All the spoilers ahead. When Kellian Saren was ten years old, Aristide Jolivet traveled to the Home of the Orphans of Aigon and picked out a child. He took Kel from his home and from his friends, and without explaining much, takes him to the palace in Marivent (the palace compound within the city-kingdom of Castellane). And I have to say, he wasn’t particularly kind about it, even calling the poor kid a “guttersnipe”. Jolivet passes Kel off to Bensimon, the King’s Counselor, who asks Kel if he knows of the Council of Twelve or the Charter Houses of Castellane. Kel has a general idea – the Charter Houses are families who control certain trade on the Gold Roads and over the seas. Each House has its own Charter – such as Alleyne’s silk Charter or Raspail’s timber Charter. A Charter may be granted or revoked by the King of Castellane at any time and for any reason. Bensimon asks if Kel has any foreign ancestors to account for his darker skin tone, but Kel only knows that he was born in Castellane – he never knew his parents. Bensimon explains that a delegation from Sarthe is visiting Marivent that night and tensions are high. The crown prince, Conor, needs to attend the dinner with Sarthe but he is indisposed. So, they have found a child that looks similar to Conor, who also has a darker skin tone since his mother is Marakandi, who they will clean and dress up. Kel will sit through the dinner quietly and try not to draw attention to himself. If he does a good job, he’ll be taken back to the Home of the Orphans with a purse of money. Bensimon brings out an amulet made with Ashkari magic. Only the Ashkar can perform any sort of magic and are not allowed outside of their confines in the city past dusk, except for Bensimon - who is Ashkar but is given special dispensations because of his role as advisor. The amulet will make people regard Kel as Prince Conor. It does not physically change Kel’s features, it just shows people what they expect to see already. It would not fool anyone who really knew Kel. Kel knows he doesn’t have any choice but to accept, although he is suspicious about whether he will be allowed to leave. He saw Jolivet at the orphanage a month ago, how would he have known that the crown prince would be “indisposed” ahead of time. Not to mention, Bensimon just gave Kel a whole bunch of information that Kel is likely not supposed to know. After they clean him up and dress him, they take Kel through the palace, and he sees a room full of books! He loves books, but the orphanage only has a few. He is taken to the king and queen, the three of them enter the Shining Gallery together. He is seated between the queen and Antonetta Alleyne, daughter of Lady Alleyne - who holds the silk Charter. Kel realizes that he is surrounded by the most powerful people in the country, and yet he manages to comport himself well as Conor. After the dinner is done, King Markus tells Bensimon that Kel is acceptable as long as Conor agrees. Bensimon takes Kel to meet Conor, who was watching the dinner from behind one of the decorative silk screens and knows that Kel was pushing a knife into the palm of his hand to stay awake during the long dinner. Conor asks to speak with Kel alone. He explains that in the Kingdom of Malgasi, where King Markus was fostered, they have a tradition. When a prince turns ten, he is given a Királar, or a Sword Catcher. A sort of bodyguard who learns to impersonate the prince and protect him from danger. They would like Kel to be Conor’s Sword Catcher, but Conor only wants someone who takes the job willingly. Kel would get to live in the palace and get nearly anything he wanted: books, clothes, anything within reason. He would be tutored next to Conor and learn everything the prince learns including sword fighting. He would never be hungry, and he would never be lonely. The two of them would always be together, they would even sleep in the same room. He would be given a new identity as a noble and once Conor becomes the King; Kel would become the leader of the Arrow Squadron like Jolivet. They could see the world together. Kel accepts the job. Fast forward: Conor’s mother is pressuring him to get married and Conor is not pleased. Mayesh Bensimon reminds him that marrying is one of the ways to consolidate alliances among other countries, but Jolivet offers him a different future: foregoing the crown and allowing it to pass to his cousin while Conor leads the army instead. This does not appeal to Conor either, as Jolivet no doubt knew. Mayesh brings out a notebook full of portraits of eligible bachelorettes, like Princess Aimada d’Eon of Sarthe – but Conor hates that she has red hair and besides, she’s from Sarthe (ugh). There had once been an empire called Magna Callatis which is now split into three parts: Castellane, Valderan, and Sarthe. Sarthe wants to build the empire again and they’re very interested in Castellane’s harbor, since Sarthe is landlocked. How about Princess Elsabet Belmany of Malgasi, but Conor is disappointed that the biggest point in her favor is Malgasi’s “vast tracts of arable land”, not to mention House Belmany is disliked by the Malgasi people. There’s also Prince Floris of Gelstaadt, who is handsome and rich – too tall (seven feet!). Then there is Princess Anjelica of Kutani, who is very beautiful but never mind, Castellane may not be able to afford her dowry (clever reverse psychology by Jolivet and Bensimon), and who finally catches Conor’s attention. The three of them are sitting in a carriage with Kel on their way to the Convocat, where Conor will give the yearly Speech of Independence since his mother hates public speaking and King Markus is otherwise occupied. When they arrive, guards tell Jolivet that they caught a dockworker with a crossbow in the crowd, they will need Kel to speak instead of Conor. He gives a rousing speech in front of all the Charter Families to the people of Castellane and no one is any the wiser. Once the speech is done, Conor convinces Kel to come with him to Joss Falconet’s party at the Caravel, it is a day of celebration after all. Kel does not want to go, but he doesn’t want to disappoint Conor either, and he agrees in the end. Lin Caster is trying to get some medical textbooks, but the shopkeeper won’t sell to her. Those textbooks are not meant for the Ashkar like Lin, only for the malbushim – what the Ashkar call people who are not Ashkari. In addition, the shopkeeper knows that the leaders in the Sault, the gated community that the Ashkar are required to live in, do not believe that women should practice medicine at all. In fact, they only allowed Lin to take the exams believing that she would fail. She got top marks in her class and has been practicing for the last year, which the leaders begrudgingly allow. But this shopkeeper will still not allow her to buy the books she wants – ironic since he had no problem with Lin treating his gout. Lin starts to get angry, so her friend Mariam escorts her outside before Lin starts to yell and the authorities are called. They begin to make their way back to the Sault before curfew but are delayed by the crowds listening to Prince Conor’s speech. Lin doesn’t like the prince, not that she’s ever met him, but she believes that her grandfather abandoned her and her brother, Josit, to go to the palace. The siblings had no one else, since their parents had been killed by bandits when their caravan was attacked. When Mayesh left, Lin and Josit were cared for by the Etse Kebeth and Dasu Kebeth, the House of Women and Men, respectively. Her grandfather is Counselor Mayesh Bensimon who lives at the palace and no longer spends much time within the Sault. Lin does have to admit that Conor is handsome and that he is charming, she can tell by how the crowd is responding to him that he has them entranced. But although there are Ashkar that live within Castellane, they have their own leaders. Mayesh, who works as a sort of emissary between the Ashkar and the rest of the world, working to protect the Ashkar; and the Maharam, Davit Benezar, who is both priest and lawmaker, and rules over the Ashkar community living in the Sault. The Maharam is appointed by the Exilarch, who travels to all the Saults and can trace his lineage back to Judah Makabi (who was chosen by the Goddess to lead her people, the Ashkar), and is the closest the Ashkar get to royalty. The position of Ashkari Counselor is appointed by the palace. As they listen to the speech, Mariam stumbles and tells Lin that something is wrong. Mariam slumps against Lin and passes out, her lips begin to turn blue. The crowd starts to back away from them and suddenly, the royal carriage is next to her. Jolivet picks Mariam up from the ground and reveals that Mayesh instructed that the two of them be taken back to the Sault. Kel and Conor travel to the Caravel, a pleasure house on Hourglass Street owned and managed by Domna Alys Asper, who tells them that their friends have already arrived. They see Joss Falconet, the youngest of the Council members who took over his house’s spice Charter when his father died two years ago, who also happens to be an avid gambler. He immediately involves Conor in a card game. While Conor is otherwise engaged, Alys quietly tells Kel to go to the library when she signals him. He looks around to see if anyone else heard but it appears that no one did. He sees a Hindish courtesan reading fortunes across the room and remembers the only time he had his own read: the fortune-teller had said that Kel would live a life of “brilliant strangeness” before she began to cry. It still gives him pause. They are joined by Lupin Montfaucon and later, by Charlon Roverge, who has brought three noble ladies with him: Antonetta Alleyne, Mirela Gasquet, and Sancia Vasey. Charlon is playing a long game. Although Antonetta’s mother wants her married to Conor (which Antonetta seems amenable to), Charlon knows that Conor will need to marry elsewhere and is planning to be there for Antonetta when her dreams come crashing down. There to comfort her and help her pick up the pieces, and to reap the rewards. Antonetta coming is very surprising to Kel, her mother is protective and does not allow her to do such things, she even forces Antonetta to continue dressing as a much younger girl. There had been a time when they were all children that Conor, Kel, Joss, Charlan, and Antonetta had all been friends. Antonetta had been fearless then, and desperate to prove herself to the boys, but was no longer allowed to hang out with them when she turned fifteen and was considered eligible to be married. As Antonetta walks toward the fortune-teller, Alys calls Conor away and nods at Kel – his signal. Kel meets with Alys’ brother Merren, a student at the Academie – the University of Castellane – and an accomplished chemist... And the best poisoner in all of Castellane, according to Alys. He offers wine to Kel after drinking from the bottle himself, explaining that Alys would kill him if he poisoned her clients, so Kel accepts. Kel explains to Merren that one of the Castelguards was poisoned by his lover, a noblewoman from Sarthe, who used a poison that Castellane is not familiar with. He’s worried Conor could be given the same. Merren tells him that it was not a new poison that was used, but a very old one called Cantarella. He could make the antidote for Kel, but he wonders why Kel wouldn’t use the staff at the palace. Kel responds that the Royal Surgeon is an idiot – a terrible physician and absolutely unskilled in remedies, believing prevention is the best cure. It’s just not practical! Perhaps Merren could replace him once he’s done with school but Merren protests, he’s against monarchies in general (nothing against House Aurelian in particular). The only king he likes is the Ragpicker King. Kel finds it funny that Merren is against the monarchy but not against crime lords. They agree on a price, and a time and place to pick up. Someone interrupts their meeting to tell Kel that Conor is waiting for him outside, striking Kel as odd. It’s not like Conor to miss an event, something must be wrong. But when Kel arrives outside, he is pulled forcibly into a carriage, a dark carriage that does not belong to Conor, and a dagger put to his throat. They drive away. Lin reads to Mariam as she recovers. They read the story of Adassa, who would later become the Goddess that the Ashkar worship. Legend says that Adassa destroyed the Sorcerer-Kings, destroying most magic in what is called the Sundering, but holding just a small amount back for herself and her people – the reason that the Ashkar can still use a small bit of magic. After their parents were killed, Lin and her brother were separated, even though her brother was a baby, Lin can still feel the pain of having her brother taken from her arms. She became wild and angry, until Mariam Duhary became her friend. Mariam was also an orphan; her mother was killed on her way to the market just for being Ashkar and her father died of sickness on their way to Castellane. She reminded Lin that she still had a brother, that she was not alone, and the two girls have been inseparable ever since. Mariam is the reason that Lin became a physician. She has an illness that causes fevers, coughing, bruising, the weakness that caused her episode as they watched the prince. The physicians could not help her, so Lin became one herself, intent on finding Mariam a cure. All she’s managed so far is to make Mariam more comfortable and lessen her symptoms when they flare up, using medicine with the talismans that Chana Dorin (who oversees the House of Women) makes. Chana Dorin has always fought for Lin, including demanding that Lin be allowed to study medicine. At the time, Chana had told the Maharam that Lin’s grandfather was against the idea of her studying medicine because Chana knew that the two men cannot stand each other, and the Maharam may agree just to irritate Mayesh – which is exactly what happened. But in truth, Mayesh never opposed it her studies, he said it should be up to Lin. As Lin speaks to Chana, she asks why the Maharam hates Mayesh and Chana tells her a story. The Maharam’s son Asher began to look into forbidden practices, he tried to use magic to bring his mother back to life. Asher was exiled from the Sault, but Mayesh spoke up against the punishment saying that the Maharam would regret it if he exiled his only son. Which is true, but the Maharam had no choice but to exile Asher and he has hated Mayesh ever since. Two people are in the carriage with Kel, where Kel sits with his eyes closed so he cannot see his captors. His told to open his eyes and he sees one Chosean woman holding the dagger to Kel’s throat and a tall, slender man in black, wearing a gold ring with the sigil of a bird on it. The Ragpicker King. He knows Kel’s real name and his role as Sword Catcher to Prince Conor. The Ragpicker King wants to offer Kel a job, in addition to the one he already has. A partnership. He explains that he can pass information to Kel about possible threats to Conor from criminals, rebels, anti-monarchists. Threats that are already within the city. In return, Kel will find out who is funding Prosper Beck. Prosper Beck is another criminal but one that has quickly gained power seemingly from nowhere and is incredibly well funded. Because of that, his location is hard to pinpoint. He hires middlemen and freely uses bribes; he’s even convinced most of the Ragpicker King’s climbers to work for him instead – they’re called Crawlers. The Ragpicker King believes that Prosper Beck is being bankrolled by a member of the nobility. He mentions the frequent absences of King Markus, which are usually blamed on his studies, but he asks Kel if the king is actually ill. Is he dying? Kel says it is not illness, then grabs the blade of Ji-An’s knife. She pulls the dagger back and cuts Kel’s hand, calling him crazy. He had realized that his throat had a prickly feeling and suspected he’d been poisoned with scopolia, which forces you to tell the truth, and it is counteracted by pain. The Ragpicker King confirms that he bribed Merren to slip the drug to Kel. He tells Kel that he knows a Sword Catcher would be a nice addition to his team. He points out that if Kel is beholden to go where Conor goes and does what Conor does, then Kel is not free. He cannot make his own choices, have his own dreams, live the way he pleases. Kel retorts that the dreams he had as an orphan were of blankets and food. He would have been dead by twenty if he hadn’t become Sword Catcher. Kel trusts Conor, he does not trust the Ragpicker King. The Ragpicker King only says that someday he will. They drop Kel off at Caravel without hurting him (other than the hand) or even swearing him to secrecy. The Ragpicker King thinks he will be back and gives Kel one more piece of information: when he changes his mind, come to the Black Mansion directly and use the password “Morettus” to get in. Do not share the password. When Kel enters the Caravel, he sees there is a sexy play being performed with a very unsexy theme: the Scarlet Plague. He notices Antonetta watching him before Silla, the concubine who took Kel’s virginity and who he is quite fond of still, approaches him. She tells him that Conor is upstairs with another girl. He kisses Silla while Antonetta watches. He follows Silla away, looking for some distraction - although he’s having a hard time focusing on Silla - when they are interrupted by Antonetta. Falconet sent her to retrieve Kel, something is wrong with Conor upstairs. On their way, Antonetta says pointedly that she didn’t think Kel would be the type to hire courtesans, but Kel retorts why wouldn’t he? Her mother has already made it clear that Kel has no prospects with the nobility in the city. Antonetta flinches, but they’ve arrived and see Conor very drunk on a bedroom floor. Audeta, who Conor was with, explains that Conor punched the window, breaking it and causing his hand to be cut. As Kel takes Conor downstairs to leave, he asks why Conor hit the window and Conor drunkenly tells Kel that he was angry. Even here he couldn’t forget. He’s made bad mistakes, and he thinks he may have to get married to fix them. Conor wakes up the next morning with a terrible hangover. Kel goes to get him a hangover cure from the kitchen and after Conor drinks it, Kel asks Conor what his terrible mistake is. Conor laughs it off, asking if the horrible mistake was hitting one of the other noblemen and breaking his hand. When Kel asks if Conor is really thinking of marrying, Conor seems shocked, as if he really does not remember the night before. In fact, Conor has been thinking they might travel before he settles down – like he promised Kel all those years ago. The queen comes in to speak with Conor, who broaches the idea of travel with her. Although she says it’s a good idea, she starts to bring up reasons for him not to go anywhere. In fact, she wants Conor to head the Dial Chamber meeting the next day, where the Charter Families meet to discuss important kingdom business. Lilibet has been representing the king in the meetings for years and Conor has sat in on plenty, it’s time he leads one himself. He points out that the nobles will gossip if he leads the meeting alone without the king, who is unable to attend, but she just tells him to show them that he is control. Perhaps he can travel during his honeymoon! Conor tells Kel that he will come to the meeting too. It’s not a question. Lin makes her rounds to see her patients outside of the Sault, her favorite part of the job. Which is good since most people inside the Sault refuse to use her services anyway, since she is a woman. So instead, Lin gets patients among the malbushim. Chana Dorin talked about Lin to people who bought her talismans at the city market and Lin’s brother Josit, before he started traveling with a caravan, guarded the Sault gates and would tell anyone looking for a physician about his sister. And Lin’s rates are very reasonable. She reaches the home of Anton Petrov – her favorite patient (don’t tell the others), who used to be a trader on the Gold Roads and traveled extensively. Although he doesn’t decorate his house with souvenirs from his travels, she knows that he has some, hidden in the floor beneath his carpets. In particular, a gray stone the size and shape of a swan’s egg that seems to warm when Lin holds it. He is also a bit of a conundrum. The symptoms of his illness do not match anything she knows of. Crackling lungs, rashes, fatigue; he insists that he picked up the illness while he traveled but he does not know from whom or what it is called. Nothing she prescribes to him seems to help. He tells her that he should give her the gray stone, she could do some good with it, but she doesn’t know what he means. He won’t even tell her where he got it. After a moment, Petrov hears something downstairs and a moment later, they can hear his landlady’s indignant voice. Petrov narrows his eyes but tells Lin that he forgot he had a few friends coming over for cards, showing Lin out quickly. She passes two men dressed as sailors on her way out. Conor and Kel meet Lupin, Charlon, and Joss at the top of the West Tower, where they spend much of their free time. They’ve brought Antonetta with them. Charlon mentions how his father is in a sour mood, even beating his servants, because a different family refuses to tithe the legal amount to the Roverges. As the others bet on who can throw a pie farthest, Antonetta speaks to Kel. She says she was worried about Conor after he cut his arm, but she starts asking about the rumor of Conor’s impending marriage. Kel points out that Conor does not want to marry and it’s unlikely that he can be forced but Antonetta tells him that anyone can be made to do things if you know where to put pressure. He remembers a few years ago when they were fifteen, Kel had made Antonetta a small ring out of grass and asked him to be his bandit queen. Antonetta had accepted it, blushing, and later Conor pointed out that she’d always liked Kel. But afterward, Kel was visited by Lady Alleyne and told him to stay away from Antonetta. He had no wealth, no land, no significance, and Antonetta would not waste her life with him. He’s never told anyone about that conversation, but shortly afterward, Antonetta stopped hanging out with the group of them. When he next saw her at the ball to celebrate her debut, Antonetta revealed that she knew Lady Alleyne had spoken to him. She reiterated that they were not of the same class and different things were important to her now. When Kel now refuses to talk to her about Conor, Antonetta asks him about himself, but he won’t talk about that either. He tells her that they barely know each other anymore. He was friends with the bold, clever girl that she used to be. Antonetta points out that who she once was would have had no place on the Hill – where the nobles reside. She puts her fake face back on before going and judging the throwing contest. Lin has a dream of a man struggling on the path up the cliffs near Castellane. She can taste blood in his mouth, can feel a terrible hatred within him. She sees him pull a book out of his robe and throw it into the whirlpool the storm is creating in the sea. He utters a curse, and she wakes up. She looks for a sleeping draught and as she fumbles around inside her bag for it, she feels Anton’s grey rock. Did he put it in her bag on purpose? Was he trying to hide it? Kel and Conor prepare for the Dial Chamber meeting. Inside the chamber, the floor looks like a large sundial with chairs placed on the numerals of the dial. The chairs are carved to represent the Charter family that sits in it: trees for Raspail, who has the timber Charter; grapes for the Uzec’s wine Charter; a silk moth for the Alleyne family and their silk Charter. And at the twelve o’clock position sits House Aurelian, with a shining sun on its chair. Inside the dome of the room the words “All that is good comes from the Gods. All that is evil comes from Men.” look down upon them. They talk about how the head of the Gremont family is sleeping at the table (he’s ninety-five) and whether or not he should pass the Charter to his son (who left the city a few years ago amid a scandal although neither Kel nor Conor know what was so scandalous) – they decide to do nothing; and the trouble that Roverge has had with its tithes (a family making colored paper refuses to pay tithes to both the timber and the ink Charters) – Conor tells the two Charters they will split the tithe evenly; and trouble in the Narrow Pass (bandits have been attacking the caravans on their way from Sarthe to Castellane). The Narrow Pass is the only land route into Castellane. If they sent soldiers to the Pass, it could invoke a war with Sarthe. Someone brings up a potential alliance, which then turns the topic to a possible marriage alliance. As they argue back and forth about which country would make a better alliance, Conor getting more irritated by the moment, the room suddenly goes quiet, and all the nobles stand and bow. King Markus has made a surprise appearance – and he looks terrible. Master Fausten is with him, as he always is. Fausten tutored the King when Markus was in Malgasi and has shadowed him ever since, even sleeping outside the king’s door now that Markus sleeps in the Star Tower. Markus tells them all that he was at his studies (he’s obsessed with astronomy) when he decided to come and tell everyone that this meeting is foolish. The stars will tell them how to proceed, that is how the Gods speak to mortals of destiny and fate. When Montfaucon makes a quip, the king turns to him. In the stars Markus sees “the ruin of Castellane. Marivent, our White Lady, tumbled in the dirt. The Ruta Magna running with blood.” That doesn’t sound promising. The king wants to avoid that, but before he can lay out his plan, Fausten ushers him out of the chamber. Conor and Kel make a joke of it, saying Markus was there to lighten the mood, then Conor quickly adjourns the meeting. But there was one more item to discuss – the Solstice Ball. Hearing this tips Conor over the edge and he throws a glass at the wall, shattering it and waking Gremont up, before he storms out of the room. Lin is in the garden when Chana Dorin approaches her. The Goddess Festival (called the Tevath) is in a month, and she’d like Lin to help make the sachets of herbs that the girls wear around their neck during the festival. During the Tevath, they will recite the story of the Goddess and Aram, how the goddess promised to return one day in the form of an Ashkari girl. The girls young enough to potentially be the Goddess returned will wear the sachets and they will dance. Lin tells Chana she wasn’t planning on going but Chana tells her that won’t do! Mariam has already started working on Lin’s dress. The festival is important to Mariam and Chana thinks that Lin has stopped seeing the other woman as a friend – only has a patient to cure. It’s not just the body that needs to be tended, give Mariam a night just as her friend, to help heal her spirit. Lin pulls out Petrov’s stone that she