Chapter Three

Lore remembers Cedric, the boy who taught her to swim and died under a bloodcoat horse years earlier. In grief and instinct, Lore drew Cedric's death into herself, sent it into the earth, and made Cedric sit up with black eyes until Val found them playing cat's cradle. The memory returns as Horse rises dead in the market, proving Lore has again committed the heresy of raising a corpse.

The bloodcoats first freeze, then panic when they see Lore's death-white eyes, blackened veins, and corpse-like hands. Lore severs the Mortem threads binding Horse to her, and the horse collapses onto several guards, creating enough chaos for Jean-Paul to escape and for Lore to slip away. Weak from channeling Mortem and shaken by memories of Cedric, Lore changes her appearance slightly and tries to flee.

Michal finds Lore in an alley and realizes what she has done, reacting with horror. Lore apologizes and runs, only to be cornered by the Presque Mort. A tall monk with an eye patch, later named Gabriel, insists they do not want to hurt Lore but drugs Lore with chloroform when Lore refuses to come willingly.

Lore wakes bound and gagged in a stone room in the Church, overwhelmed by an intensified awareness of Mortem in dead matter, living bodies, and Lore's own cells. Gabriel and another Presque Mort, Malcolm, discuss how unusually thick the Mortem feels after Lore's channeling. Gabriel removes Lore's gag long enough to teach Lore a mental barrier technique, and Lore imagines a living forest that helps reduce the crushing awareness of death.

The Priest Exalted, Anton Arceneaux, enters with Val, who confirms Lore's identity. Lore learns Val informed on Lore in exchange for the return of inventory and an official pardon making Val a crown-sanctioned poison runner, though Val claims the Church knew about Cedric and that Lore will be safer this way. After Val leaves, Anton says the Church does not want to hurt Lore; instead, Anton says they need Lore's assistance because only Lore can provide it.