Free The Heresy Within by Rob J. Hayes Page B

for Thanquil to see to the Inquisitor's seating. He heard the shuffling of robes and the scuffing of arses kissing chairs and he waited, making sure to look nowhere in particular.
    “Arbiter Thanquil Darkheart,” came a voice he recognised as belonging to Inquisitor Aurelus. Thanquil bowed his head and waited.
    “Here you will answer for your crimes,” another voice, this one from behind and belonging to a woman; either Inquisitor Heron or Inquisitor Downe.
    Thanquil waited for a moment and then started. All wandering Arbiters such as himself were required to present themselves in front of the council every three years and present a list of their crimes and, if need be, explain themselves before the Inquisitors. The Inquisitors would then determine whether or not the Arbiter had been corrupted by the influences of the world outside. Thanquil didn't want to think of the consequences if they decided he had been corrupted.
    His list wasn't long. Most of it consisted of petty theft and of those there were too many to name them all, too many to remember them all and the Inquisitors were not bothered about such crimes. There were a few instances of murder, most justified, one accidental but unavoidable. Two incidents of abusing his position as an Arbiter for personal gain, while such crimes were not heresy they did earn heavy punishments but Thanquil felt justified. The gain was not monetary and in both cases had occurred because he had run out of money and had used the fear of the Inquisition as a way of extorting free rooms in two different inns.
    Through it all the Inquisitors listened and said nothing. Thanquil felt the weight of so many eyes upon him but he had been through all this before and he knew they would not punish him for his crimes. It was much more likely they'd punish him for being him.
    “You have passed, Arbiter Darkheart,” this was the unmistakeable voice of Grand Inquisitor Artur Vance. Thanquil squinted up towards the voice. The man looked old but that was not surprising, one hundred and fifty years was old even by Inquisitor standards and by all accounts Inquisitor Vance had passed that mark more than a few years ago. He still looked to be in good health though, and strong as an ox, which only went to further prove how powerful the Grand Inquisitor was.
    Thanquil had heard the stories, read the history during his initiate training, and he knew the Grand Inquisitor's past as well as any Arbiter. The man was a hero. He had saved the Inquisition in its darkest hour.
    A hundred years ago the Inquisition had gone to war against a cult of warlocks. The dark sorcerers had hunted Arbiters across the world and had dealt a serious blow to the Inquisition's numbers. The Inquisitors had marshalled and attacked the warlocks head on as they marched on Sarth. Five of the twelve Inquisitors died that day, the worst loss in the history of the Inquisition, and still the warlock army was unbroken.
    A young Arbiter by the name of Artur Vance had entered the battle and he alone turned the tide. The Judgement of the Righteous, the Inquisition's most powerful weapon and one usable only by Inquisitors such is its power. Magic deadly to all those with the dark stain of sin and heresy upon their soul. Arbiter Artur Vance called down the Judgement of the Righteous six times that day and stood in the centre of the searing light each time. As if calling down the judgement six times in one day wasn't unprecedented enough the young Arbiter emerged from each without injury, proving there was not a single stain of sin upon his soul. Arbiter Artur Vance was named Inquisitor that very day and only a handful of years later attained the rank of Grand Inquisitor.
    By all accounts the Grand Inquisitor had lived a life of uncompromising virtue with only one questionable action; his union with a woman who had the sight. The sight was known to be an affliction of witches. In women it manifested as the ability to see into a person's past,