Contents
Chapter 9
Overview
Galva walks Espalle’s crowded, fouled streets to Pol’s commandeered villa, confronting war’s desecration and Pol’s rising authority. Over a rare meal, Galva refuses promotion and a suicide poison, insists on honoring her muster-oath, and secures Pol’s help feeding the corvids. That night she defines her restrained bond with Inocenta, foreshadowing the Pragmatist’s coming address.
Summary
Galva returns from Sath’s temple through overcrowded, reeking Espalle, noting soldiers saluting Pol and the crushing weight of his command. At Pol’s seized villa, mosaics defaced by goblins and a scorch-shadow of a burning mark the house; Pol hosts Galva for food and wine amid tents and ruin.
Pol urges Galva to return home to manage the estate, invoking their aging father and her withdrawn mother, Nera. Galva counters that she, too, has oaths. Pol recognizes her commitment. Their banter recalls the duke’s sayings and underscores Galva’s refusal to abandon duty.
Turning to logistics, Galva presents Nouva’s requirements to provision the corvids. Pol, new to wide authority, promises to leverage the incoming commander’s reputed skill in logistics. He balks at the scale—eighty-eight birds—and jokes darkly about eating goblins. He then offers Galva a flask of bittermead, a swift poison said to taint flesh; she refuses, choosing to fight without an escape.
That night, Galva recounts her bond with Inocenta: they are irmanas apraceras, sharing bedroll and warmth but not full intimacy. Inocenta’s children live safely in a rural Braga ucal. Devoted to Dal-Gaata and possibly a priestess, Inocenta sustains Galva with companionship. Galva hints at what follows: the Pragmatist’s address, a juggernaut’s arrival, and a wizard’s war.
Who Appears
- Galva dom BragaNarrator; visits Pol’s villa, requests rations for 88 corvids, refuses promotion and bittermead, reaffirms her muster-oath, and reflects on Inocenta.
- Pol dom BragaTerce-General and Galva’s brother; hosts her, urges she go home, accepts her oaths, promises logistical help, offers bittermead.
- InocentaGalva’s close companion; shares a chaste bed as irmanas apraceras, a devotee of Dal-Gaata with two children in a rural ucal.
- Nera dom BragaGalva’s and Amiel’s mother; long withdrawn after childbirth, recalled during Pol’s suggestion Galva return home.