Contents
Chapter Three
Overview
In the throne room, Emperor Bersun reveals Andren’s legacy: a Tiger monastery place for Yanara. Yana accepts, enraging Ruko. High Commander Vabras exposes Yana’s childhood knowledge of Andren’s treason, prompting a severe sentence. Bersun commutes exile to life service, but then binds Ruko to choose—and Ruko condemns Yana to exile, launching his own ruthless path.
Summary
Before the Guardians’ frescoes, Emperor Bersun reads a scroll from Abbess Rivenna: Andren left a funded place for Yanara at the secretive Tiger monastery. Bersun offers it with his blessing, noting a child should not pay for a father’s sins. Yana, torn between her own quiet dreams and her father’s shadow—and mindful of Ruko’s long-held Tiger ambition—chooses to accept.
Ruko protests. High Commander Hol Vabras seizes the moment, interrogating Ruko with Sergeant Shal Worthy’s Houndsight as pressure. Ruko, trying to appear loyal, reveals Yana kept Andren’s Tiger colours. Vabras turns to Yana, pressing whether Andren confided treason. Shaken, Yana admits that, at eight, she heard her father vow to reclaim the throne.
Bersun erupts, then seeks judgment. Vabras insists on the harshest penalty; Bersun rejects exile as monstrous but declares Yana guilty and commutes the sentence to life in the House of Mist and Shadows. Yana, overwhelmed, thanks him, while Ruko immediately asks for the Tiger place and is refused as consequence.
Bersun theatrically grants Ruko an oath-bound power to choose both his sister’s fate and his own lesson. Weighing ambition against mercy, Ruko claims the authority and sentences Yana to exile. Yasila collapses in grief. Ruko recognizes, with stark honesty, that the intoxicating taste of power guides him onto a ruthless path toward the throne.
Who Appears
- Yanara (Yana) ValitOffered a Tiger monastery place, accepts; admits childhood knowledge of Andren’s treason; condemned to exile by Ruko.
- Ruko ValitResents Yana’s offer, reveals her kept colours under pressure, then chooses her exile when empowered, embracing ambition.
- Emperor BersunOffers Yana a second chance, rages at her confession, commutes punishment, then binds Ruko to decide Yana’s fate.
- Hol VabrasHigh Commander who orchestrates the interrogation, exposes Yana’s complicity, and presses for the severest punishment.
- Sergeant Shal WorthyHound who reads tells during questioning, declares Yana knew, supports a lawful but tempered resolution.
- YasilaMother who glares at Bersun, remains silent under pressure, collapses and screams when Ruko chooses exile.
- Rivenna GlorrenAbbess of the Tiger Monastery; her scroll reveals Andren’s legacy granting Yana a place at Anat-hurun.