When they returned, Anat had gone. Mehdi sat in her place, sagging in the chair as Anya dabbed at beads of sweat on his temple. The floor was clean, though the reek of bile still lingered, and Anat's chair lay vacant.

Rina sat, and Martha took her hand.

"Better?"

Rina gave a weak smile in confirmation."Where's Anat?"

"I'm not sure." Martha paused and worried her lip. "She went with one of the guards, but they wouldn't say where they planned to take her."

For a moment, Rina felt like she was falling, her legs becoming loose. She looked at Olav, but he shook his head and tilted his chin to the stage below.

She peered down. Agum and Esther, and that torture device—thank the gods— had disappeared, as had the judge. Eight witnesses remained. No, the judge had replaced one of them. A sharp voice rang out, shadowed by the sound of a metal hinge opening. A guard shoved Lord Cassander into the room—the one who led them into the complex. Sara trailed them, dressed in the plain brown robes typical of the Denese in Amadore, her lank hair spilling over her face. She was shackled, footsteps short and jerky from the constraints.

A bell clanged, and one of the witnesses stood. "All stand for his imperial majesty, Emperor Mai.

The crowd stood with a rustle of silks and satins. Rina placed her hands to the balustrade, gripping the stone.

He glided like a wraith. A dark shadow as he moved across the floor, as if his feet need not touch it, and ascended the high dais to the judge's chair—now an ebony throne. He sat and pulled back his hood, revealing those bright-blue eyes. They slid up to the booth, seizing hers. Her breath hitched. His face was paler than before, with a hollow, sunken look, though it might be just a trick of the shadows. And then he was gone, so quick she might have imagined it.

He turned his attention to the congregation. "Sit," he said, his words a command. So different from when they were alone. No warmth. No emotion. No room for defiance.

The courtroom did, rustling like rain on Autumn leaves.

An attendant ushered Sara to a simple chair, and she sat, wringing her hands and looked up to the box. Rina gave her a weak smile.

With a curl of his hand, Mai indicated for Lord Cassander to step forward. Cassander did, his right arm in a sling, the fingers braced. There was a red mark at his temple, his hair artfully styled, like he wanted to show the injury to best effect.

"This woman, this medic, Sara, stands accused of purposefully causing you harm. Is this true?"

"It is, Your Magnificence—and...she enjoyed, it, too," he added on a snarl.

Mai frowned, looking thoughtful. He turned to Sara, her shoulders hunched, feet bare and dirty. Gods, what had they done to her?

"Why, my lord, would she do that to you?"

A mumble began to rise in the assembly. A witness thumped a staff against the floor and silence fell again.

Cassander gawked at Mai, his mouth open.

"Speak, my lord. Why. Would. She. Do. That?" Mai said, a pause punctuating each word.

"I—Your Magnificence—because..." Cassander turned on Sara, who, reflexively—or wisely, Rina didn't know which—flinched. "Because she's a tainted, spiteful, Arkis-spawned—"

Mai cut him off. "Let me assure you, Lord Cassander, while her bloodline is strong, it is not that of Arkis."

"Your Magnificence?" Cassander's expression changed from fear to confusion. "I don't understand."

A slow smile spread across Mai's face. He reclined in his throne, crossing one leg over another, as he did, exposing fitted black leather trousers and boots. He took a moment to inspect a nail. "You attributed her attack to Arkis's blood running through her veins. I am telling you, she has none of it."

Cassander stared.

"You appear to be lost, lord Cassander."

Cassander shook his head and winced at the movement.

"I repeat myself. Why. Did. She. Attack. You?"

"Your Magnificence, she—she's tainted!"

Fingers steepled, Mai leaned forward in his chair. "Hmm, tainted," he repeated. "It seems I have been lax in plucking the Taint from her soul, then—yes?"

"No! Your Grace, I wouldn't suggest—"

"Ah, but you did." Mai chuckled. A chill seemed to settle about the room, and Rina shivered.

"Now it's my time to be confused, Lord Cassander," Mai said. "First, you accuse this woman of being spawned from Arkis, and then you accuse me of being remiss in my duty of keeping the Taint from the souls of those under my protection. Tell me what it is."