has in her pocket and looks at it, seeing shapes in the swirls of the color, which seem to change every time she looks at it. Conor believes that his father is mad and that he will one day become mad as well. The surgeons say it is hereditary. He’s told Kel this before, the first time after the Fire on the Sea. A celebration meant to represent the bonds between the sea and Castellane where the king sails out on a boat covered in flowers and throws a ring into the sea, but one year nearly killed the king. The boat had caught fire, and the king did not try to flee. Jolivet and his men dove into the water and pulled Markus out of the wreckage as the king screamed that he should have been left to burn. His hands were badly burned in the fire, and they aren’t sure what caused it. Some say accident, some say assassination attempt. Conor is in a foul mood and tells Kel to find something fun to do that evening, without him. Lin goes back to Petrov’s house to return his stone. She finds the door unlocked and the apartment completely empty. Even the carpet that hid Petrov’s treasures is gone, but she spies stains that look suspiciously like blood on the floor it once covered, and the floorboards pried up. The landlady appears behind Lin and tells her that she heard some noises while his “friends” visited Petrov, but she didn’t investigate. When she came to collect rent the next day, she found blood all over the floor. She sold Petrov’s furniture to pay for cleaning and back rent, but she is not the one who pried up the floor. She tells Lin that all of Petrov’s books are gone, Lin will not get what she wants, and that they should get rid of all the Ashkari and burn the Sault like they did in Malgasi, where the Ashkar are no longer allowed. Lin asks her where Petrov’s books are now, the landlady tells her only after being threatened with body aches so bad she’d never sleep again - she sold them to a dealer in the Maze. Lin leaves, with the stone still in her pocket. Hopefully she’ll never see the hateful woman again. Meanwhile, once the sun starts to set, Kel leaves the palace incognito. He heads to the Broken Market. The Ruta Magna is a street full of elegant, upscale shops where the wealthy shop. But once those shops bolt their doors and windows, the Broken Market pops up in its place, traveling far down the street into the Maze. A lawless market where broken things find homes, where crowds gather to hear stories or listen to musicians. He buys a snack before heading towards the Student Quarter of the Academie. He finds Merren’s door and breaks the lock on the door. He yells out for Merren to show himself or he’s going to start throwing the furniture out the window. Merren pipes up hesitantly, asking how Kel found him. Kel reminds him that he asked for his address during their prior conversation, and it was unlikely Merren lied since they both drank the wine with the truth poison in it. Merren admits he’s not good at lying anyway. Besides, the Ragpicker King had assured him that Kel wouldn’t be hurt. He only wanted to offer Kel a job! Merren doesn’t realize that he uses the Ragpicker King’s name: Andreyen. There’s a vial on the table that Merren keeps looking at, so Kel picks it up. He’ll drop it unless Merren tells him what he needs to know. Kel asks if Alys knew the Ragpicker King was coming when she arranged the meeting between him and Merren, the answer is no. He asks for the cantarella antidote and some of the poison as well. Merren gives him two vials of gray powder (poison) and two of white powder (antidote), with instructions to give the full vial of antidote regardless of the amount of poison ingested. Kel gives Merren the hostage vial back as well as the rest of the payment for the antidote. He asks how many people know his true identity as Királar and Merren assures him that it’s only Ji-an, Andreyen, and himself. He also says that Andreyen will not pursue him if Kel turns down the offer, he will just find someone else to do it instead. But Kel should think about working with Andreyen. At some point the nobles and the royal family will turn on him, like they did to Merren’s father, who had always been loyal to the Aurelians. Kel leaves but feels a wistfulness he doesn’t expect, he’s jealous of Merren’s simple life. At least it is Merren’s own. On his way back to the palace, the tide goes out and Kel sees the remains of what used to be the city of Tyndaris. During the Sundering War, the island Tyndaris was built on was taken by the sea, only the tops of the highest towers can be seen at low tide now, and the Church of a Thousand Doors – a temple of Aigon and a pilgrimage site for the most devout. He continues on and is grabbed by Crawlers, at least a dozen come out from the shadows to surround him. They think Kel is Conor since he’s using Conor’s black cloak, they tell him it’s easy to identify him since he uses the same cloak every time he wants to go somewhere inconspicuously. They tell “Conor” that they were sent by Prosper Beck, and he should already know why. Beck already sent Conor a message at the Caravel and gave him the chance to pay back his debt last night, but that offer has come and gone and Beck owns him now. Conor owes Prosper Beck ten thousand crowns – the massive amount shocks Kel. His shock makes the Crawlers realize he’s not actually the prince. While they debate what to do with Kel, arrows fly, killing some of the Crawlers. Kel tries to run but the lead Crawler blocks him and stabs Kel in the chest twice. Kel falls to the ground, losing blood quickly. It's after midnight when Lin hears a banging on her door as she sits at her table contemplating life. Oren Kandel - her neighbor who hates her because she didn’t want to marry him, something about him scares her - tells her there’s a carriage waiting for her at the gates and she needs to bring her satchel. She gets dressed quickly and grabs Petrov’s stone, putting it into her pocket before she leaves. She sees her grandfather in a palace carriage waiting for her. He tells her the king’s cousin has been hurt, if the Royal Surgeon Gasquet treats him, Kel will die. He is coming to Lin because she is the best physician in the Sault. Their time alone in the carriage gives Lin a moment to spew a few nasty comments before asking about Kel’s injuries. She asks if she will be punished if she cannot save him, but Mayesh assures her that she will not be harmed. When they arrive in Conor’s rooms, she finds Conor pacing and swearing under his breath beside the bed, where Kel lays motionless. She sees that Kel has already been given something for his pain and that he is gasping for air. She has to hurry, he’s suffocating. She asks Conor to hold Kel down, explaining that he is bleeding internally, and it is crushing his lungs. She must drain the blood. Conor is second guessing everything Lin does, but she won’t be cowed. She makes a cut and drains the blood; Kel wakes up soon after. She sees an amulet in Kel’s hand and tries to take it but feels a sting in her side as she touches it. Thinking it was a quick cramp, she ignores the pain and turns to ask Conor to leave the room. She still has work to do, and Kel shouldn’t be bothered for now. Conor makes Lin promise that she will save Kel’s life, but she only agrees to do the best she can. After Conor leaves, Kel congratulates her on telling Conor to leave. She says that she’s sure he hates her now, but Kel tells her he only hates being told what to do. As she prepares to sew Kel’s wounds, she hears a whisper saying, “use me” and she startles. She and Kel have a nice conversation about perspective as she works, and she tells Kel that she will be back in three days to check on him. In the meantime, rest and take the herbs she leaves to avoid infection. As Kel falls asleep, she takes the talisman out of his hand and sees exactly what it is. When Lin leaves the room, she updates Conor. They have another conversation that is not at all pleasant like the one she had with Kel, and when Conor turns his charming smile on her, Lin is not swayed. Lin’s grandfather has already told Conor that Lin wouldn’t require payment, but Conor offers her his signet ring, which she refuses. Oh boy, he is quite affronted. She points out that she can’t sell the ring, she can’t wear it, people would assume she stole it. Owning beautiful things just to look at them is only a hobby for the rich, which she is not. Her unspoken reason is that she wants nothing from House Aurelian, who took her grandfather away from her. Conor starts to lose his temper but then Mayesh comes back, saving their exchange from getting even worse. Lin waits for her grandfather in the carriage as he speaks to Conor alone, and when Mayesh joins her, he gives her some news: Kel looks great, but Conor has forbidden Lin from returning to the palace, calling her a rude and peculiar girl that he does not wish to see again. She points out that she knows Mayesh’s secret about Conor and his “cousin”. He forces her to swear a binding oath before telling her the truth about Kel. When Lin gets home and changes out of her physician’s clothes, she pulls the stone out of the pocket. She notices that around the stone the fabric of the pocket is scorched as if burned, right where she felt the quick sting in her side, which also has a burn. Yet the stone itself seems unharmed. She remembers the whispers she heard, hears them again, clearer now. What is this stone? She fears the only place she will find answers is in the Maze, a dangerous place for an Ashkari woman on her own. She goes to the market with Marian (Marian needs to buy material to make dresses for the festival) and visits a jeweler while Marian looks for what she needs. She asks him to look at the stone and he tells her it is a sort of quartz with flaws called inclusions, but not worth a great deal. She asks him to set it into a brooch and she returns half an hour later to collect it. She pins the brooch on before meeting Mariam again. As they walk back to the Sault with the hired wagon full of Marian’s material, a woman steps in front of them to speak to Lin of Kel Saren, a name very few people would know. The woman knows what happened to him and she tells Lin that the king would like to speak with her – pointing to a carriage. Lin alerts Marian to her change of plans, citing a sick patient since she was told to keep the meeting secret, then follows the girl who tells Lin to call her Ji-An. It’s only after the carriage is moving that she reveals they are to see the Ragpicker King, not King Markus. Ji-An and the king are surprised that Kel lived, Ji-An found him bleeding out and dropped his body off at the palace gates to be found, so she knows how badly he was wounded. Lin wonders why the Ragpicker King would save the Sword Catcher to the Crown Prince. Kel finally wakes up after having a bunch of weird dreams and Conor asks him what he was doing in the city alone. Kel lies and says he went to the Caravel to see Silla but never made it, he was attacked before he got there. He does point out that he was wearing Conor’s cloak, and the Crawlers thought they had found Conor. He explains they only hurt him when they realized he wasn’t Conor, that it was a shake down. He asks how long Conor has owed Prosper Beck money. Conor gets a drink, so that doesn’t bode well. He tells Kel he himself only just found out and he hadn’t told anyone yet, although he should have told Kel. When Alys called Conor aside at the Caravel, she told him that Prosper Beck had been buying all of Conor’s debts. For clothes, shoes, wine, the falcon that flew away from him, but Alys refused to sell Conor’s debt at the Caravel. Beck paid Conor’s debt and now Conor owes him – ten thousand crowns that were racked up over years that Beck is calling in… now. And it’s not even illegal! But Conor tells Kel not to worry. He will pay Prosper Beck and be done with the whole thing. It’s not that he couldn’t get the money, it’s that he didn’t have it on hand and honestly, it was the principal of it! Conor doesn’t seem to realize that Kel can see the slight tremor in his hands. Lin arrives at the Black Mansion, home of the Ragpicker King. Ji-An asks Lin what she knows about the Ragpicker King but when Lin answers that he’s a criminal mastermind, Ji-An advises her not to use that word since the Ragpicker King doesn’t like it. Not criminal, he’s fine with that, but he finds mastermind to be pretentious. Ji-An leads her to a room that has a river cut into it, housing some crocodiles, and over a bridge to a greenhouse. She leaves Lin there until the Ragpicker King is ready to see her, assuring Lin that she will be back. Now Lin is annoyed. She didn’t like the subterfuge though she was interested to see the house, but now she has to wait as her kidnapping is put on the back burner! She sneaks out of the greenhouse and into a room where she sees antiques and treasures from all over the world, including an Ashkari bowl inscribed with the name Benjudah. The only family with that name is the Exilarch’s. She hears voices in conversation, talking about providing a large amount of black powder – an explosive. The first man is questioned about why he needs the powder, and he says he wants to blow up several ships, the second man wants to make sure it’s not a person he’s planning to blow up. They walk into the room Lin is already in, and she recognizes the Ragpicker King as the second man. The first man, a fellow redhead named Ciprian, assures him that no one will be harmed. The Ragpicker King dismisses Ciprian and turns to Lin. What he really