"What's wrong with you two?" asked Anat, grinning like an adolescent with hands-on-hips as she swayed on her feet.

"Nothing," snapped Martha before Rina could get a word in edgeways.

"Well, ex-cuse-me." Anat's smile deepened, and she held her hands up in mock apology.

Rolling her eyes, Sara walked to Rina. "She looks better already, Martha."

"Not you too."

"Me what?"

Martha crossed her arms. "Sara, she wasn't sick—she had a splinter. It's out. It's settled."

"I get that, but you know what—"

'Enough, Sara. I'm sick of talking about this. Sensing illness is questionable, even for the most gifted healers, and you sure as can't see a healed splinter wound from across the room."

Sara's head darted to Rina. "So, it is healed!" Not waiting for a response, Sara ran the rest of the way and grabbed Rina's foot.

"Sara, stop. You're overreacting."

Steady hands poked and prodded at Rina, but this time there was no pain, and then they stopped. "What the? Martha, how'd you do it?"

"Do what?" Anat had disappeared to a sideboard and poured herself some honey wine. She sauntered back to the group, the stem of a glass lazily balanced between thumb and forefinger, her movements rhythmic as a dancer's.

"Nothing," Martha said between her teeth.

"Hmpf, if I know Sara—and after all those weeks stuck on that boat, I do, down to how many times a week she needs to take a—"

"Anat!" Sara's face flushed.

"And I can tell you—" Anat continued, pointing her index finger, her speech slightly slurred "—she never gets this worked up over nothing." Halting before Rina, Anat closed one eye and peered down. "Bloody hell!" She stood straight and turned on Martha. "That was red as a pigs arsehole a few hours ago."

"Anat!"

Martha ignored Sara and spoke in a non-plussed drone. "Anya is a talented healer."

"No one's that talented," pressed Anat.

"Hey, stop that!" Rina started to giggle as Sara's thumb traced the skin, checking for any marks. A devilish grin crept across Anat's face, and she began to tickle Rina. Rina kicked back, and Anat wobbled, flinging sticky wine across Sara's dress and splashing Rina in the face.

"Oh, for Mai's sake, Anat! Can you stop acting like a drunk hussy?"

Rina froze. She'd never heard Sara shout before. Even Martha seemed shocked, which spoke volumes considering Martha had mentored Sara before she left for Amadore.

"A hussy, did you say." Anat's voice was cool, her expression sober. "You want a hussy." With deliberate slowness, she lowered her glass to the floor and slithered over Rina, sinuous as a snake. The cloying scent of incense came to Rina's nostrils, and her head spun. The edge of her awareness curled in on itself like a hot flame singled the line between reality and dreams. Then something rough and wet and warm slid up her cheek.

She shoved. "Anat! That's fucking disgusting." She wiped at the damp patch where Anat had licked her.

Anat fell to the ground, laughing, tears in her eyes. She rolled to her side, gripping her stomach, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Rina, Sara, and Martha stared, uncertain of what to do or say. It was like Anat was possessed. After a time, Anat stilled. She pushed up on her hands.

"What?"

Nobody said a word.

"Right." Anat unwound her legs and stood, brushing off her skirts. "You're all boring. I'm going to have sun fun." She walked to the door, her head high, and it shut with a firm click.

Martha shrugged. "She's probably right."

"She's probably drunk," quipped Sara. "We should return, though."

Rina sniffed again. The sugary sweet smell remained. As she inhaled, the headrush returned, and with it came the inclination to do something crazy. To run headlong into the garden and dance and scream.

She remembered that man Anat had been close with, the vain, handsome one with the dark hair and eyes, and she found herself praying to Mai Anat would stay safe.

Sara looked back at Rina. "Are you going to join us?"

Stealing a quick look at Martha, Rina took in the sharp negation in those brown eyes and shook her head. "I'm tired. Tell them I'm resting."

With a smile, Sara leaned down and kissed Rina on the brow.

Rina's eyes were heavy, her body suddenly exhausted. She let her lashes lower, veiling her vision. "Watch out for Anat."

"I'll do my best."

A muffled sob woke Rina. The air had cooled, moving across her skin like fine sand. The sheer curtains undulated, revealing the silhouettes of the trees beyond. Máni was ripe in the sky. It was late. Perhaps almost dawn.

Metal clanked, followed by a metallic spinning sound. That whimpering came again.

Rina squinted in the dim light. Her eyelids were leaden shutters. Despite the clear night, the features of the room were little more than darkness amongst shadows. But there, slinking through the room, a tall, curvaceous form, hunched over and hobbling.

"Anat?"

The figure seemed to flinch. It sniffled, and shuffled on, knocking over something glass, which shattered on the ground.

Rina made to follow.

"Don't. I'm fine." Anat spoke with a rasp.

Rina persisted.

"Please."

"Anat, what happened?"