Rina spared herself a glance about the gallery. It was hard to tell, but she thought she saw discontent iin some of the attendees—pressed lips, raised brows and stiff backs. No response came, and the silence hung heavy.

After a time, Mai sighed. He flicked his hand in a shooing motion and Cassander scuttled away.

"Sara," Mai barked. He jerked his hand for her to come.

Rina moved to the edge of her seat. The stone had warmed beneath her skin, wet with her sweat.

Sara stood and shuffled forward, her stride hampered by the chains, one eye covered by her hair, her hands clasped before her—shackled too. Rina grit her teeth. What could Sara do before Mai or the gathered Magisters? Nothing. The restraints were nothing more than humiliation, and at that moment, she hated them for it.

"Sara, you stand accused of intentionally injuring a Euran nobleman who came to you for healing. Is this true?"

For the first time since entering the courtroom, Sara lifted her chin. From the way Mai's eyebrows quirked, Rina knew Sara met him dead on. "I did, Your Magnificence."

Mai's forehead creased two furrow lines below it. Glints of mage light flickered across his curling black hair as he shifted in his seat. Again, he steepled his fingers, resting his chin on the fingertips.

"Did I not choose you for your ability to help Eurora?"

"You did."

"Are you tainted?"

Beside Rina, Martha began to tremble, and she washed her hands. Sara lifted her chin higher. "I am not, Your Magnificence."

"Hmm." Mai lounged in his throne. "Something is missing, then."

Rina bit her lip, waiting. Sara wouldn't speak until asked, but the strain of keeping back her answer apparent in the woman's set jaw.

Waving his hand, Mai said, "Enlighten me, if you will, medic Sara."

For a moment, Sara pressed her lips together, as if holding back a flood of emotions. The dam cracked. "He tortured her, the pig. He did it for his sadistic pleasure, and to force her into—" She never finished the sentence.

"Lies!" shrieked Cassander, jumping to his feet. "She's nothing but a whore!"

Shocked murmurs broke as the attendees turned to each other and whispered. Sara had slumped to the floor, bent over her knees, sobbing, while Cassander paced, crying out curses and accusations.

Mai thrust his palm in Cassander's direction, and Cassander froze mid-stride. Silence.

"Sara, please continue." This time Mai's words were gentle, enticing, as they slithered through the room.

Left hand still in place, and Cassander little more than a statue, Mai raised his right hand, palm upward, and Sara's form unfurled like a bloom, stretching until she dangled just above the floor, then landed on the marble. "Come now, child, tell me."

Mai's words pulled, and all Rina wanted to do was to tell him everything. About her past, the men she'd loved, how she loved him more than anyone. Of her doubts and all her dreams. Yet the words were not for her.

"He snapped her wrist first—and had some clumsy magister or acolyte heal it all wrong. She'd been acting strangely before—like she was high on something, and there was an odd smell about her—something sweet. Like incense, but different."

One of the witnesses stood. "No magister of the medic order would do such a thing. The girl—"

With the swipe of a hand, Mai stole the words from the man's mouth.

"Carry on."

"She told me she fell, and I believed her at the time. The wrist was set and healed. Then, a few days later, she went to him again—the gods know why after what he did." More mumbling. Rina caught the word slut. "She must have snuck out. I woke when she came back, bloodied and hysterical, and—I comforted her."

The fact Sara left out the details about the invisible shield Anat had created to keep people away from her didn't escape Rina's notice.

"Before she was taken away, she told me what happened."

Mai didn't say anything. He waited as Sara took deep breaths.

"He forced himself on her. Not at first. At first, it was consensual, but after, when he wanted more, and she said no..." Mai's face reddened. "He hurt her and threatened her family if—"

"The little slut, she's lying—"

Cassander had managed to slip from Mai's magical grip, but Mai squeezed his hand into a fist and Cassander grabbed for his throat, a strangled wail escaping his lips, eyes popping open so wide the white's shone.

The blue of Mai's eyes suddenly glowed. "You will shut your mouth, or I'll take your tongue, do you hear me, lordling?"

