Chapter Thirty-Five

The chapter opens with the history of the First Imperial Library and the impending midnight burial of Gaida in the imperial tombs. Kindry advises Neema to avoid the funeral to spare the Flock’s sensitivities and pivots to criticize her investigation’s pace.

Inside the hall, the Raven Trial is unveiled as a three-hour written exam, partitioned by contender banners. Tala and Havoc complain about its tedium, but Neema defends its purpose: mastering governance across law, history, trade, and policy. Neema counters Kindry’s accusation by stating she proved the Blade of Peace was not the weapon and identified the poison, having checked contenders’ alibis, but Kindry dismisses this as trivial. Katsan summons Kindry over a procedural dispute.

As the banners unfurl, the Hound standard descends and Shal prepares for the exam. He stops Neema to apologize for judging her harshly after their fight. Using Houndsight, Shal acknowledges Neema’s unpreparedness for the armband’s demands; Neema apologizes in return, privately recognizing the Raven presence that had driven her earlier loss of control.

Outside, Neema finds Cain dozing on the grass. Their banter turns intimate when she adjusts his tunic and brushes his skin. Cain reveals the Visitor let him win and that the Visitor is focused on Ruko. When Ruko appears, he wordlessly asks Neema whether his mother confessed; Neema indicates no, and Ruko leaves frowning.

Cain explains he sensed Ruko’s arrival by reading Neema’s tension and changed breathing. He mentions that, at Katsan’s insistence, Kindry has given him a quarter-hour handicap because Neema wrote the exam questions, though Cain quips that Ravens never cheat. Neema considers sharing investigative breakthroughs but instead lies beside Cain, taking a quiet quarter hour of peace before the Trial begins.