By now, Rina could make out enough of Anat to realise she cradled one arm.

Another whimper.

"At least let me get Sara."

To Rina's relief, Anat nodded. Rina hurried down the hall and roused a confused Sara, who cursed and ran out to Anat.

"Go to bed, Rina. Trust me; you need to." Sara led Anat down toward the bathing room, and Rina slumped against the wall, bone-weary. She managed to get to bed and crawl under the covers, her joints stiff as rusted cogs. She folded in upon herself, knees up to her chest.

By the time she awakened late in the morning, the other chosen meandered through the garden or lounged in the common room, dressed in their silken robes. Some held palms to foreheads. Others eyes were almost black, their irises consumed by pupils.

Above, figures strolled around the balcony with the slow, measured steps Rina had become accustomed to. A pair inclined their heads and murmured to themselves, and she shivered. Her eyes scanned the room, searching for Anat. Usually, the woman was an early riser and in the middle of a game of cards or flirting by this time. Rina's slippered feet padded to the high windows and out on the patio, but she didn't recognise Anat's sylph-like stroll.

The sweetness of incense struck her—not so strong as after the first dinner. Now, it was but a hint upon the breeze—not like how it had cloyed about Anat's clothing the night before.

She found Anat in her bedroom, Sara sitting by her side. Sara raised her forefinger to her lips.

"How is she?"

Anat's olive skin had paled to a sallow complexion. Her dark lashes fanned out above her cheeks, and her wrist rested across her chest, wrapped in a linen bandage.

"She'll be fine," Sara said, though she didn't sound so sure. As if picking up on Rina's skepticism, she added, "A minor fracture. Anya helped set it."

"Why is Anya so helpful? Every time I'm around her, she looks like she might catch the pox.

Sara laughed and caught herself, casting a wary glance at Anat. "She sure does." She moved toward Rina and whispered, "Perhaps she'll catch the Taint."

"Sara!" Rina hissed. "You shouldn't joke about that."

Sara lifted her shoulders and let them drop again. Her voice plunged to a just-audible level. "I don't believe in the Taint."

A sinking feeling spread through Rina. She'd suspected for some time Sara harbored heretical views—now she knew, she wished she could take the knowledge back.

"Don't look at me like that, Rina. I know about your family—and I'm nothing like them. I don't want to bring down the Magisterium."

"Then why would you think such things?"

Sighing, Sara held Rina's gaze. "Listen, I said I don't believe in the Taint—and I don't. What I believe is that some of us have a strain of the Carnelian Way within us, so powerful, it has the potential to destroy cities."

"That sure as hell sounds like the Taint to me."

"No, Rina, it's different. Think of it like this: when you use your hoe in the field, you can use it to break up the soil ready to plant seeds, or you could use it to kill someone. My scalpel is nothing more than a blade. Potentially deadly—whether it is used with skill and care, or for ill intent. The Taint is nothing more than the Carnelian Way, Rina. I am certain of it."

Pietro's words came to Rina, unbidden.

"The fucking bastards..." "Sucking us dry..." "How bloody much do they think they can take from us before we break?"

She shook her head. No, they wouldn't lie. Mai wouldn't. They took the Taint from them because it was dangerous.

Then, Safiya's words haunted her. "If it's so bad, and he takes it, what does that make him?" Those words had replayed in her mind many times since that class. How much of the Taint could Mai take without risking being twisted himself? What Sara said was different. Not in the same vein of Pietro, but the implications were...

"Think, Rina. What if this Taint is just a construct created after Arkis and Elia destroyed Nebia? What if the Carnelian Way has both light and shadow, and this Taint represents nothing but a tool used the wrong way?"

Rina blinked. The questions crowded her head, pushing past each other, fighting for the attention they deserved.

"I've been trying to understand why we are here, and since the new tests, it's all I've been able to think of."

"What has this got to do with the ability tests?"

"Can't you see, Rina?"

Rina shook her head slowly, ignoring the answer that pounded against her skull.

"They know what each of our skills is. Yet they've got medics like me and growers like you taking lessons from a master weaver." Her face lit with excitement. Her eyes wide, hands gesticulating as she spoke. Don't you see?" she asked one last time. When Rina said nothing, Sara's hands fell. The words were so quiet, Rina questioned if she heard them correctly, even though they matched the thoughts racing through her mind. "What if they're testing our ability to harness the pure Carnelian Way?"

★☾●☽★

A/N: Happy Sunday, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this final part of the chapter. 

What do you think about Sara's suspicions about what Mai and the Magisterium are up to? 

And what happened to Anat? 

Over the next couple of weeks, you'll get to meet Mai. Hopefully, you'll get a sense of if he's good or bad—or somewhere in between. 

Don't hesitate to let me know if you could recommend any improvements, or if anything didn't make sense. If you enjoyed it, please hit that star!

Jas oxox