracelet that Xan had dropped in the bandit encampment, the same camp in which he found that most unholy tome of Bhaal.The look on Tethtoril's face made Abdel's heart sink.The man was disappointed in him.Abdel admired Tethtoril, had admired him all his life, and though he had no idea who these other eight men were he was accused of killing, he did kill the guard who'd struck Jaheira.Not even Tethtoril could save him from that."The guard." Abdel asked weakly, with very little hope."Is there any chance?"Tethtoril put a hand to his forehead and pretended to be thinking about the question.He obviously didn't want the guards to see him cry.When he'd gathered himself, he pulled from the same leather bag from which he'd produced Jaheira's bracelet a wide-bladed dagger.The blade sparkled in the lamplight, and the blood drying on it glistened around the edges where it met the shiny silver."Before I was shown this," the old monk said, fixing a stern, hurt, disapproving stare on Abdel, "I might have thought so.""Tethtoril," Abdel said, "you can't think."Abdel didn't finish the thought because he understood that of course Tethtoril could think him capable of killing any number of men.He knew Tethtoril recognized the dagger—he'd been in the room when Gorion had made a great show of presenting it to him.Abdel only now recognized the voice that had put him to sleep as Tethtoril's.The old monk had seen him disembowel a guard for striking Jaheira a hard but recoverable blow.Of course Tethtoril could think him capable.He was capable."Pilten," Tethtoril said, and the guard Abdel had known when they were both children stepped forward."Take these and.all of this.and secure it."Pilten nodded once in acknowledgment, spared Abdel a disappointed look, then took the bundle that included Abdel's sword, the letter from Gorion, the pass stone—Tethtoril made a point of showing Abdel that he'd put it in the leather bag—and the incriminating evidence and walked away."Go with her," Tethtoril said to the others, "all of you."The other guards were reluctant to leave the old monk."I will be quite all right," he said, lifting his chin in an expression of simple authority.The other guards shuffled off, and there was the sound of many doors closing."I will do what I can," Tethtoril said to Abdel, sparing a glance at Jaheira, "but you've left me little to work with.""Send word to Baldur's Gate, perhaps," Abdel said, "to Eltan?"Tethtoril nodded, though there was very little hope showing in the old monk's face."I've disappointed you," Abdel said quietly.Tethtoril forced a weak smile and nodded.Chapter Twenty-FiveAbdel touched his nose and, like the rest of him, it had turned to glass.The surface was smooth and cold, and there was a distinct tinkling sound when he opened his eyes.His head reeled at first.He wasn't used to being so high up.The horizon was wider and deeper.There was a huge, dark-green blanket of forest stretching for what must have been miles.The forest was filled with people in rough black robes.At first it sounded to Abdel like the people were humming, but then he realized they were chanting—they were chanting his name."Ab-del, Ab-del, Ab-del," over and over again in a steady cadence that melded together into a single voice, a voice that was familiar to Abdel, a voice that repelled him.He took a step back and was surprised when it seemed like whatever structure he was standing on moved back with him.This made his head spin all the more, and a sigh escaped his crystal lips.He put one foot forward to try to balance himself but couldn't.It was then that he realized he wasn't standing on a tower—he was the tower.He fell forward, unable to move his cut glass body, which must have weighed thousands of tons, either quickly or gracefully.He must have been a hundred feet tall or more, and it took him a long time to fall, the trees rushing up at him.When his center of gravity shifted enough, his shins started to crack.The sound of it was loud and would still have been disturbing even if it wasn't his legs.As his face rushed toward the ground and he came closer and closer to her, he saw Jaheira.She was looking up at him, her eyes bulging in abject horror.He was falling on her—a shattering glass titan that would crush her at the same time it ripped her to shreds.He couldn't stop himself from falling, and she didn't seem able to run.She screamed his name, and it sounded as angry and frustrated as it did fearful.She held up her hands, and Abdel tried to scream out her name, but his voice caught in his glass throat and shattered it
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