CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Kel takes the Sea Path back to Marivent, using the walk to think about Jerrod’s accusation that Kel thinks too narrowly about Conor and House Aurelian. Kel decides that his loyalty to Conor is not a weakness in itself, but he recognizes a more dangerous vulnerability: Kel wants to be known as himself, not only as Conor’s double or protector.

Near Marivent, Kel discovers a hidden platform emerging from the mountain beneath the path. Castelguards bring out a beaten Fausten, followed by King Markus and Jolivet. Markus accuses Fausten in Malgasi of betraying Markus and knowing what Markus would become; Fausten pleads that only Fausten can make Markus’s medicine and that Markus’s sickness will worsen without him. Markus throws Fausten into the sea, where a crocodile devours him.

Jolivet silently witnesses the execution and then notices Kel hiding above the platform. The platform retracts into the mountain, erasing the evidence. Shaken and sickened, Kel returns to the Palace, finds Conor unusually relieved and happy, and tells Conor that there is something Conor must know about King Markus.

Later, Lin works late translating Qasmuna’s book. Lin learns that Source-Stones once allowed nearly limitless healing when properly charged and bound to their users, though the manuscript has gaps where the vanished Word once appeared. Lin attempts a binding ritual with her stone, briefly sees a vision of Suleman, and senses the stone stir with the command to use it.

Chana arrives to tell Lin that Mariam is coughing blood and feverish. Lin races to the Etse Kebeth, finds Mariam dangerously ill, and uses the stone while shaping the concept of healing in her mind. Mariam is not cured, but Mariam’s pain lessens, her breathing improves, and Lin gains real hope that Qasmuna’s book can help her save Mariam.

Chana then warns Lin that the Maharam and Oren Kandel are searching Lin’s house. Lin returns to find all her forbidden books exposed, including Qasmuna’s tome. The Maharam condemns Lin’s contact with Conor and her pursuit of forbidden knowledge, but Mayesh intervenes, framing Conor’s gift as an innocent misunderstanding and warning that angering the Palace could endanger the Ashkar. The Maharam confiscates the books but does not exile Lin. Afterward, Mayesh tells Lin that Conor is dangerous in ways Conor does not understand and that Lin should have refused the book. The chapter closes with a passage from the Book of Makabi explaining the Ashkar’s origin, Adassa’s promise to return, and the line of Benjudah Exilarchs.