wants to know is if Lin used the grey stone to heal Kel. He explains that the jeweler she saw works for him and sent him a message as soon as she showed the jeweler the stone. He calls it a Source-Stone, which were invented by King Sulemon, the Goddess’ enemy who she defeated, and they are forbidden to the Ashkar. He wants to know where Lin got it. She tells him it was passed to her by Anton Petrov and the king laughs, Petrov is how you say “stone” in Nyenschantz, where Anton was from. She offers to give up the stone, but the Ragpicker King tells her to keep it and asks her to follow him. He takes her to a laboratory where she meets Merren. The Ragpicker King shows her some papers and asks if anything in the drawings looks familiar – she sees a stone that looks just like hers. He explains that these pages are from a book by the scholar Qasmuna, who wrote them just after the great wars. Qasmuna wanted to bring magic back after it left the world. Lin wonders if that would be wise but Andreyen isn’t worried about Sorcerer-Kings returning since what they call the Word, the name of Power, is still unknown and erased from the world; magic is limited without it. Lin asks why he doesn’t take the stone if he’s so interested in it, but Andreyen doesn’t want to use magic himself. He wants to find someone to wield it and employ them. He would offer her use of the laboratory in exchange for her being that person. Lin doesn’t particularly want to work for him, but she does agree to look for more of Qasmuna’s work in the library in the Sault. As Ji-An walks Lin out of the mansion, Lin asks if Andreyen is a good man. Ji-An answers that he does what he says he is going to. Whether that’s kill you or protect you, he will follow through. Ji-An thinks that makes him a good man. Kel is slowly recovering, left on his own for long stretches of time while Conor disappears to… somewhere. He starts walking – further and further each day – around the Carcel, where the royal family would hide if the palace were attached. Kel notices that the ivy is growing over the door since it hasn’t been used in so long. He walks through the gardens where Kel hears conversations through the high hedges. The queen telling Jolivet and Mayesh that Gremont’s son must be brought back to the city, Mayesh insisting that Artal is a monster; Conor speaking to a woman in Sarthian, agreeing to some arrangement. Lin dreams again, of the man climbing. She knows it’s Sulemon as he walks toward her. Adassa’s lover and the man who betrayed her. Lin reaches out her hands to him. She wakes up just before she, as Adassa, would die and magic end. Lin believes the stone is giving her the dreams. Mariam knocks on her door very late and tells Lin she thinks she has a way to get Lin into the palace. She invites Lin to meet her at the gates in the morning. Kel comes back from his walk and is told that Jolivet is waiting for him in Conor’s rooms (Conor is in a meeting), but when Kel gets there, he finds Antonetta next to a woman he doesn’t know – perhaps one of her ladies. Antonetta tells Kel that she brought someone to see him as the girl beside her pushes her hood back to reveal herself as Lin. Antonetta smuggled her in so Lin could check on Kel. Mariam makes Antonetta’s dresses. Lin asks Antonetta to leave and is pleased with the progress that Kel has made. She tells him that he said a name when he was hurt – Ji-An – and she recently met Ji-An herself. Lin tells him that as she left the Sault this morning, a boy ran up to her and gave her a paper for Kel from Andreyen. She hands Kel the paper just as they hear Antonetta trying to persuade Conor not to go into his room. It doesn’t work. Conor is angry to find Lin there and sends Antonetta away, telling her he will make sure that Lin gets home. Lin says she has other patients to see, that she won’t need to see Kel again since he’s made such great progress, and asks to leave. Conor will walk her to the gate – she is Ashkari and wearing colors forbidden to her (they have to wear certain colors to be identified as Ashkar) and is breaking the law. She’s taking a great risk, and Conor will ensure no one recognizes her or endangers her. Lin says she brought a change of clothes, but he recommends that she change in the carriage, lest someone see an Ashkari on palace grounds and asks questions. He walks Lin to the gate and gives her the opportunity to tell him that she didn’t know she was banned from the palace, but she refuses to lie. She reveals she knows about Kel’s job and ensures Conor that the secret is safe with her – to protect Kel and her grandfather, not for Conor. Conor realizes that Lin hates him and asks why: he took a child when he was ten and gave the child a job he could not possibly understand. Conor asks what he could have done, he was also ten. He has power but there are always people with more. Kel works for House Aurelian, as does Conor. Besides, did Lin bother to ask Kel if he regrets his decision. She admits that she did not. Conor tells her to get in the carriage and leave and this time, do not come back. He even gives the carriage driver specific instructions to get her off the grounds of Marivent. Kel takes Andreyen’s note to the Black Mansion. Ji-An greets him and asks what he wants, he has a question about Artal Gremont. Merren overhears him and demands to know why he mentioned Gremont. Merren grows irate and asks if Kel really doesn’t know what Artal Gremont did. But Kel doesn’t find out right now, Andreyen comes out and Kel asks him if Lin works for him, Andreyen hedges. They discuss Prosper Beck and the Crawlers; Merren points out that extorting Conor seems almost personal. Andreyen asks to speak to Kel alone. He wants to tell Kel something that very few people know, explaining that a month ago three people in Castellane knew. Since then, one of those people has been poisoned (not by him or Merren). He has chosen to tell Kel because Kel is loyal, even if his loyalty is not to Andreyen. He tells Kel that there has been a Ragpicker King for as long as there has been a King on the Hill, and the title will be passed along just as Conor will inherit from his father. There will always be criminals, and a wise king knows that he must encourage the right kind of crime. Kel realizes that Andreyen is the last Charter member: House Morettus – the crime Charter. When Markus inherited the throne, he also inherited a contract with the Ragpicker King. Andreyen’s large operations are left alone, and he will never be prosecuted, and he will ensure that crime allows the city to flourish and does not threaten the King, while the unwanted crime is not allowed to last. He shows Kel a letter he has received from Markus stating that Markus, Conor, and the city are all in danger and asking Andreyen to meet. But when Andreyen tried to set a time for the meeting, he never got a response and the messenger was later found dead in his room – the Castelguard that was poisoned, spurring Kel to go to Merren. There is always a messenger between the kings, but no one has come forward from the palace to replace the Castelguard. Andreyen wants Kel to be that messenger. He is loyal to Conor, and Andreyen sees now that Conor is loyal to Kel as well. Andreyen believes the danger Markus speaks of is Prosper Beck. Kel agrees to speak to Markus but tells Andreyen that if he gets killed in the process, he will absolutely haunt him. The Maharam holds hours every week for people to bring him concerns, questions, requests. Lin waits until everyone else has left, then approaches the Maharam. She asks to be allowed entrance to the Shulamat library, citing Mariam and her quest to find her a cure. The Maharam says he will think about it and asks Lin why Mayesh took her to the palace. He wants to know if Mayesh discussed who will succeed him as Counselor. When Lin says they did not discuss it, the Maharam says it may be months before he can give her an answer. Lin points out that the men do a lot of deciding on what women can do, considering they worship a Goddess who was once a queen, but the Maharam retorts that while they worship the Goddess, they take their instructions from Judah Makabi. Lin is dismissed and notices that someone was eavesdropping: Oren. Conor tells Kel that there is a dinner in two nights with Malgasi and Sarthe, two countries that hate each other. He asks Kel what he would do if he were no longer required to be Sword Catcher, inspired by Lin. Kel doesn’t answer but tells Conor that Lin doesn’t need to be banned from the palace, asking Conor if he wants Lin to be afraid of him. Conor admits that Lin makes him feel as if he has been burned by the cinders of a fire. He feels like he owes her for healing Kel, since she did not take his ring. He insists that he would not stop Kel if Kel wanted to leave and Kel assures Conor that if he wanted to leave, he would. Someone knocks on Lin’s door. She finds Mayesh, who asks if he can enter. He asks if she knows why the king always has an Ashkari Counselor, telling her that at one point, a counselor saved the empire from war. When that man was dying, the emperor wondered who would ever advise him as well, and the counselor told him a secret. All the advice he gave the emperor he first received from an Ashkari man. The emperor immediately gave the Ashkari man the position and he served for thirty years. Since then, it has been considered wise to have an Ashkari Counselor, and the Kings of Castellane continued the tradition after the empire was split. When Mayesh became counselor, he did it for everyone in the Sault, not for the palace. Lin got herself into the palace against Conor’s orders, indicating that she understands how power works, and both infuriating and impressing the prince. Conor also revealed that she’d been worried about protecting Mayesh’s position and he believed Lin when she swore to protect Kel’s secret. When Mayesh leaves, she pulls out Qasmuna’s papers given to her by Andreyen, that she’d been working on when Mayesh showed up, which she had quickly hidden. She drops them and they fall in a way that makes her realize that the pages are meant to line up, two pages side by side. She sees a ten-rayed sun that looks similar to the cover of a book that she saw in Petrov’s apartment. What if he had Qasmuna’s book! She needs to find a way to look for it in the Maze. In the very early morning before Conor wakes, Kel makes his way to the astronomy tower. He finds the king sitting at his desk and tells Markus that he was sent by Andreyen, giving him a small pewter bird as a symbol. Markus tells Kel that the stars prophesied the two kings would not meet. Fausten has said that his destiny is already written, Markus knows that his evil has brought them here. His blood debt. Fausten enters and sees Kel, he is not pleased. Kel comes up with an excuse, saying he heard a sound while walking and wanted to make sure the king was okay. Fausten retorts that the king is not Kel’s concern, that Markus does as Fausten advises when he interprets the stars. If he said the stars wanted Kel to be thrown into prison, Markus would not hesitate. Fausten tells Kel to leave, pushing him out of the door. Kel hears him turn back to the king and administer some medicine. When Kel goes back to Andreyen, Merren and Ji-An join them for their meeting. Merren wonders if Fausten could be funding Prosper Beck, but Andreyen says influence is Fausten’s only power – he has no money. He wants Kel to try again when Fausten is not around, but Fausten is ALWAYS around and Kel thinks it would be better to find Prosper Beck, which means he will need to find Beck’s right-hand man, Jerrod (who stabbed him). Andreyen instructs Kel to take Merren with him. They find Jerrod holding court at a restaurant. Kel orders soup for the table, served out of the same bowl, and has it delivered once they are already seated with Jerrod. Kel says he wants to speak to Beck directly but is rebuffed. After Jerrod tells him no, twice, Kel reveals that Jerrod has been poisoned. Kel has poisoned himself too, with cantarella, and they have about ten minutes before it’s too late to take the antidote (thankfully Merren didn’t touch the soup), so Jerrod better give Kel what he wants. Poor Merren didn’t even know about this plan! Kel wants Jerrod to promise to set up a meeting between Kel and Beck. After securing Jerrod’s promise, Kel gives him an antidote vial and takes one himself. He points out that he knows where Jerrod conducts business. He could have this place, and every other place Jerrod tries to work from shut down, so he better not try to renege. Merren is furious! He and Kel leave the restaurant and Kel grabs Merren and kisses him, but Merren is not having it. It’s clear that Kel doesn’t value his own life, even if he doesn’t want to die, so why should Merren value it? When Kel gets back to the palace, he finds Conor playing “indoor archery” with Joss, Charlan, and Montfaucon, and betting on shots – as if he doesn’t owe money to Beck. Montfaucon mentions that he’ll be throwing a party, Charlan discusses wanting to sleep with Antonetta even though he’s betrothed to a merchant’s daughter from Gelstaadt, and Kel asks Charlon about the ink makers refusing to pay tithes since they consider ink and dye two separate things. The Roverge family took the ink makers to court and it’s no surprise that the judges sided with the Roverges ($$$). The other family – the Cabrols – have left Castellane, Charlon believes they’ve been utterly ruined, and he’s delighted by it. While the others talk, Joss speaks to Kel quietly. He