The words hung in the smoky air between them.
Gabriel's jaw clenched as he processed this. Murder. She wanted him to kill someone, and the binding magic would force his compliance one way or another. "Who?"
"A Paladin." The mage's expression didn't change, voice remaining conversational as if discussing weather or crops. "Commander's enforcer, visiting from the Order's northern fortress near Gaveston. He's been in Bridgedon for a week now, cleaning house as they call it."
"Cleaning house how?"
"Enforcing purity laws." Old rage leaked into her voice despite her controlled tone, words clipped short. "Hunting anyone suspected of unnatural abilities. Anyone with strange eyes or unusual talents. Anyone the Church deems impure or corrupted." She drew on her pipe again. "He's killed a dozen in a week. Men, women, children. The charges don't matter. If the Church suspects corruption, it purges it."
