Contents
Chapter Thirteen: Marek
Overview
Jeru discovers Marek hiding among Nizahl recruits and reveals the Heir wants Marek alive to leverage Sylvia. Learning Sefa is unfound but hunted, Marek panics. Jeru, wary of the Commander’s volatility, proposes a deal: Marek must retrieve a long-missing insignia from the Shinawy manor. Marek agrees, binding them to a risky covert mission.
Summary
Jeru confronts Marek in a Nizahl recruit barracks, chastising him for breaking protocols that could expose him. When Marek bolts, Jeru subdues him and reveals the Heir wants Marek alive and returned to the Citadel, implying Marek is bait to draw Sylvia.
Marek panics over Sefa’s safety; Jeru assures him no one has captured her yet, though she is being hunted. Marek warns Sefa would choose death rather than be used to harm Sylvia. Jeru cautions Marek against pursuing Sylvia, calling her the Malika of Jasad now playing in a deadlier arena.
Jeru admits the Commander is unstable—pressed by looming war and wounded by Sylvia’s betrayal—making Marek’s fate unpredictable. To avoid delivering Marek, Jeru proposes a bargain: Marek will infiltrate the Shinawy manor during the next rotation and recover a vanished insignia, a relic tied to the Siege of Six Dawns.
Marek recalls the siege’s horrors—Orban’s forbidden curse and Nizahl’s brutal remedy—while gauging the theft as feasible. Jeru insists on full reporting; any deception ends their pact and likely Marek’s life. Despite the risk of defying the Heir, Marek accepts, prioritizing a path to Sefa.
Who Appears
- Marek (Caleb Lazur)Fugitive hiding as a Nizahl recruit; fears for Sefa; agrees to steal a relic to gain Jeru’s help.
- JeruNizahl guardsman; finds Marek, refuses to deliver him immediately, and brokers a deal for a stolen insignia.
- The Heir/Commander (Arin)Offstage; ordered Marek brought alive to the Citadel to leverage Sylvia; increasingly volatile.
- SefaOffstage; hunted but not captured; Marek fears she’d die rather than be used against Sylvia.
- Sylvia (Malika of Jasad)Offstage; central leverage in the Heir’s plans; now part of a more dangerous political game.
- VaunMentioned Nizahl guardsman; his finding Marek would have been catastrophic.