mentions that Conor’s plans to travel have changed and that he seems to be thinking about marriage in a more serious way. Joss points out that the Kutani Princess Anjelica Iruvai is a good choice; beautiful, intelligent, and adored by her people. Kel asks Joss what he knows of Artal Gremont. He’s told that Artal was never considered a model citizen, but one day he became enamored of a guild master’s daughter who he could not marry (since he was a noble) – instead Artal offered her the position as his official mistress. When the girl’s father refused the offer, Artal had the man thrown in prison and the raped the daughter. The guild master killed himself in prison when he found out what Artal had done and Artal was sent away to wait for the scandal to die down; the daughter was given a settlement. Kel has already figured out that Alys Asper was the daughter. A servant interrupts their conversation saying that the Royal Surgeon needs to see Kel, but once they’re alone the servant gives Kel a note from Lin, asking him to meet her at the gates. Lin is waiting for Kel with Marian, but they see a Malgasi carriage and Marian runs back to the Sault – the Malgasi are who killed her mother, Marian and her father had to run from the Malgasi soldiers who mark their carriages with the wolf emblem. Lin doesn’t follow; she can’t miss Kel. Lin asks Kel to escort her to the Maze. He expresses his surprise about Antonetta smuggling Lin into the palace, but it doesn’t surprise Lin since Antonetta likes Kel. Kel retorts that Antonetta wouldn’t dare be interested in him, but Lin points out that people do things they shouldn’t do all the time. They chat on their way down in easy camaraderie and Lin realizes that Kel is incredibly likable. Lin asks what Andreyen wants Kel to do for him and it turns the conversation to Conor, and how Kel would never spy on him. Kel insists that they’re loyal to each other. She sees a collection of old books and sorts through them, the bookseller starts to speak with her. Lin explains what she’s looking for and the bookseller tells her that he had the book, but it was quickly sold. She wonders if she may be able to speak to the buyer, the book had belonged to a friend of hers and she’d love to have it back. He brings out a different book, stating that it is a history book that mentions Qasmuna. It’s called “Tales of the Sorcerer-Kings” in which the author Laocantus Aurus Iovit tries to explain what happened during the Sundering. It’s rare, most copies were destroyed, but Kel tells her it’s not worth the money and leads Lin away instead. As they continue walking, Lin sees Oren Kandel walking through the Maze dressed discreetly as a merchant. She needs to hide! Kel blocks Lin’s body from view with his own and kisses her so that her face can’t be seen either. They kiss for a long time, until they’re sure Oren is gone, and Lin thinks that it’s quite enjoyable. Once the kiss ends, Jerrod approaches Kel and tells him it’s time for his meeting. Jerrod unwillingly calls a carriage for Lin to be escorted home before taking Kel to a warehouse on Arsenal Road. Inside, he finds a makeshift casino with complimentary sex workers. Jerrod explains that this is only one of Beck’s headquarters, it moves daily. Kel meets a big man who is ostensibly Prosper Beck, although no one ever introduces him. Kel states that he is not there for the palace, only on behalf of Conor – who does not know he’s there. Only Conor and Kel know of his debt and if the king finds out, he will be the one to decide how to rectify the situation and no more deals will be made. Beck asks if it would surprise Kel to hear that Conor paid his debt back just that morning - in full. Beck assumes Kel wants to know where he got the funds to buy all of Conor’s debts. Who gave him the idea to do so. He wants something in exchange for the information: a heart-shaped locket belonging to Antonetta Alleyne and what she keeps inside of it. Bring him the locket and Beck will tell Kel what he wants to know. Beck indicates that the information could save Conor, it could even save the whole of House Aurelian. Kel asks where Conor got the money to pay him, but Beck doesn’t know. He does confess that he was paid in Sarthian currency. Jerrod alerts Beck to a problem and the two of them leave Kel to escort himself out, and Kel thinks to himself that there is something odd about Beck. Something that doesn’t quite fit. When Lin returns to the Sault, she checks on Marian but is told by Chana Dorin that she’s resting. Chana explains to Lin what Marian told her when she first came to the Sault, that the vamberj are the Queen of Malgasi’s guard. They wear silver wolf masks and hunt the Ashkar down in the streets. Lin sees Mayesh sitting outside and they speak. He heard that she wants access to the Shulamat. He explains that her mother also fought for better circumstances. He believes that the Sault is a good place but small, and vulnerable because of it. He became the Ashkari Counselor to help protect the Ashkar. To help shape laws that will affect them, to defend them outside of the walls of the Sault. But he won’t be Counselor much longer and he needs to find someone to train as his replacement. Maybe someone who agrees that the Sault is small and is clever enough to get herself into the palace when she’s not welcome. He leaves her with that thought, going to bed. Kel arrives back at the palace and passes the Astronomy tower, where a light is still on. He realizes that he underestimated Fausten, and he won’t make that mistake again. When he gets to his room, Conor is already sleeping. He realizes that to continue to protect Conor he will need to betray Antonetta by taking her necklace. For the first time, his duty wars with his honorable nature and what he knows is right… and wrong. Kel wakes up the next day and waits for Conor to tell him that the debt has been paid, but Conor never does. To be fair, they are busy all day with preparations for the state dinner with Malgasi and Sarthe, and all evening with the dinner themselves. The dinner starts well enough but takes a bad turn when the Malgasi Ambassador, Sarany, asks where King Markus is and is informed that he is too deep in his studies to attend. Sarany is furious and asks if Fausten will be attending the dinner instead, Sarany knows Fausten from when he tutored Markus in the foreign court. The queen tells Sarany that she can arrange for the two of them to reconnect. Sarany discusses the importance of education in Malgasi, and all of the wonderful traits of Princess Elsabet. It is bewildering to both Kel and Conor how Sarany brings the princess up and discusses her so casually. Sena Anessa from Sarthe is also at the dinner and brings up travel. She and Princess Aimada had just traveled to Geumjoseon, where the King of Geumjoseon’s second son and current heir is soon to be wed to a girl from the Kang noble family, which may lose him his inheritance. The king’s heir is not decided by age or birth order, but by the king’s preference, and the king does not like the Kang family. Rumor has it that the noble house of Han was gathered for a funeral when a girl from the Kang family climbed over the wall of the garden and killed them all before vanishing in a black carriage, but Anessa thinks the whole thing sounds a bit too dramatic to be true. She asks where Mayesh is, which leads to a lot of nasty comments about the Ashkar from Sarany. The Malgasi have exterminated the Ashkar in Malgasi because they believe all magic is sin, and things there have never been better! Conor asks if it’s because they took all the Ashkari’s money when they fled (good for you Conor!). I’m proud of him, but Sarany is not happy. Surprisingly (and so well timed), King Markus and Fausten choose this moment to actually make an appearance. Fausten looks downright excited to see Sarany. She continues to push the many wonderful traits of the Malgasi court and princess, and after a few glib comments from Conor, points out that the nobility has a responsibility, some may call it a debt. The king pales, but Conor says he owes no debt to Malgasi. Sarany counters that perhaps he doesn’t know, but Conor was promised to Elsabet Belmany before either of them were even born – it was written in the stars. This comes as a shock to even Queen Lilibet, but Markus confirms it. Anessa stands and demands that Conor but an end to this unfortunate misunderstanding - Conor has already promised to marry Princess Aimada of Sarthe. Yet another shock for the queen. Sarthe has already paid the dowry payment. Things continue to degrade from there. Sarany calls Fausten a traitor, Markus calls Fausten a traitor, Conor declares that he will not break his contract with Sarthe. After Sarany storms out and Anessa is also dismissed, Markus turns to Fausten and demands answers. Fausten told him that only he could read the stars, is what he reads just orders from the Malgasi court to further their own agenda. He accuses Fausten of treason and has him thrown into prison where prisoners accused of treason wait for their executions, called the Trick. Markus turns to Conor and tells him, “You may think you belong to yourself, but you do not. I thought you knew it. Nevertheless, you will learn it now” and instructs Jolivet to take Conor. Lin and Mariam prepare for the festival when Chana hands Lin her satchel, telling her she has a patient at the gates. Lin sees Kel and she asks if everything is alright, but he tells her she needs to see Conor. She retorts she’s forbidden to go to the palace, but Kel begs her with panicked eyes, and she agrees. He’ll explain on the way, but they need to hurry. Queen Lilibet asked Kel to get Lin because she does not believe Lin, as Mayesh’s granddaughter, will gossip about what has happened. Conor was whipped by royal order until he lost consciousness. None of the palace staff knows what happened and they would like to keep it that way, so that no one knows that Conor had been shamed or that there is any disharmony in House Aurelian. When they arrive, Queen Lilibet asks Lin to make sure Conor heals and to try to prevent as much scarring as possible. Lin sets to work and is surprised to find the prince awake. He says she must be pleased to find him like this since she hates him. It’s clear that it hurts when Lin cleans the blood from his back, she offers him pain killers but Conor refuses - he wants to feel it all. He wants to remember, he wants to stay angry. His back looks terrible (Kel lost count at ten lashes). She begins to talk to Conor, tells him the story of Mayesh and why she has been so angry at her grandfather. But all that anger did nothing, it certainly did not return her grandfather to her. Conor says not to worry, he made Mayesh’s life hard enough for him and Lin both. She places a salve on Conor’s back and feels a hot pain against her chest where the brooch lays. She hears a whisper again, saying “use me.” She lays an amulet across Conor’s skin that will help prevent infection and she thinks the word “heal”. She thinks she sees the smoke within the stone spell the word for just a moment, but otherwise nothing happens. Conor tells her that Mayesh will be so upset when he returns and sees what Conor has done. It’s the only two things he’s good at: planning poorly and ruining stuff. Conor tells her the whole story, knowing that she will not give him false platitudes. Instead of demanding interest on Conor’s debts, Beck demanded that Conor do tasks for him. The first demands came in as Kel was healing, so Conor never told him. Tasks like slipping something in the wine to make Montfacuon and Roverge vomit all night, nothing that would do lasting damage. Then Beck told him to kill his horse Asti, but Conor could not. He realized the demands would never end, so he found a way to pay Beck, by agreeing to marry the Princess of Sarthe and using her advanced dowry to pay his debt. Conor has met Aimada before and she is sensible and agreeable and will not expect much from him. Lin points out that the decisions he made could not be considered good, but Conor likely did not ever expect to marry for love anyway. Had he gone to Mayesh or the king, he would probably be in the same position as now. As she prepares for the next step, Conor decides to take a pain killer after all, asking Lin to give it to him since he cannot move. He tells her to feel sorry for Aimada, not for him, but Lin retorts that she doesn’t feel bad for him at all. She doubts that she will ever get married either and especially not for love – no respectable Ashkari man would agree to marry her. Lin tells him before he falls asleep that she would like to stay with him that night and make sure that he does not bleed and that the talismans are working properly. Conor agrees, telling her that she will be the first woman to spend the night there. Lin updates the queen: no internal or muscular damage although they won’t know the extent of the scarring until morning. That night Lin dreams again – of a man climbing a path on the orders of the king and being blinded by a radiant light when he reaches a cave. Kel wakes Lin in the morning and asks where Conor is, they soon find out when Conor comes out of the bathroom having cleaned up. His back is completely healed already, not a scar in sight. Princess Aimada comes to Marivent, and some people are very unhappy about it, even protesting her arrival. All the noble families gather to greet the princess, although Lady Alleyne does not come, sending Antonetta instead. When the carriage finally arrives, the first person