Ana and Din Mysteries, #3
A Trade of Blood
by Robert Jackson Bennett
Contents
Chapter 20
Overview
Din reports the cache and seams; Ana infers at least two conspirators and focuses suspicion on Burilis Burav’s long manipulation of the altered forest and the guiding web’s origin. Tauri reveals a forbidden Touched Site at the forest’s heart. Ana sends Fotia to discreetly investigate Sagma Armenta’s unusual “suicide,” while planning a risky next step for Din and Tauri.
Summary
Din and Commander Tauri return to Ana’s rooms, where Ana dines with Fotia. Tauri hesitates to share Orbiis secrets, but Ana insists, arguing the killers already know them. Din recounts the glade, seam, and cache. Ana concludes there are at least two conspirators: one experienced in the web who tutored another, their bitterness evident in hostile notes.
They debate the “lysis” tune, speculate it might dissolve infection, and note missing links: how Castus and Ippeas were infected and why Fotia is not. Suspicion centers on Burilis Burav, frustratingly dead, with an impenetrable vault. Ana reads Burav’s record: born to a declining clan overshadowed by Armenta success after the Great Flourishing; funneled into the Iyalets, then the Orbiis, where he blocked arboreal experts and secured control over the altered forest.
After leaving the Orbiis, Burav announced the guiding web from a conveniently vanished oxbow site, claiming to have preserved and refined it. The Empire embraced it to address labor amid infertility, enriching House Burav and intensifying the feud. Ana suspects lies and that Burav used Orbiis methods to access the wood; the vault may hide proof.
Tauri then divulges the forest’s core: a Touched Site sealed by a vast black stone plug, its origins excised from records. The Orbiis maintain it without knowing what lies beneath. Ana hints the ancient Daljen tribe’s disappearance may be connected, leaving ominous implications.
Turning to action, Ana recruits Fotia as a discreet operative among Armenta servants, targeting the first death: Sagma Armenta’s hanging. Tauri notes the web poorly fits a one-time, complex act like suicide, suggesting a different method or culprit. Fotia agrees to ask questions quietly. As Grandfather Trikao arrives downstairs, Ana orders Din and Tauri to rest while she weighs a dangerous plan that could provoke the entire town.
Who Appears
- Dinios ‘Din’ KolNarrator; reports the seam and cache to Ana; worries about Fotia’s safety; observes revelations and plans.
- Ana DolabraInvestigator; infers multiple conspirators, dissects Burav’s record, targets Sagma’s case, and plots a risky next move.
- Commander TauriOrbiis officer; confirms tests, vault progress, and reveals the Touched Site; explains limits of web conditioning.
- Fotia KolAgrees to secretly question Armenta servants about Sagma’s death; provides local insights and context.
- Burilis BuravPosthumously profiled; manipulated forest oversight, claimed discovery of the guiding web, likely deceived the Empire.
- Jalin BuravBurav’s son; pressured by father, humiliated by Lyimo; unlikely mastermind but central to family history.
- Sagma ArmentaFirst Armenta child to die; death by hanging now suspected to differ from web-conditioning patterns.
- Lyimo ArmentaVelona’s firstborn; tormented Jalin, fueling personal animosity between houses’ heirs.
- Velona ArmentaMatriarch; may lack full knowledge of her children’s deaths; treats Ippeas as a servant.
- Ippeas ArmentaInfected but unconditioned; his status deepens the infection puzzle and stakes for Fotia.
- Grandfather TrikaoArrives to see Fotia; presence underscores family ties as covert inquiries begin.