Cassander croaked a strange sound and was silent again. A second later, Mai let him go, and he crumpled to the ground, hands splayed before him, hacking.

Mai ignored Cassander. "Why would he do this, she had already said yes, hadn't she?"

"He wanted her to...to ignite the spark. To conceive a child."

Gasps filled the room. Mixed raced children were all but illegal—as relations between the Denese and other castes were forbidden. Unclean. It had been this way since the Devastation.  No, before then—at least in Denea. The mages had limited marriage outside its race to political marriages of necessity. Mai was the only known child of such a union. A half-blood prince who became a god-like emperor.

Half-blood, but still so powerful.

Rina furrowed her brow, remembering her readiness to give a child to Fin, after knowing him mere weeks. Curious that the intense urge had gone and not come back. Guilty, she reached for Fin's pendant and toyed with it.

"Why?" Mai persisted.

Sara fumbled. "You said—I thought it was okay, after that dinner. That we could be with who we wanted..." Her face flushed. It was unusual to see a medic flush when talking about such matters.

Mai smiled. "I never said she couldn't have a child or take him as a lover. You are right. I certainly implied this was fine. Anat is an exceptional young woman, and any person present would be privileged to have her as a mate. Tell me, Sara, do you understand why he wanted her to have his child so badly?"

Sara shook her head.

"Do you know why she didn't want to have his?"

Sara hesitated. "There is someone else. Back home."

"Ah. So she didn't want anything...permanent, not so early on—as is her right," Mai clarified.

Someone cursed. "Blasphemy!" another shouted. A single man, in the maroon of a high-magister, stood. Others followed suit—perhaps twenty, magisters and nobles alike—sweeping their robes about them and sidestepping to the aisle. Rina couldn't believe it. They'd defy their emperor, just like that.

She needn't have worried. Not half of the dissenters had reached the aisle when Mai called out, "Halt!"

An amber wash moved across his eyes, turning the irises a glowing green. His face paled further. The veins in his necks became cords, visible even from where Rina sat.

"How dare you walk out without my permission. I. Am. Not. Done. You will sit. Now!"

The mutters died. Those who had made to leave hurried back to the seats. All but one. Rina realised it was the high magister who'd first rebelled. They didn't move.

"Sit while you still can, high-magister Ro."

Rina squinted. It was Ro. Her robe had concealed the blonde hair, but there it was, strands straying from her hood.

"I won't have it. This is too much." Ro turned on her heel and began to ascend.

Mai moved swifter than the wind. He rose into the air, hand a claw. Ro flew to him, like a sea bird flung through a storm, until Mai hovered over her, once again a dark wraith.

"This is too much. You stand on the knife-edge of treason, high-magister Ro. Beg my pardon now, and I will allow you back to the rank of magister. Choose not to, and you will be tried for high treason."

Ro gulped. The air pulsed about her, yellow flashes of light crackling. Mai inhaled, drinking in the light. Rina gasped, and Mai's green eyes darted to her. Their eyes locked. Was she the only one who saw him do that? A faint, crooked smile crossed his face, as if sharing a secret, and then his eyes were back on Ro.

Ro's mouth began to move.

Mai cocked his head, tilting his head to listen. "I didn't hear that."

"Beg pardon, Your Magnificence."

Mai's mouth was a red slash, his words cutting, as he said, "I don't think our companions heard."

This time, Ro all but cried out, "Beg pardon, Your Magnificence."

"Thank you, Magister Ro. I trust this small fall will remind you of your place."

Ro fell to the marble. The thunk was like the sound a meat slab landing on the butcher's block. Rina flinched. Ro moaned, clutching at her knee. At a signal from Mai, two of the guards dragged her from the orchestra.

Settling back in his throne, Mai assessed the crowd. His eyes were blue again. His face a mask.

One of the witnesses, a high-magister, spoke. "Thank you for your mercy to one of ours that lost herself, Your Magnificence."

A chorus of, "Hail Mai the Merciful," accompanied him. Rina joined in. If Mai could forgive Ro this, surely there was some hope for her uncle.

"Now that is over, we will proceed with the matter at hand." Mai addressed Sara again. "Would you like to know why he was so insistent?"

