Contents
Chapter 30: The Suppliants
Overview
Hadrian awakens separated from his companions in a luxurious antechamber where elderly nobles await audiences with the Undying. He learns this is no prison but a purgatory of petitioners summoned at the Undying’s whim by the android Yume. Rumors frame the Undying’s gift as body and mind transfer—practical immortality. Hadrian, disarmed and unsure of his friends’ fates, settles into waiting.
Summary
Hadrian wakes from a stun in an unexpectedly opulent, timeworn salon beneath a cracked concrete ceiling. An elderly palatine, Kim Hae Song, tends him and explains that this is not a prison but the Undying’s reception hall. Hadrian, disarmed and alone, asks after his companions and is told they are quartered separately.
As other aged nobles and grandees argue over status and waiting times—some claiming weeks or months—Hadrian reveals his Delian lineage, sparking debate about his Peerage. He notes the eerie absence of guards within the room, the presence of faceless SOMs at the doors, and homunculus serving girls who offer delicacies, tea, and coffee but no wine or water.
Song describes the system: the Undying’s android majordomo, Yume, summons petitioners without order or schedule. Some have waited nearly a year. Hadrian, pressed for his reason to petition, withholds his true mission but probes the rumors of immortality. Song insists the Undying offers renewal beyond palatine limits—new brain and body to preserve memory and life.
Philosophical reflections on palatine heredity and identity surface as the gathered nobles compare bloodlines. Hadrian notices his missing sword and remains anxious for his team, yet recognizes he cannot force an audience. He eats sparingly, observes the silent homunculi, and joins Song in Druaja, the shifting-board labyrinth chess.
Time passes. Hadrian learns the rhythms of the room, sees no messages from his companions, and improves at Druaja as he resigns himself to the Undying’s timetable, preparing—however reluctantly—for the eventual summons.
Who Appears
- Hadrian MarloweProtagonist; awakens stunned in the Undying’s waiting hall, separated from companions, disarmed, and forced to wait.
- Kim Hae Song (Baron Song)Elderly palatine; explains the hall’s purpose, Yume’s summons, and believes in body-transfer immortality.
- Marquise of SarmatiaImpatient noblewoman; complains of long delays, underscores the hall’s arbitrary waiting.
- Grand Duke of Milinda (Sendhil)Elderly grandee; trades quips about imperial lineage, exemplifies jaded petitioners.
- ArchibaldOlder man; claims to have waited two weeks, highlighting irregular audience order.
- Homunculus serving girlsSilent attendants offering canapes, tea, and coffee; refuse conversation and mark controlled hospitality.
- SOM guardsFaceless automatons at the doors; enforce order without engaging the petitioners.
- YumeThe Undying’s android majordomo; summons petitioners unpredictably for audience.
- The UndyingRuler of Vorgossos; offstage figure rumored to grant immortality via body and mind transfer.