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Tobi frowns at this. Unsure what Mereli means. “How were the sacrifices chosen?” he asks, realising as he raises an empty cup to his lip that he has finished his second cup of bark tea.

“The Blood priests would do the choosing.”

“So how did the Blood Priests choose them?”

“Oh,” says Mereli making a dismissive gesture with his large hands, “there was a ceremony. It was deeply sacred. You must remember that although we know now that Irgo Harok slayed a demon, before that we did not think of Diazuul as a demon. He was our God.”

“Where are these Blood Priests now? I have not seen them.”

“You have. You have encountered the Exceli. They are what remains of the Blood Priests and their supporters. The Solwen who believe Diazuul could not have been killed. They think Harok a liar who claims their God is dead and has banned them from making tribute to him for twenty years. Twenty long nights. The Exceli demand access to Urynwud to honour Diazuul. They believe that great tragedy will befall the Solwen if Diazuul is not appeased.”

“Could they be correct? Could Harok be lying about killing Diazuul?”

Mereli looks a little amused by this. “You are lucky we are speaking Artemian,” he says. “This is the kind of statement that would get you banished from Urynwud along with the rest of the Exceli. Or worse. I would advise you never to ask that again and certainly not outside of these chambers.” Mereli shakes his head. “The punishments for such heresy are harsh. As I am sure you can imagine. When Harok declared the end of the worship of Diazuul, many rebelled. And Harok’s response was necessarily brutal. Heretics were burned in the firepits.” Mereli sounds suddenly much more vague. “I am sorry, kushir. These memories are sour. And I grow tired. You must leave me.”

“Oh, but can I just ask—” Tobi begins, wanting to know anything and everything about this demon Harok claims to have slain.

But Mereli waves an arm weakly, shushing Tobi. “No, no, kushir. No more. Off you go now. Do not make me instruct your guards outside to drag you back to your chambers.”

This startles Tobi. Could Mereli instruct the guards so?

“Of course I could,” says Mereli, answering the question in Tobi’s mind. “I am Harok’s most trusted advisor. And as Irgo Harok is not here I am charged to speak for him. I can give any order I wish in his name. But I would prefer not to do so. Please, leave me so I can rest.”

Tobi stands, “Very well, Sire,” he says with a nod.

14

TOBI

As Tobi leaves Mereli’s solar his four guards once again fall in behind him. He wanders around the maze of halls for a while, slowly getting more of an idea of the layout of Urynwud.

He plans to find Lymok. It takes him some time, and many wrong turns and dead ends leading him to all manner of hallways and gardens and at one point, a chamber with a great glazed dome, full of lush green plants, but eventually he finds himself in a courtyard, this one far larger than the one with the stables.

This courtyard is almost like a whole city square inside Urynwud. It is full of bustle and noise and lined all around its edge with workshops of different types. Inside the cabins and huts and stone-built rooms there appear to be different tradesmen. Tobi can see carpenters and joiners, potters’ shops, gemwrights, wheelwrights and coopers. Towards the back there seems to be a forge and what he thinks is a smeltery. Surely if Lymok works with traders, he must be somewhere here.

Not wanting a repeat of what happened in the kitchen, Tobi does not approach the workers, hanging back in a corner of the yard, hoping to observe unnoticed. Or as unnoticed as the Azurian kushir with hair that is dark and light, barefoot and wearing a tiny alit and thin cloak and accompanied by four armed guards, can possibly be.

This time, no one shoos him away and Tobi watches the work for some time. Urynwud, Tobi thinks, is like its own small city. Hundreds of pieces all working together. He waits and watches and eventually, he sees Lymok come out of one of the workshops carrying two pails of water.

As he crosses the yard, Tobi wonders how best to approach him, but before he can, Lymok stops and smiles at Tobi. Tobi finds himself smiling back and in the next moment, Lymok is walking over to him.

As he gets close Lymok says, “Kushir. Whatever are you doing here?”

“I was looking for you. I have heard about you. You are an Azurian by blood. Mereli told me that you are the son of Irgo Vahul and the Maid Alyse, from Ceruleum.”

Lymok smiles as if this pleases him. Perhaps he likes being talked about. “Indeed I am. I am sure you must have been pleased to discover there is another Azurian in Urynwud.”

“I suppose so,” says Tobi. He gestures to the busy workshop. “Although it seems strange that you are the son of an Irgo, cousin to the king and you work here.”

Lymok sets down his pails. He tugs at the yellow kerchief around his neck. “You think I ought to be living a sweet life as part of the court of the Solwen?” Lymok says, “this is not Azuria. My bloodline does not grant me a seat on the council unless Harok chooses to give me one. And he does not choose to anymore. I don’t know if you know the full story, but my father and Harok’s, though brothers, were very different men.”

“I know your father served as Harok’s regent,” Tobi says.

Lymok smiles blandly. “So, it seems, you know of my mother and father and I know of your father, the grand Prince Rafus. Who was your mother? Some tavern wench your father liked the look of?” His smile grows broader, as if he is enjoying mocking Tobi.

At the mention of his mother, Tobi feels an old ache in his heart, but he answers with the confident tone he always uses when talking of her. “My mother was Prince Rafus’s great love. She is named Mareena of Archa. She is a skilled actress, trained under Sindal vin Saraa of the Moonwise Theatre in Archellia.”

Lymok’s eyebrows slide more than halfway up his forehead. “An actress,” he says. “Really?” In a tone that would suggest he sees an actress as no different to a whore. “We don’t have actresses here. Tell me,” he says, stepping a little closer to Tobi, “have you inherited your mother’s skills?”