Fall of Ruin and Wrath

For the next several days, things continue as normal. No one speaks of the ni’mere attack. Lis struggles to shake a new feeling of unbelonging. She is convinced that she will see Thorne again.

In the middle of the night, Claude calls for Lis. She finds him in an antechamber with several of his advisors. She can tell that he has been using Midnight Oil, one of the most popular drugs in the realm, as well as drinking alcohol. He tells her that four members of the Royal Court are visiting. He is nervous that they will question him about being late paying his tithes to the crown. Although Lis wants to scold him for spending so lavishly lately, she resists the urge. Instead, she asks what she can do for him and learns that Claude wants Lis to go to the bed of one of the men. He needs information about why they are visiting to prepare for their meeting in the morning. She wants to say no, but she knows that she needs to be useful to him, so she agrees.

Lis therefore goes with Grady to see Maven. She is an older woman whom no one knows anything about, although there are rumors that she is Claude’s grandmother.