Chapter 22

In the Lacanthim jail after Castus’s death, Din debriefs Ana while Tauri’s team sterilizes the scene. Ana concludes the killer used a tune that explosively catalyzes infected skulls and that conditioning persists past death, as Castus’s body kept attacking per learned butchery. The revelation terrifies Trikao, Ippeas, and Fotia.

Ana bluntly explains the guiding web’s infection and conditioning, then asks Trikao to allow exhumation of his slain niece and nephews—Lyimo, Sagma, and Gevma—arguing their preserved bodies may contain evidence. After witnessing Castus’s horror, Trikao agrees despite religious and cultural fears about resurrection, pledging to protect his family.

Ana orders Tauri to prepare for the exhumations with Din documenting. When Tauri learns the sepulcher lies south of Aimafall and that northern winds are due, he grows uneasy but accepts. He departs to prepare.

At dawn, Din escorts Ana back to the Green Drover. Ana feels near a breakthrough yet stymied by Burav’s vault combination and its inscription, fixating on the oddly rendered numeral 1 on the tumblers. She reasons the LYSIS note (“Not immediate”) means the fatal tune’s effects are delayed, so the piper need not have been present during Castus’s death.

Ana questions Tauri’s movements and motives, noting his knowledge of the web and antipathy toward cattle, but concedes the tune could have been played earlier by anyone. She wonders why the killer targeted Castus again, beyond vengeance. Before parting, Ana warns Din not to become involved with Tauri, hinting at both Tauri’s acuity and their own secrets.