out of it is Vienne d’Este, a member of the Black Guard – an elite intelligence unit in the Sarthian army and trained assassins (although that part is never admitted). She is followed by Sena Anessa and then a girl, no more than twelve years old, wearing a coronet. Joss, familiar with the Sarthian court, tells them that this is Aimada’s younger sister Luisa. The Sarthians switched out one sister for another. They’re trying to make a mockery of House Aurelian - this could lead to war, which may be exactly what Sarthe wants. Antonetta points out that everything is now up to Conor and how he reacts to the girl. Kel calmly goes to where the queen stands with Conor, who is frozen. Kel stands with Conor and whispers for the irate prince to bow to the princess. They can deal with everything later, for now just be kind to the child. Conor follows the instructions. He presents Luisa with a lion shaped brooch. Kel asks Vienne if Luisa speaks Castellani, Vienne confirms that she does not, but Luisa will learn. Conor takes the opportunity to ask Anesa what she has done, not mincing words, and she responds that he agreed to marry Princess Aimada of Sarthe. This is Princess Luisa Estella Matilde Aimada d’Eon, just as ordered. Anessa’s revenge for what happened at the state dinner. They separate, Conor to ride home in a carriage while Kel goes back the way he came, on Asti. When he gets to the stables, Kel finds Ji-An waiting. They haven’t heard from Kel since he met with Prosper Beck, and they want to know what was said. Conveniently enough, Andreyen is waiting for him just around the corner. Andreyen already knows about the state dinner although he doesn’t seem aware of Conor’s punishment. Kel tells him that he spoke to Beck, and he doesn’t think Beck is the danger that Markus was speaking of. He doesn’t know where Beck came from, but he is not nobility. He’s an opportunist being funded by someone on the Hill but he is uninterested in his patron’s goals. Funded by someone who wants to humiliate Hose Aurelian. Kel does not reveal that Beck has asked for Antonetta’s necklace, instead saying that it seems that Beck does not much like his patron and hopes to be rid of him once Beck has his own money. Kel insists that Markus is inaccessible, but he will continue to search for Beck’s contact. Andreyen says that Merren always keeps an eye on old man Gremont, who has been attending shady meetings in the Maze. The meeting starts to unravel and Andreyen points out that at some point, Kel will be in Jolivet’s position, forced to find Conor’s children their own Sword Catchers. That will kill a part of him. Besides, Kel cannot protect Conor without his help. Kel disagrees so Andreyen wonders if Kel should speak to Fausten instead. Kel tells Andreyen that he is asking for too much. He asks for their business to be concluded. Yes, the nobles are not loyal but that is also not new, Kel will continue to protect Conor and Andreyen has other spies, he does not need Kel to do it. Ji-An opens the carriage door to tell them that a fight is starting - caused by the protestors, Andreyen lets Kel leave. Ji-An asks if they will see Kel again, but Kel says only if he finds anything of interest and then before he leaves, calls her Kang Ji-An. She tells him with no stutter that if he ever calls her that again, she will kill him. Now he knows where the Kang girl disappeared to and who the black carriage belonged to. Lin dreams again. Looking out from a stone tower as the city around it burns, the fire climbing up the tower walls. A man climbs toward her, he reaches the top and pulls himself over the edge. She knows him, he doesn’t care. He grabs his sword. She wakes up because Merren says her name, she’s fallen asleep in the laboratory. She hasn’t been sleeping well, ever since healing Conor. Lin still hasn’t been able to find more of Qasmuna’s book, despite searching all over Castellane. Most upsetting of the recent developments, she’s realized that she does not hate Prince Conor. She might even like him a little bit. Andreyen and Ji-An come in, fresh from their meeting with Kel, and Ji-An gives them all the gossip about the Sarthian Princess. Andreyen asks Lin to walk with him and discuss something. He tells her that someone else has begun looking for Qasmuna’s book and they are offering a large sum of money. While they talk, Ciprian Cabrol bursts in demanding to know where his black powder is. Andreyen tells him that it is en route and must be transported delicately due to its explosive nature. What does it matter? The Roverge ships are not leaving for two more weeks – this revelation shocks Lin, who didn’t know Ciprian’s target from what she overheard last time. Ciprian wants to blow the boats up on Ascension Day at midnight while all the nobles are gathered at the banquet. After Ciprian storms out, Andreyen points out that Lin is not to mention anything she overheard to anyone. She asks if anyone will be aboard, but Andreyen has already confirmed that the ships will be empty and far from land. If no one will be hurt, Lin doesn’t really care – besides, how would she tell anyone without revealing her own ties with the Ragpicker King. Conor is locked in a meeting with Lilibet, Bensimon, Jolivet, and the Sarthian delegation, and while Kel can hear the yelling he is not allowed inside. Instead, he goes into a courtyard and finds Luisa playing near a fountain, watched by Vienne. At first, Luisa thinks he is Conor since they look so much alike, but Kel introduces himself as Conor’s cousin. Vienne asks him to find some toys or decorations for Luisa’s rooms, they were prepared for a girl much older than Luisa. Kel feels a kinship to Vienne, protecting someone you care about as if they were your family, but of course he cannot tell her that. Night comes and still Conor’s meeting continues. Kel decides to visit Fausten, but no one except royalty is allowed in the Trick. He dresses as Conor, wearing his talisman and Conor’s coronet. He’s never impersonated the prince without Conor’s knowledge. He goes to Fausten’s cell unaccompanied. Fausten immediately starts pandering, telling “Conor” how fond he has always been of him. He says that Markus made this bargain long ago and it did nothing to profit Fausten. Kel asks what the danger that Markus once spoke of could be, Fausten feigns incompetence. Fausten says that he has always been loyal to Markus, who was only a lonely boy, a neglected third son when he first heard the whispers of atma az doza – fire and shadow. Markus only did what he was persuaded to do, although Fausten had promised never to tell what that was. Committed some terrible crime against the Malgasi, Sarany only wants Elsabet to marry Conor because they prize his Aurelian blood. Fausten says the danger is not the Malgasi court but far closer to home – on the Hill, where some would love to see House Aurelian fall. He tells “Conor” to look closely – at the council, the nobles, the Sword Catcher. He has seen that Kel betrays Conor; it was foretold by the stars. One day Kel will want something of Conor’s bad enough to betray him for it. And Conor will hate him enough to want Kel dead. Kel yells at Fausten, who retreats to the corner and refuses to come back out. Conor is back in their room when Kel gets back. Conor reveals that there is no way out of the contract. He agreed to marry a Princess Aimada with no provision that Aimada be her first name. Anessa made it clear that if he refused Luisa, there would be war. He can’t let that happen, even if he doesn’t consider himself a very good prince. Lin sees Mayesh come to the Sault once his meeting is done. She’s been waiting for him, worried. She has begun to think that perhaps he does do some good for the Sault, by protecting the Ashkar as he protects the rest of the city. He tells Lin that Luisa will live in Marivent and be tutored, but she and Conor will not marry for years. He is disappointed that he did not realize that Conor needed help earlier, avoiding this whole mess. He asks if Lin is willing to become the next Ashkari Counselor, but she doesn’t think she’d be able to give up being a physician. He tells her that he thinks she could do both. He asks her to come to a party the Roverges are holding – originally a welcome party for the princess quickly changed to a celebration of the “union of Castellane and Sarthe”. It will be a small party and a good chance for Lin to be introduced to the nobles and observe the Charter Families. She can then decide if she could handle working among them. Kel and Conor attend the Roverge party, bringing Luisa and Vienne with them, and two of the Sarthian delegates. Kel tries to talk Conor out of it, but Conor believes the girl should be exposed to the Charter Families sooner rather than later, and if Sarthe decides she’s too delicate for Castellane, all the better. Considering the servers are dressed in sheer outfits and stockings, it may not take that long. Antonetta comes to escort Luisa around and make her introductions. Kel and Conor make their way to Charlon, Joss, and Montfaucon, where Conor begins to get drunk and high immediately. Then he and Kel spot Lin with her grandfather. Kel notices that Conor is looking at her with fire in his eyes, which only happens when he hates someone. But why would Conor hate Lin? Kel goes to say hello to Lin and Charlon gets on stage to give the welcome speech. Kel feels weird about this, it should be Charlon’s dad up there. Charlon makes a vague reference to the unity of the two realms, making veiled insults to the Sarthe, before calling Luisa up on the stage. He announces that Princess Aimada is rumored to be a skilled dancer, and since Castellane has been assured that the princesses are basically interchangeable, he’d like for Luisa to perform. He gives her a thin gold box containing a lace fan. Conor does nothing to stop Charlon and when Vienne tries to intervene, she is prevented by Anessa. Luisa dances awkwardly, crying humiliated tears, until Lin marches to the stage and stops the whole thing. She sends Luisa to Vienne’s waiting arms and Kel escorts them both from the room. She offers to dance for the audience instead. Charlon tries to get her off the stage, but Conor tells him to allow her to dance. She dances the dance that the girls perform during the Festival of the Goddess, performed at no other time. Afterward, she announces that she has nothing left to offer and leaves the stage, enraged after the barbed remarks from Conor and the other nobility. Conor follows Lin, asking her to stop. He says that he told her not to come back, but he reveals that it is because the Hill ruins things and Lin was honest, he did not want her changed by the Hill. She asks why he is so cruel to the princess, and he points out that the Hill IS cruel, if Luisa does not learn it from the people he knows, she will learn it from characters even worse. Lin scornfully retorts that he is cruel out of kindness, so why let Lin dance? He wanted to see her dance, to see her without all the walls she’s built around herself. All this time, they only thing he could see in her was how little she wanted from him. He repeats that he told her to stay away, that he did not want her. Then he kisses her. And they both like it, are swept away until they hear footsteps in the hall, making them jump apart. Conor comments that he must be drunker than he realized which humiliates Lin. She tells him why she came tonight, to decide whether she could work among the nobles. She knows now that she cannot, and she hopes never to return. Kel is speaking to Vienne in the room where he has hidden Luisa away when Antonetta tells him that Sieur Sardou is looking for him. She leads him away, “accidentally” getting them lost. Kel points out that Antonetta has been kind to the princess and asks why she hides her kindness and intelligence, Antonetta only says that kindness is considered a weakness on the Hill. She explains how she should be upset that Conor is marrying but all she feels is pity for Luisa. She always knew that she would marry to increase her family’s standings, at least marrying Conor would have given her something else that she really wanted – the silk Charter. A king cannot hold a Charter, otherwise it will pass to Antonetta’s husband. Kel hadn’t realized she was so hungry for power, but Antonetta retorts that of course she is! Power is the only way she can have any control over her own life, her current choices are few and suffocating. She steps toward him, and he reaches out to touch her, but the light touch makes her wince in pain. She shows him her side, bearing several cuts because she has been sneaking to the city to train with swords. Where they don’t recognize her, they don’t know who she is. Kel encourages her to wash the cut and reach out to Mariam, who will speak to Lin, who will be discreet but still bandage Antonetta’s cuts. She turns and asks him to button her dress back up, undone so she could show him her wounds, as she braces herself on the crates in front of her. Kel notices the logo on the side of the crates – Singing Monkey Wine, the same wine he saw in Prosper Beck’s office - then helps place her hair around her shoulders, discreetly unclasping the golden locket she wears around her throat. He needs to find Conor now, they make their way out of the hallway, not so lost after all. They step onto the terrace and hear a crowd gathered at the bottom of the Hill, protesting the alliance with Sarthe. Kel and Antonetta part, he looks at the locket in his hand and realizes he can’t turn it over to Beck without