Contents
Chapter Seven
Overview
Summoned by High Justice Kindry, Neema confronts her old rival Gaida, now the Raven contender, who reveals Yaan Rack was her father and that his papers show Neema was expelled before fledging. Gaida vows to deliver the file to Kindry, jeopardizing Neema’s career on the eve of the Festival.
A flashback shows Rack’s humiliating interview and sudden downfall during Andren’s failed coup, after which Neema took her Raven name and rebuilt her life. Neema leaves shaken but defiant.
Summary
Crossing the palace lawn, Neema is intercepted by High Justice Kindry Rok and ordered to meet Raven contender Gaida in private. On the way, Neema recalls Gaida’s calculated snubs and their shared entry to the monastery, where Gaida charmed peers while undermining Neema, branding her “Desy.” Despite Neema’s academic primacy, Gaida’s reputation and ideals won her influence and, eventually, an uncontested contention for the Raven throne.
In Gaida’s chaotic suite, Neema notes Gaida’s performative righteousness and petty digs, then steps onto the balcony where Gaida theatrically instructs servants and affects poetic airs. Their brittle reunion turns when Gaida claims she discovered on her pilgrimage that Yaan Rack—her disgraced mentor—was her biological father, a secret revealed by his sister and corroborated by his private papers.
Gaida uses those papers to strike at Neema: she has found Neema’s file showing Rack expelled Neema before fledging. Neema is forced into a vivid flashback—her final-year interview where Rack lured her into candor, condemned her as a “Solitary Raven,” and, when corrected on a misattribution, exploded and expelled her, vowing to ruin her prospects.
The flashback continues as Andren’s failed coup erupts that same night. Evidence surfaces against Rack; he is executed during the purges, and the Justice Office is cleansed. With Rack gone, Neema quietly takes her Raven name, becomes Neema Kraa, and later begins her career at the Imperial Library, proving her life was not ruined.
Back on the balcony, Gaida labels Neema a fraud and announces she will give the file to Kindry tomorrow, ruining Neema’s triumph at the opening ceremony. Neema pleads for a sliver of compassion, invoking their first day together, but Gaida frames her vengeance as duty to her father’s memory. Neema departs via the spiral stairs, rattled yet resolute not to be destroyed again.
Who Appears
- Neema KraaHigh Scholar overseeing the Festival; confronted by Gaida about a file proving her pre-fledge expulsion; recalls Rack’s interview and resolves to endure.
- Gaida Rack (Gaida Kalair)Raven contender; reveals Yaan Rack is her father and threatens to expose Neema’s expulsion to Kindry, framing it as moral duty.
- Kindry RokHigh Justice who summons Neema to Gaida; opportunistic power-broker likely to receive Gaida’s incriminating file.
- Yaan RackDeceased High Justice seen in flashback; charms then expels Neema, later executed for treason; his papers fuel Gaida’s threat.
- Janric TursulGaida’s aide; ceremoniously admits Neema but withholds courtesies, signaling Gaida’s status and Neema’s marginalization.