Chapter Fifteen

Lore wakes in Bastian’s bed to a rare silence in her head but senses Bastian has shifted—warm at night, colder and self-satisfied by day. Fearing Apollius’s encroachment, she withholds talk, and Bastian urges secrecy. On the carriage to the harbor with Malcolm, Lore declares she will not channel; Malcolm supports caution while Bastian minimizes risks.

At the docks, nobles crowd a staged celebration for a new ship. Lore seeks Alie and Brigitte, who identifies Lore’s engagement diamond as likely mined from the Golden Mount, a storied Arceneaux treasure hidden by the Church and rumored gifted by Apollius. Bastian reclaims Lore for diplomacy.

Bastian engages Kirythean envoys Maxon and Caius and the Demondes. Amelia needles Lore over the Mortem leak until Bastian publicly defends Lore’s actions, subtly wounding Amelia. The party admires a warship’s fearsome façade; Bastian reveals privately to Lore it’s a decoy from August’s personal fleet, with decorative cannons, while the true vessel remains guarded elsewhere.

Bastian leads Maxon and Caius through the opulent interior to sell the illusion, then brings Lore to the prow deck prepared like a stage. He presses her to channel jointly during the naming, framing it as trust. Lore, convinced he is intermittently not himself, refuses again.

Bastian’s composure frays as he shifts between tenderness and a harder edge. He tries once more to sway her, but Lore stands firm. Before he can continue, an explosion erupts, abruptly ending the moment and throwing the ceremony into chaos.