Chapter Twenty

At the Imperial Tombs beside the Fox palace, Emperor Bersun unexpectedly attends with Abbot Ish Fort, pressing Neema Kraa for investigative news and advancing the Trial to the same day. Fort explains the challenge: within an hour, find a newly dug route through the tombs to the Fox chapel and light incense for the First Guardian. Pairings are drawn: Ruko first alone, then Tala with Havoc, and finally Neema with Katsan.

Shal Worthy requests withdrawal to avoid disturbing his uncle General Gatt Worthy’s rest, risking crucial points. After a tense exchange in which Shal condemns Ruko’s emptiness, Fort directs Shal to rest on the shaded veranda. When the Fox contingent vanishes, the remaining contenders are left standing in the heat, and Neema deduces the Fox nature of the Trial: the true test is not the descent itself but recognizing the trap and conserving judgment and strength.

Neema joins Shal in the shade, quietly signaling that he has not formally withdrawn and that this Trial favors his Hound skills. She naps while Shal keeps watch. Ruko must be rescued by Cain Ballari and offers no thanks; Tala returns steady, but Havoc comes back filthy, bleeding, and shaking from fear. Shal helps Havoc regulate his terror as Neema prepares to be called.

Across the courtyard, Katsan prays and stubbornly endures the sun in honor of Gaida, refusing Neema’s water. Fort drinks and douses himself instead, allowing Neema and Katsan to work as a pair if they choose—provoking Katsan’s disdain. Fort then grips Neema’s wrist and delivers a veiled threat, crediting her with hardening Cain into a perfect Fox but warning her not to distract him.

Cain departs to retrieve Tala and Havoc; with rescues complete, Fort dispatches Katsan into the tombs, then sends Neema after her. Neema enters the darkness, carrying the weight of Fort’s smile and the knowledge that the Trial’s true measure is strategy, restraint, and reading the Fox’s endgame.