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But it is warm enough in the room. Like every other room of the Ceruleum Bride House, the fire roars. Perl is used to this kind of weather. He grew up in snow and ice and high winds, and storms were simply a dramatic delight in Vylenor. But this is the Mortal Realm and the weather makes him feel uneasy.

Doroth leans back in his chair. “How confident are you about Lukas being safe in the Rose Palace dungeons? Do you think the prophecy and Karo’s killing of Rafus has truly protected him?”

Perl shrugs. What does he know? Unless it was written in his father’s papers, he is sure of nothing. And they still do not have all of those writings. Jemel is still seeking them out in the library and translating them. “It is a guess, but the princes seem to have been kept safe from death. It could be a deep magic. Whether killing Rafus has enhanced it, I cannot know.”

Perl wonders if sending Karo away was wise. She clearly knew more about this. He should have spoken up to stop her expulsion. But she was sent away to avoid an eruption in the simmering bad feeling that was clear from all the Princes when they discovered she had killed Rafus, the feckless father who did little for any of them. But Doroth was part of the killing too and he has not been sent away, or blamed for it at all.

“I fear Atticul will surely kill him.” Doroth lifts a letter from the pile on his table. “When the first of my belongings arrived from Attar yesterday, I also received an invitation to attend the ascension. This message from the Rose Council informs me the ceremony will include Atticul’s betrothal and the execution of three traitors.”

“Three?”

Doroth Zain nods. “These traitors are not named. Should we fear that one of these executions will be Jemel? Could he know Jemel is one of the Five Fae Princes?”

Perl leans closer to see the letter, it says no more than Doroth claims. “He will know,” Perl says. “The demon inside him knows.” Ur-Durik is already in control of the Empire he built to worship him. And they only have three of the Princes. The other two are within the demon’s easy grasp.

“Jemel is an acolyte of Zai. It is a mantle that keeps him safe. Atticul cannot slay him for no reason,” Doroth says. “But there are many reasons to kill a man in the Rose Court.” He looks pained to say it. Perhaps because of his distress about what will happen to Jemel, but perhaps, Perl suspects because mention of the Rose Court reminds him of his loss of status.

Doroth’s face remains cold and stern. “Did you know this would happen? Did you have any idea the demon could lodge itself in the Emperor of Azuria?”

Perl sighs. He has been considering the same question. Could he have known? If he had, would it have changed anything? His magical binding to Kerik sent him to Damon. So he took Damon with him to rescue Kerik. It wasn’t until after they returned from The Blue Mountains that he learned that Ur-Durik was risen and that he had used a kind of salt bridging, charged by Tobi Darekul, to travel to Attar. If he had known Ur-Durik was so close to Jemel, would he have chosen differently?

But, no matter even with all the information laid before him. He would still have made the wrong choice. He did make the wrong choice. They should never have left two Princes behind in Attar, but he was so desperate to get Kerik back. And now they could be lost. All his work, and the Mortal Realm, doomed.

Love, sex, they are curses both. Curses that have diverted him from his mission. But even as he thinks that, he feels the sweet ache in his body, the prickling bruises on his neck and chest from Kerik’s tongue and teeth, the tender softness of his well-used hole, and above all the way his heart yearns to kneel before Kerik, more, now, again. He cannot reject that need. It is part of him. It is who he is. He cannot go long without thinking of Kerik’s powerful body, handsome face, demanding air.

It is his weakness, but he so loves to be weak.

Calmly, he says, “We always knew Ur-Durik’s plan was to take control of Attar somehow. My father’s prophecies alluded to it. Perhaps we should have realised this would happen. But we never got the last parts of the writings he hid in the Rose Palace library.” Perl keeps his tone cool and diplomatic despite his racing thoughts.

“And I doubt we will if he has imprisoned Jemel.”

“I suppose not,” says Perl. “But this is speculation. The traitors he is executing at his ascension will likely be Lukas and Trysta, but the third could be anyone. How long do we have? When will this ceremony take place?”

“Atticul is moving fast. The letter says the Ascension is in nine days time.”

“So we would have to leave as soon as possible to be there.”

“Indeed,” Doroth says.

Together they look to the window. Surely this snow will lift soon.

They gather in the temple room of the Bride House as the weak grey sun is setting. The room is richly decorated with a beautiful grand circle in the centre of the glossy wooden floor, the mark of Zai depicted there in carved pieces of different shades. Around the mark of Zai, chairs are set out in several curved rows. There are tall windows with blue and green glass and a high domed ceiling, also glazed, with thin iron supports, black as jet against the darkening sky.

Damon and Lyr, Tobi, Harok and Mareena, Kerik, Elric and Doroth are assembled in the grand circle for a remembrance. Baby is there too, lying on one of the rich rugs that cover the stone floor. Several brides of Zai also attend, including Eliodi, beside Elric, holding his hand.

Rafus’s body has been sent to Attar to be commended to Zai by Gelen Zain. Karo had made sure it was discovered in Ceruleum, in a backstreet known for its pillow houses. To make it seem like a brutal murder and robbery, his jewels had been removed, amongst them a gold ring set with an emerald that Rafus had worn daily. And it is this ring that has been set on a small plinth of dark wood in the centre of the circle.

Perl slips in and takes his place beside Kerik. Kerik takes Perl’s hand and squeezes it tight.

In the silence, Damon steps forward, moving to stand at the front before the plinth, offering a few words to honour his father in a low, sincere voice. He invites each of them to say something. Tobi says that his father rescued him and his mother from destitution in Fanost when there was no work for players due to famine, Kerik says that his father was always interested in him and his mother and allowed them to remain part of the court, Elric speaks briefly on behalf of Lukas, a little soft on the perl tonic he drinks day and night, and saying only that Lukas knew his father preferred Damon to him.

After that, Doroth stands and says he knew Rafus loved all his sons deeply and that he had known of their battle with Ur-Durik before he died and wished to aid them if he could. “But sadly, he had no chance to do so.” Doroth looks then to Damon who is staring back with his lips pressed firmly together. “If you wish,” Doroth says, “I could formally commend him to Zai.”

Elric makes a barking laugh sound at this. Kerik, beside Perl, smirks.

Damon shakes his head. “No.”

Mareena of Archa — a woman Perl once persuaded to lead her company of mummers to perform The Story of Gold Alyse in Attar, where he knew Rafus would be watching — steps forward, “Master Damon, if you wish it, I could perform an old rite from Archillia. It invokes the oldest of Gods. Brother Sun and Sister Moon.”