knowing what is in it first. Inside, beneath a false back, he finds a fraying, woven ring of grass. The ring he gave Antonetta before her debut, before the warning from Lady Alleyne. Sardou finds Kel, relaying that he agrees with the protestors below. He lets Kel know that he would be willing to discuss options with Kel, ways to discourage this marriage with Sarthe. There are some who wish to see House Aurelian destroyed. Kel needs to play his cards well; he tells Sardou he will remember his words as a loyal subject, wishing to protect his prince and king. He walks away and returns the locket to Antonetta, knowing he cannot betray her by giving it to Prosper Beck. Lin dreams again. This time no one climbs the tower, Sulemon the Sorcerer-King is already at the top standing at the edge. He holds out his arms and Lin walks into them, she can see the Source-Stone in his sword’s hilt. As they are locked in an amorous, horizontal embrace, she grabs the hilt of his sword and stabs him in the back with it, killing him. Kel wakes up with a terrible hangover, Conor’s bed curtains are still closed. As Kel prepares to leave the palace, a woman comes out of Conor’s bed. Kel immediately thinks it’s Lin, although he’s not sure why he would think that, but it’s actually Silla – who Conor knows that Kel likes. Kel is not angry, but it still unsettles him that Conor chose Silla. He goes to the courtyard where he sees Luisa and Vienne playing. Vienne tells Kel that he is now Luisa’s favorite person, and he apologizes for the night before, saying that Conor does not usually act like that. Vienne tells Kel that she is trained to watch people and gauge their reactions. Last night – no one seemed surprised by Conor’s behavior. She asks if he will be unkind to Luisa, but Kel says Conor is not cruel although he can be careless and moody. He asks Vienne about her role to Luisa, why she followed Luisa to Castellane, and she responds that she has sworn an oath to protect Luisa for as long as Luisa lives, regardless of where she lives. Kel understands completely. Conor comes into the courtyard and asks if Luisa has everything she needs for the banquet the following night and asking if she’d like to see a different garden, with peacocks! He asks Kel to guide them, Conor has an appointment in the city. Mariam gets all of the juicy details of the party from Lin when they hear a knock on the door. Oren Kandel is there, with Conor and two Castelguards. At Lin’s house. Everyone is pouring out of their houses to gawk. Conor needs to speak to Lin, it’s a matter “of state”. He leaves the guards outside and Mariam leaves. Conor has come because he believes he may have scared her by kissing her. He waves it off – he kisses people all the time, there was no malice or meaning in it. He presents her with something she has been looking for: The Works of Qasmuna. He was the other party looking for it, and he found it just before a trader took it to Marakand. He remembers that she mentioned it while she tended to his back. He explains that he has felt like he owed her since she healed Kel and refused his ring as payment, he can’t stop thinking of that debt, of her. It’s like a disease, a fever. Now he wants her to heal him again, make him stop thinking about her. He wants his freedom back. She takes the book, telling him he can forget all about her now. He whispers that he already has before he leaves again. Kel goes back to the Maze – back to the pop-up casino to see Prosper Beck. The casino is completely empty, not even being used as storage. This is more than just moving headquarters every night, something strange is going on. Kel yells for Beck but is greeted by Jerrod, who tells him that Beck has left Castellane completely. Kel realized when he saw what was inside Antonetta’s locket that Beck was sending him on stupid, meaningless errands. Trying to keep him occupied so that he wouldn’t notice what else was happening around him. Kel asks if his patron stopped funding Beck, but Jerrod tells Kel that he is thinking too small. Beck left a message for Kel: trouble is coming, trouble that will affect him, and all of Marivent. The Hill will drown in blood. Kel travels to the Black Mansion, where Ji-An confirms that Beck has left. Andreyen is not there, he is putting out fires elsewhere caused by Beck’s disappearance. Kel apologizes to Merren for poisoning himself at their meeting with Jerrod, and to Ji-An for prying into her past. He agrees to let Merren know if he finds out Artal Gremont is returning to the city, then Kel leaves with all his loose ends tied up. On his way back to the castle, Kel cannot stop thinking about what Jerrod told him about thinking too small. He looks up the cliffs leading from the sea and sees two guards holding Fausten on a platform jutting over the ocean that Kel’s never before noticed. The king and Jolivet follow them out, Kel can just hear what is being said because they are yelling loud enough to hear it over the wind. Markus asks Fausten why he betrayed him. Fausten tries to barter for his life, reminding the king that he makes his medicine. Without it, the king will only degrade further. Fausten says “you know what is coming…” but before he can say anything more, Markus grabs him and throws him off of the platform into the sea. Very quickly, a crocodile surfaces and eats Fausten’s body. They all leave the platform but at the last moment, Jolivet looks up and sees Kel watching them. Kel goes to his rooms to find Conor sitting, looking relaxed for the first time in ages. It’s not going to last long – Kel needs to talk to him about his dad. Lin goes through Qusmana’s book, finds passages about using magic for healing, and how magicians used to store energy in stones to pull from when needed, and how Sulemon created similar stones with limitless energy. She tells herself that many things, including magic, can be used for evil – that doesn’t mean that she would use it for anything but good. She finds a passage about how to store energy in the stones which would require her to bind the Source-Stone to her. She binds her stone, or she thinks she does, and then Chana knocks on her door with panic in her voice. Mariam has a fever and she’s coughing up blood. Mariam explains that her illness is always worse at night, but how long has it been this bad? Lin pulls the stone out of her pocket. She asks the stone to heal Mariam. Mariam suddenly feels different. The pain is not gone but it is greatly reduced. Lin examines her and the noises that Lin can usually hear in Mariam’s lungs are gone, there is only a faint wheezing now. Chana calls Lin from the other room, asking her to look at the tea to see if it was brewed correctly, but as soon as Lin is out of Mariam’s room, she says Oren and the Maharam are at Lin’s house going through her things. Lin runs home and the Maharam has already found Qasmuna’s book, as well as the pages she got from Andreyen and all they medical and spell books she’s collected over the years of trying to heal Mariam. He confiscates her books and tells her that she will go before the Exilarch when he next comes, but Mayesh comes in at that moment and he thinks that’s a bit of an overreaction. He explains that the prince gave Lin the book as thanks for healing his cousin, he didn’t know what it was, believing that it was a medical text that Lin would enjoy, and Lin likely hasn’t even had time to look it over. It is just a misunderstanding. Take the book, let the Exilarch review it, Lin won’t care. She never asked for it anyway. Lin doesn’t have a choice; she agrees that she doesn’t mind. The Maharam decides that will be fine, the Exilarch will decide what to do - but Oren is not happy, he wants Lin punished, even exiled! Once Oren and the Maharam leave, Mayesh tells her to be grateful the Maharam was feeling generous. He has a special hatred for magic or even medicine that is not Ashkari medicine. In his way, the Maharam is trying to protect the Ashkar. If the malbushim believed the Ashkari were practicing forbidden lore, it would not go well for the Ashkar. Lin points out that Conor brought her the book, but Mayesh retorts that Conor has no idea what he brought to her. She rejected his ring, and he took that as a challenge, he does not like to lose. Mayesh warns Lin: Conor Aurelian is dangerous in ways that even he does not understand. She should have refused this gift from him as well. Lin gets dressed for the Tevath, the Festival of the Goddess. On the Hill and in the rest of the city, they will be celebrating the Ascensio. This will be Lin’s last opportunity to dance during the festival, women above age twenty-three are considered to old to be the Goddess reborn. She berates herself for not realizing that Oren was spying on her, that the Maharam would be suspicious of her, especially after Conor’s visit. She had tried again to imbue the stone with energy after using it on Mariam, but it didn’t work, and she just ended up exhausted. When Chana is done helping Lin dress, Lin is alerted that there is a patient in a carriage at the gate. She sees that it is Conor and gets in. He wants to consult with her since he knows she can keep a secret. He asks about madness, and she admits that she believes it is a wound of the mind, possibly an illness, but she has never heard of anyone treating it with medication. She asks if anyone is dying right now, otherwise she should be with the Ashkar today - it is an important day. She reaches for the door handle, intent on getting out and Conor asks if she is really so ungrateful even after he gave her the book. She retorts that he brought so much unwanted attention to her by bringing that book into the Sault himself, but he believes that it would be an honor that her prince would show up himself. She retorts that he does not understand the Ashkari, even after all these years working with her grandfather. He does not see them. He is not their prince; he is the Prince of Castellane. She is forbidden to live in the city he rules, being stuck behind walls, never really a part of it. She explains that the book was confiscated. She tries to leave but the handle is stuck. She is upset, near tears at the thought that she was so close to healing Mariam, but she can no longer use the book and may lose Mariam altogether because of it. Conor pulls Lin into his arms. She thought he was going to forget all about her, but Conor confesses that he cannot. He’s cursed to only think of her, who thinks he is awful. She counters, she thinks that he is broken because he’s never been told no, but it’s not his fault. This upsets him, he opens the door and tells her to get out, riding off in the carriage before even closing the door. When she gets back to the Sault gates, one of the guards, Mez – who Lin likes, hands her a note that was dropped off for her. A note from Andreyen, reminding her to stay away from the harbor that night. When Kel wakes up, Conor is already gone. By afternoon, he wonders where Conor is since he should be getting ready for the festival and he goes to look for him, finding him nowhere, and Conor’s horse, Asti, is not in the stables. When Kel goes back to their rooms, all of Conor’s clothes are thrown on the floor and Lilibet shows him a note from Conor. It explains that he will not be attending the banquet for no other reason than he doesn’t want to. He will be in the Temple District instead. Mayesh asks what could have caused Conor’s behavior – Kel points out that though Conor has been miserable, he has been resigned to his fate and not rebelling against it. He must have been unhappier than any of them realized. Lilibet says that the king must not find out about this, but Mayesh points out that it would be best if no one past the three of them found out, since Sarthe would consider it a huge insult and relations with Sarthe are already frayed - at best. He tells Kel to get the talisman, he will be playing Conor’s part tonight. Kel does as asked, but he is worried about Conor, though he cannot go find him now. Lilibet has turned the Shining Gallery into an enchanted forest, complete with living trees heavy with fruit, their bark painted gold. All around, animals made out of sugar are perched on trees or looking out from behind a tree trunk. Kel knows that the Castelguard are there, standing behind the painted screens, where most of the guests are unaware of their presence. He sees Antonetta who is not wearing the locket tonight. But she always wears the locket, why did she leave it behind today? Antonetta looks up at him and Kel can see relief in her eyes. Do Conor and Antonetta share a secret that Kel is not privy to? “Conor” is approached by Lady Alleyne, who congratulates him on the upcoming happy event in a whisper, almost conspiratorial. Antonetta approaches and asks if Kel is coming, Kel/Conor assures her that Kel’s there somewhere. Antonetta points out that Kel is quite popular with the ladies, and even some of the men, on the Hill which surprises her mother. Antonetta goes on to say that she’s heard he’s very good in bed, which scandalizes her mother. Then Antonetta tells Conor that Falconet is looking for him, she can lead the way since Joss is somewhere in the make-believe forest. She leads him till they’re alone and says that Joss is really looking for him, but she needs to speak to him first. She asks if he got her message. She’s not flirting and is looking at him as if she sees Kel, not Conor, but no one ever looks past the illusion. She quickly goes on: her mother wants her to marry Artal Gremont, preparing for them to become