She swallowed and said hesitantly, "Yes, Your Magnificence."

"It is because the magister class comes from two bloodlines—the Euran and the Denese—though many of my esteemed members prefer to pretend this is not the case."

Behind her, Olav hissed.

Mai had told her he wanted to restore balance, but if the magisterium was founded from both races, why did so many of her people remain in the northern settlements—or the mines of Hypat in Old Denea? Had the interbreeding only lasted a short while? Had those first Denese shown themselves to be deceitful? She thought of her uncle and Isaac and their rebellion, grimacing. Probably.

The bloodlines were carefully monitored in Amadore. The fertility rate wasn't high, so the defects associated with consanguineous couplings were avoided at all costs—yet, as in the case of her aunt and uncle, Rina suspected the unhappy matches also contributed to low birth rates. If the creation of the magister class had halted prematurely, they would have needed to be very careful with their unions. No doubt, they had elected to partner with the aristocrats over commoners.

And now, the Magisterium bloodlines were weakening, while the Denese...

"What I don't know," Mai said," is how Cassander learned this before I announced it, and why with this knowledge, instead of being patient, he chose to ignore a sacred rule. The reason Cassander wanted a child so bad was that if it had the Carnelian Way, it would join the orders of the Magisterium."

Mai twisted to Cassander. "She turned you down, so you thought to force your family up the ladder, didn't you? A Magister for a second child would elevate your house. But you forgot that it would also pose a risk—a mental taint. A rot in the roots."

Cassander shook, still unable to voice any words, though it was clear he fought against Mai's restraint.

"Guards, bring her in."

The door to the orchestra floor opened again, and Anat entered. She seemed small and frail so far down.

Sara ran forward and into Anat's arms, cradling her face into the crook of Anat's shoulder. A racking sob was audible from the balcony.

"Ladies," Mai interrupted. They separated and faced Mai together.

"Anat, you had something forced upon you. Just as pre-acolyte Esther was entitled to take something from Agum Nar, so are you entitled to take something from Lord Cassander."

Anat blinked. Sara blanched.

"However, Sara, of my Chosen, has already taken pain and pride from him. Should you wish, this might be his penance."

Anat's eyes widened. "What would happen to Sara if I accepted this?"

"She would help raise the child in Lord Cassander's place, and the balance would be restored."

Anat glanced at Sara, who nodded. Even from a distance, Rina thought she saw a sparkle in Sara's eyes. Squeezing Sara's hand tighter, and placing her other on her stomach, Anat spoke. "I agree, Your Magnificence. Thank you."

"As you will. Lord Cassander, I trusted you—wrongly it seems—to be part of something important. For your treachery, your bones will be left to heal naturally, without the aid of a magister medic or poppy juice. As for your family, from this generation and the next, you are barred from partnering with any member, or pre-acolyte, of the Magisterium, nor the Denese—Chosen or otherwise."

Mai settled a stony gaze upon the audience. "My Chosen are selected for their purity and their devotion to me. They have been watched. Tested. Found to be worthy. They are essential in our ongoing battle against the Taint and our strength as a nation. While few can wield it, the Carnelian Way moves through everything—as does the Taint. I tell you, anyone who sets out to injure or conspire against me or mine will be considered a traitor and assessed for the Taint.

"Today, I have been lenient. Let this be a first and final warning. I will not be disobeyed."

Beside her, Martha stood and clapped. Mehdi a second later, then Nabu, and Martha, and Olav. Slowly, pattering claps came from the assemblage, hesitant, but there. Rising to her feet, Rina felt hot tears running down her cheeks. He'd chosen them. Mai had chosen the Denese over a Euran lord. Over a high magister. The world was changing. He was rebuilding—and she was part of it. 

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A/N: Thank you for reading, lovely people. This is the final part of chapter 22. I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for sticking with me and the slow pace (I don't think I'll ever be a fast-paced writer). Also, if I'm slow to respond to any comments, I promise I will get back to them. It's a hectic time to work in the health system right now.

Much love oxox

Banner art: Contingency Plan by Artofryanyee om DeviantArt