Martin was partially awake with an ale ache as his servant explained everything to him beyond the door. Martin was almost dressed before he realized it was still very late. The Lonely Son was high above them, not even making a descent. But Indenuel was here. Here, at his home, with Tolomon and Nathaniel.

Martin finished getting dressed before walking out of his room with a splitting headache. He didn’t bother putting on his High Elder robes. He opened the door to his study and found Nathaniel and Tolomon there. Indenuel was collapsed in a heap in one of the chairs, a blanket over his deeply exhausted shoulders, his hands covering his eyes. Nathaniel, seeing Martin in his state, quietly healed him of the ale ache. It turned out to be necessary as they took turns telling the story. Martin felt more and more awake the longer the tale went on. He sensed the pain in both men as they spoke.

“We don’t know what to do,” Nathaniel said. “He’s exhausted himself to the point he didn’t fight us coming here, but we’re terrified of letting him go back to sleep without proper precautions.”

“He’s cracking, sir,” Tolomon said.

Martin got on his knees, taking Indenuel’s hand and moving it away from his face. He placed his fingers against the boy’s temples and closed his eyes, probing him for corruption. There was a lot of it. It was like a clear pond that had collected so much dirt, and someone had come in and stirred it up, creating a muddy mess of darkness. He couldn’t heal this. There was too much. This was something only Dalius could do now.

Martin opened his eyes, moving Indenuel’s night shirt down enough to see his mark-less chest. Martin stood again. “You have done this a lot. Your body knew how to take the mark off, but the corruption remained. Even with no mark, if there is a hint of corruption, the devil will use it.”

Martin stared at the boy in the chair, saw the exhaustion, saw how he wasn’t reacting to anything. Martin placed his hand on the boy’s wrist, closing his eyes and feeling the numbing pain. Numb was different than anxiety. He pushed all the healing power he could into Indenuel, but it did little good. Indenuel did not want it.

“What can we do?” Nathaniel asked.

Martin sighed, rubbing his forehead. “We’ve got to keep him protected from himself. Tomorrow morning, I will have…” Martin dropped his hands. “I’ve got to talk with the High Elders. Dalius is the only one strong enough to get the corruption out of him at this point.”

“Sure,” Indenuel mumbled. “Go tell my half-nephew. Tell him everything that happened. I now have to trust the man whose grandfather raped my mother and left her and I for dead.”

Martin glanced at Indenuel. He wasn’t sure what he could say. Indenuel didn’t have the highest opinion of him, either. It was one of the reasons he felt better about not wearing his High Elder robes right now. “We must do what we can with what we have,” Martin said.

“So poetic.” Indenuel got to his feet, his knees buckling as Tolomon took his arm to help steady him. “I almost believe you.”

“There is deep corruption inside you. It’s got to get out,” Martin said.

“Of course it does. Because one of us must bend our wills. One of us must crumble. I must go to the grandson of my mother’s rapist as well as the man that raped his own daughter to get help. Because this is Santollia. This is how well you’ve built your power. We are dependent on you four completely. We cannot go anywhere else.” Martin grabbed Indenuel’s other elbow as he stumbled, feeling sick to his stomach. “So, send me off to the dungeons, Martin. Send me off to sleep.” He struggled out of Martin’s grip. “You’ve done it. You four have won. You’ve broken me. Congratulations.”

Martin watched with wide eyes as Indenuel stumbled again. Tolomon picked the boy up. “I’m done. I’m finished,” he kept mumbling.

Martin looked at Tolomon. “Chain him in the dungeons. I would like to emphasize he is not under arrest. That is simply where we can best hold people in his condition. I will be there in the morning with… with the other High Elders.” He would have to prepare them before they went down there.

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Tolomon nodded, heading toward the door. Indenuel was too exhausted to fight. Nathaniel watched as Tolomon carried Indenuel out of the study before focusing on Martin again. “Is he going to survive this?”

Martin said nothing for a moment. “Be ready for a letter from me. He no longer trusts the High Elders, but he does trust you. He’ll need you. You, Tolomon, Inessa, you’ve got to be as delicate as you can, but with you three he will get back on his feet.” Martin glanced out the window as he saw Tolomon leave the front of the house with Indenuel in his arms. “He’s got to.”