engaged as soon as he returns to Castellane. She needs Conor to convince her mother of anything else, and Kel realizes that she doesn’t see past the illusion, she only sees Conor. He asks if there is someone she wishes to marry, perhaps he could lead her mother in that direction. She says no, she’d prefer to stay unmarried. She puts her hand on his arm and tells him that she knows he is kind though others say he is not, she knows he can help her. Kel lowers his head and kisses her check gently, but she just asks if he’s drunk. He knows how she feels, and vice versa, so don’t do anything silly. Then Joss finds them, he needs Conor’s advice. In reality, he wants to apologize for what happened to the princess at Charlon’s party, though he didn’t have anything to do with it. Charlon acted on his own without Joss or Montfaucon, though Montfaucon thought it was funny when Joss did not. He could tell that Conor did not like it though, and he wants Conor to know that he is not in favor of Sarthe, but he is loyal to Conor regardless. He will try to help ease the path in any way he can. The life of a prince is busy, Gremont pulls Conor away from Joss and asks to speak with him outside, not wanting to be overheard. Kel asks about Artal and if he’s returning soon. Gremont confirms that he’ll be back in a few weeks, as soon as he returns from Kutani, but that’s not what he wants to discuss. Kel asks if it can wait till after dinner, but Gremont points out that it is a matter of trust and it needs to be discussed soon. Then Kel is pulled away by Mayesh, it’s time for dinner. When he gets to the table, he cannot bear to be dismissive or rude to Luisa, and Vienne notes the difference. While dancers are performing, Kel looks up and sees someone walking through the doors of the Gallery. His hood is up but Kel knows who it is immediately by the way he walks. Conor has come after all, and he’s so drunk he can’t walk straight. Kel quietly slips away from the table and behind a screen, where he is able to move behind Conor and pull him behind a tapestry. Conor starts to fight but stops when he realizes it’s Kel. Conor apologizes to Kel for leaving him. He thought he was leaving them, but he really left Kel. He thought they’d cancel the party, not thinking they would use Kel for the night. Conor asks him to switch places, not wanting to force Kel to pretend to be him for the night, but he is way too drunk to pull it off. Conor insists anyway, so Kel does it. They’re switching their clothes when they hear a scream from the other side of the screen. Not a fun scream. Kel looks out and sees a Castelguard fall over, stabbed. They’re under attack. Lin decides to get her book back. She’s going to do it tonight, during the festival. She joins everyone in the Sault square, where they will dance. Mez’s friend, Natan, asks Mariam to dance with him and she is quickly pulled from Lin’s side. Oren asks Lin to dance with him and she’s too surprised to refuse him. He asks if she remembers when he asked her to marry him, as if that is something you forget. He wonders if she ever asks herself why he asked her, since she is completely unsuitable as a wife. He knows she’s angry about the books but everything he has done is to help her. She’s been corrupted by her grandfather and his worldly values. Oren is trying to save Lin. He asks her to reconsider. He wants to marry her and if Lin marries him, people in the Sault will think better of her. She asks why he wants to marry her, and he reminds her that when they were children, he was the only one who could ever find her during hide-and-seek. She’s lost just like that now, and he’s the only one that can find her. She sees Mez looking at her, silently asking if she needs to be rescued. Lin looks at Oren and asks if these are the same words the Sulemon used when he tried to convince Adassa to join him and the other kings, insisting that he would help her, keep her safe. Although, Sulemon probably also said he loved Adassa, which Oren hasn’t even bothered with. I think that’s a no. She walks away and when she looks back, she does not see Oren anymore. Mariam and Natan come up to Lin, Natan tells her that he saw her brother recently and Josit sends his love. He also now has a pet monkey. Natan asks about Conor’s visit, Mariam says that everyone believes he’s going to whisk Lin away, but Lin says that Conor would never marry an Ashkari girl. Natan agrees, there is no alliance worth making there since the Ashkar have no country of their own. Mariam says that’s not true, they have Aram, but Natan has been to Aram. It is desolate and life there cannot be sustained, nothing grows. There is nothing for them there. The ceremony starts. The Maharam comes out in all his ceremonial garb and accessories. He makes a speech, telling them that the festival is to celebrate the greatest of Adassa’s miracles. He recites that long ago, Adassa was betrayed by Sulemon, who rode against Aram. Judah Makabi and the people of Aram fought back and held them off for three days and three nights. When the enemy finally got in, Judah had led the people away in secret, to safety, but Sulemon found Adassa at the tallest tower, where she took his power from him, and took the word of power out of the world’s memory completely - eliminating magic and all magical artifacts. The Sorcerer-Kings all died, since they were being kept alive by magic alone. Adassa disappeared as well, having sacrificed herself with the promise to return one day. Could that be today? One by one, the Maharam asks the girls if they are the Goddess returned, and one by one they say no and are dismissed. He comes to Mariam and asks her; she responds that she is not the Goddess and leaves before being released by the Maharam. Next, he comes to Lin. He changes the script. He tells her this is the last time she will participate in the Tevath, since next year she will be too old. He asks if Lin believes that all wisdom comes from the Goddess, she says that she does. He asks if she is the Goddess reborn. Lin responds that yes, she is. In the Gallery, Kel sees as people dressed in old military uniforms pour into the room. One is holding a banner that Kel recognizes from the protestors at Luisa’s arrival and outside of the Roverge house. He tells Conor to stay back but passes him a dagger. It’s better than nothing. Vienne pushes Luisa behind her, but she is without a weapon. Half of the guards go to guard the head table; half go into the melee. Kel sees that Conor has not stayed put as asked but is currently jumping on one of the assailants. Kel begins to fight his way back to Conor and he sees Joss and Montfaucon fighting with a sword and a dagger, respectively. Charlon is unarmed but that doesn’t stop him, he enters the fight with his fists flailing. Even Lady Sardou brings out a thin dagger and starts laying waste. But Kel can’t see Antonetta, he finally sees her protecting her mother near the door with a silver dagger. Thank goodness for those sword lessons. Kel keeps fighting his way toward Conor, then he hears a shriek and sees Sena Anessa has been shot by a crossbow. Vienne is desperately trying to carry Luisa away, but Luisa breaks free and runs from her, in that moment another crossbow bolt is shot, and it hits Luisa in the chest so hard that she is slammed into the wall, the bolt stuck between two stones. Kel sees movement above them on the upper level of the gallery and he runs toward it, pursuing the crossbow assassin. Kel finds the level empty, but a window open, leading to the roof. He goes through and finds a figure, crossbow at their feet. The assassin turns toward him, but he cannot see their face, it’s completely covered. The assassin speaks to him, calling him Sword Catcher, telling him that he ruined the plan but it’s not his turn to die. He tells Kel that this is the beginning of the fall of House Aurelian. “The fall is all around you. Tread carefully.” The assassin grabs the crossbow and jumps off the roof, when Kel makes it to the edge, he sees nothing below him. Kel goes back inside and finds Conor with Jolivet; he is not injured. Vienne has grabbed a sword and is fighting so gracefully that Kel can’t stop watching her, until there is nothing left for her to fight. The nobles are led out, and Kel sees Gremont on the floor, a knife in his chest but not yet dead. He whispers to Kel, believing it is Conor, not to trust anyone. Not his mother, his Counselor, his friends, only his own eyes and ears or else the Gray Serpent will come for him. Kel wonders if he means the Dark Guide, the boatman that leads souls to the afterworld, who has a serpent’s head. Gremont says they came to him, but he did not know they would start so soon. Kel thanks him and the man dies. The real Conor turns to another of the Sarthian delegation, Sena d’Este, and assures them that they will find whoever was responsible for this attack, but Vienne is not yet done. She blames Conor, Luisa wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for him, and she charges him with the sword she took from a guard. Kel blocks her. She fights him, and she’s far better than him, but King Markus comes in unannounced and flings Vienne aside. Mayesh had gone to get him. She grabs her sword and attacks the king, but he grabs the blade with his hand and is completely unhurt by it. He grabs her and hurls her against the wall so hard that Kel hears her bones break. Vienne falls to the ground dead. Mayesh confirms to Conor that the attackers are all dead, as are most of the Sarthians, but Conor is unhurt and the queen is inside the Carcel, protected. This likely means war. Kel and Conor go outside, being herded to the Carcel as well, and Conor vomits on the ground. He whispers to Kel about how unkind he was to Luisa, but Kel tells him that this was the Sarthians fault, not his. But Conor disagrees; he went behind everyone’s back to agree to the contract, thinking everyone would think him clever. Kel tells Conor the problem was that he tried to do it alone, none of them should have to be alone all the time. He sends Conor into the Carcel, where Kel cannot follow him. They’ll have to stay there until the grounds are searched. Before he enters, Conor asks if Kel thinks he’s broken, but Kel says it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. After Conor and his parents are secured, Mayesh confirms that Antonetta is on her estate and that all the Charter Families are safe. Kel goes toward the North Gate, toward the city proper, but is stopped by Jolivet. The Maharam asks Lin if she knows the consequences of lying, but Lin confirms that she is, in fact, the Goddess reborn. Chana pipes up, if she says that she is the Goddess, then she must be treated as such. Lin counts down the moments – three minutes till midnight. Oren yells that Lin must be tested. The Maharam asks why the Goddess chose now, Lin’s last year in the Tevath, and why choose one so blasphemous. Lin says she will prove it. She quotes that the Goddess returns on the spear of the lightning and illuminates the earth with one sweep of her hand. Lin flings her arms wide and waits. Gold spreads across the sky as black powder ignites on the Roverge ships, glowing like the sunrise over the walls of the Sault. Chana commands them all to kneel to the Goddess-elect, and they all do. The Maharam beckons to Lin, bringing her into the Shulamat to discuss what happens next. Jolivet tells Kel he knows exactly what Kel’s doing: going to the Black Mansion. Kel asks if Jolivet is calling him a traitor, if he thinks that of Kel after knowing him all this time. But Jolivet points out that he has done more than known Kel. He has shaped him, molded him into the best defense for the prince. Taught Kel to protect Conor with his blade, but Jolivet has realized that the danger in Castellane is often more subtle than an outright attack. There is a difference between stopping the prince from being skewered on a sword and knowing where the danger may come from and stopping it before it arrives. Jolivet is loyal to Markus, Mayesh to the palace, but Jolivet knows that Kel is loyal to Conor above all else. He asks that Kel makes sure the ties between the palace and the Black Mansion remain unbroken. If Kel is going to ally with the Ragpicker King, Jolivet wants to know everything they discuss. What happened tonight, someone on the Hill must have helped the attackers or else they could not have been able to breach the walls of Marivent. He cannot force Kel’s hand. But he is uniquely placed to see what others cannot. Just then, the Roverge ships explode. Kel asks if it’s another attack, but Jolivet is not worried. He figured the Cabrols would take their revenge on the Roverges, but he wasn’t sure when or what it would look like. Jolivet tells Kel to go, he will deal with the guards. Kel fights his way through the crowds gathering to see the spectacle in the harbor. As soon as he arrives, Kel sees the door to the mansion is already thrown open with Andreyen standing at the top of the stairs, which are flanked by guards. Andreyen tells them to let Kel through and asks what happened. It’s clear from his face that Andreyen did not know about the attack at the palace. Kel admits that Andreyen tried to warn him, tried to get him to speak to Gremont before, and he did not. And now Gremont is dead. Kel says that he will not work for Andreyen, but he will work with him. Andreyen points out that it could get him killed, and not in a glorious way, but Kel already knows that. At least he will die doing what he chose to do. Andreyen brings him inside.