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“I was armed. He took the blade from me. To protect me. My brother Atticul meant to fight me. I did not need a weapon or the assistance of my slave to protect myself. But I was drugged. My ale cup was tainted with sofi. Endrew was drunk. He fell on the blade. Lyr was caught up in things that he should not have been a part of. He will die for it. It is no fault but my own. I have brought the vengeance of Zai upon myself. I thought having the sanction of the Emperor was enough. But the Emperor is not Zai. Zai was who I sinned against. I now have to suffer Zai’s punishment.”
“Do you believe last night’s horror is the work of Zai?”
“I do not know. Please, holy Immurite, Selim has ordered all the whores who were at the Pleasure Night imprisoned. Trysta is no whore, but she was there. And two of Lyr’s friends. Are they safe?”
“I understand those three women cannot be found in the Rose Palace.”
Damon feels a small spark of relief. He hopes this is true. He knows Lyr cannot be so easily saved from the wrath of Zai and the justice of the Rose Court, but at least Trysta is safe. Damon takes a breath. “Zai is cruel to punish me by destroying Lyr. He is not sworn to Zai. My sins are not his.”
“You wish to know how to save him? Would it not be wiser for you to find a way out of the Rose Palace?”
“I cannot leave him to his fate.”
“But surely his fate is sealed.”
“There is only one way, I believe. To take that path,” Damon swallows. His voice trembles when he says, “It frightens me.”
Behind the grill, the Immurite nods her head. She knows what Damon is suggesting. “It frightens you to do the thing you have done before? Another great sacrifice.”
“Yes. I will have to give my body. And more to save him.”
“A great risk. To your body and your name. The cost will be high. I do not think I can protect you if you choose to do such a thing.”
“Have you ever protected me before?” Damon says, his voice something like a soft snarl.
But the Immurite does not seem insulted by this. She says, “I have only ever sought to protect you, Damon Darekul. If you are set on this dangerous path, I will do what I can for your body and your soul. But I would advise you to think again. This path will lead to your ruin.”
Damon lets this assertion settle on him like a shroud. “My mind is set,” he says, realising that it is. That he will walk this dangerous road. That he cannot avoid it. He takes a breath. “Holy Immurite, you told me I had enemies. Did you mean Atticul, or someone else? Does the Rose Court plot against me? Do people really fear I will become Emperor?”
“You have powerful enemies who have been plotting against you for a long time.”
“Can you tell me who they are?”
“I believe you already know.”
Before Damon can say anything more, he is startled by a sound. He looks up. Across the chamber, a small hidden door opens. A door Damon has never noticed in all of the many times he has visited the Immurite. The Immurite’s hatch closes softly as, through the door, steps the veiled priest, the Hare.
“Master Damon,” he says, “please excuse my interruption. I have duties to perform.” He carries a tray. On the tray are two cups, a bowl of broth and a piece of bread.
He walks to a small recess in the stone wall of the Immurite’s cell and places the tray there. A panel is slid open and the tray is taken by slender, pale hands. Damon startles.
The Immurite’s hands.
He has never seen any part of the Immurite’s body. It feels like a great sin to see her hands.
The Hare bows as the panel slides shut. Lower down on the wall another recessed panel opens and something is slid out through it. Hare bends and takes up a chamber pot covered with a linen cloth.
Damon says, “You are the attendant of the Immurite?”
“Yes,” says the Hare, “I hold that great honour.”
There is a pause before the Hare says, “What you plan to do will be difficult.”
Damon tenses. “What I plan to do? What would you know of that? Were you listening to my audience with the Immurite?”
The Hare bows his head in deference. “No. I would never. Forgive me, Master Damon, word of what happened at the Pleasure Night has travelled fast in the Rose Palace. And as for knowing what you plan to do about it…” The Hare shrugs his thin shoulders. “There is only one thing you can do, to save him.”
“I see,” says Damon.