***

Pablo gave Inessa the message that they had Indenuel in the dungeon to hold him there until the corruption was gone from his body. She went to bed, but she didn’t sleep. She pretended to, brought all the peace she didn’t feel into her face so Rosa could slip away back home. But once she heard the carriage leaving, Inessa’s eyes snapped back open, and she stared out the window. She never should have slapped Indenuel, but she was scared. His eyes were growing black at an alarming rate, and she didn’t know what else to do to snap him out of it. She should have just walked away like Nathaniel suggested.

She grabbed her hair, refusing to think about it much longer. Thinking about Indenuel’s predicament brought a pain inside her she wasn’t ready to admit to herself. Instead, she went back to Carmen. She had information that no one else had. If Carmen had killed herself, then she would have used the poison. Carmen always cursed her bad luck in finding herself with Fadrique, because of his penchant toward beating her and their other concubine sisters. She hated the pain, the blood, all of it. The night she showed Inessa the vile of poison was almost as a joke. She had suffered so much pain by Fadrique’s hand, it was justice to have the ability to go out in such a painless way.

Inessa could not deny it. Carmen was murdered, and she needed to go to Martin. Indenuel wouldn’t, but she wasn’t bound by her husband’s selfish pride.

Once the horizon looked like it was dawn, she got out of bed and slipped back into her and Indenuel’s room to get dressed. When she walked out, Pablo bowed to her. “Would you like breakfast, ma’am?”

“I…” Inessa paused, then frowned. Rosa and Nathaniel had left, but Tolomon never returned. He would be with Indenuel, which meant there was no one to test her food. “No thank you. I’m not… I’m not hungry.”

Her stomach growled as though hearing her words, and Pablo paused long enough for the silence to turn awkward.

As though reading her mind, Pablo spoke again. “Tolomon and Nathaniel had a Graduate taken from their three-month training to be with you. He is in the dining hall now.”

Inessa hesitated before nodding. “I’m still… not hungry. I’d like to go visit High Elder Martin, and I do not want this information to be spread. Especially not to Indenuel, once he returns.”

“Understood, ma’am. I will make the preparations at once,” Pablo said, bowing again and leaving.

Inessa rubbed her arms, looking around the large house. The house she would once again remain in for who knows how long.

The unfamiliar Graduate walked out of the dining hall, bowing as he introduced himself, Amir, a nobleman graduate. Inessa felt herself relax, knowing she wasn’t with a commoner graduate, when she caught herself in that thought. It wasn’t the commoner’s fault that they had become untrustworthy. They had been exploited, much like she had. Despite the power the High Elders still had, there was still a small fear the commoners couldn’t be trusted, and with that thought she felt a chill.

“Your carriage is ready, ma’am,” Pablo said. “Also, I have a report from Rosa that she’d like to visit once you are awake.” Inessa didn’t bother letting Pablo know that she was never asleep in the first place. She wouldn’t tell that to Rosa, either. She was in such a hurry to get dressed that she didn’t have her personal servants do her hair or cosmetics for the day. Yes, there were more important things to be done right now, but she realized she probably looked far worse than usual. Her clothes were already ill-fitting.

“I would very much like to see Rosa,” Inessa said. She looked around at the large home that was beginning to have sour memories. “But I would like to see her at her home after I visit Martin.” Inessa did not want to return to an empty house with Indenuel in the dungeon again. “I would like to visit my family,” she said, even though Pablo didn’t understand what she meant. “Tell her, Sara, Ana, and Addy that I will be there. And… and I will stay there until Indenuel is released.” She could think of no other place for healing. She needed those women around her. For Sara to feed her, for Rosa to help her smile, for Addy to talk to, and for Ana to help the demons go away. Because she realized something in her night of no sleep. All of this, the fighting, the pushing back, it started with her. She wore that dress to her wedding, and the country tore itself apart.

Pablo gave a bow. “Understood, ma’am.”

Inessa walked outside, the dawn beginning to lighten the sky.