The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy

Osric dislikes the fact that he thinks so much about Aurienne these days. He goes to the Bunghole, one of the filthiest pubs in the Tīendoms, to track down his latest mark, Scrope—the same unsavory man who left graffiti in the baths of the Randy Unicorn. As Osric waits for the proper opportunity to follow Scrope and torture information out of him, three sex workers arrive, one of whom Osric visually appreciates before noticing that she is really Aurienne in disguise. Shocked, Osric approaches her, but her companions are quick to protect her and extort Osric for money in exchange for a chance to speak with her.

Once the two are alone, he berates her because her presence will require him to divide his attention in order to keep her safe. She bargains with him, asking him to let her try her plan to extract information from Scrope. He points Scrope out for her. When she approaches, Scrope takes immediate interest and draws her to his side. Meanwhile, Osric watches with growing outrage and protectiveness. He listens as she tries to mention Swanstone, but Scrope is more interested in groping Aurienne and propositioning her. She flatters him before temporarily regrouping with Osric, who tells her to try one last time. If her latest attempt fails, he will proceed with his own plan of torture and death. Eventually, Aurienne hits on the idea of flattering Scrope by comparing him to the Wardens, and he whispers the details of the attack on Swanstone and the name of the man who funded it. Aurienne then quickly drops her façade and attempts to leave, but Scrope forcefully detains her. When she insists on leaving, Scrope threatens to track her down the next day.

Aurienne leaves the pub, and the sex workers return her belongings. When she goes back to the waystone, Osric is there waiting, having just nearly killed Scrope with a fork. She hears Scrope groaning in the background and confronts Osric for stabbing the man over 20 times. They argue over Osric’s capacity to kill anyone who inconveniences him, and Osric insists that he was ensuring her safety because he needs her alive. As they argue, Scrope dies.

Osric and Aurienne go to his home, Rosefell Hall, so that Aurienne can wash off the sensation of Scrope’s groping. There, she meets Mrs. Parson, who answers Aurienne’s questions about the history of Osric’s family. As Aurienne washes, she feels guilty for being indirectly involved in Scrope’s murder. When she is finished, she finds that the manor is filled with rare antiques; various portraits depict Osric’s ancestors, who were once knights. Though Aurienne doesn’t understand how his family has fallen so far, she supposes that both knights and assassins are paid for inflicting violence.

She finds Osric surrounded by his dogs, Forgery, Diverse Felonies, and Arson, and learns that he named them for what was happening at the time. The two speak of the manor’s many libraries, and Aurienne finds it disturbing that they both have an interest in anatomy books. She demands that they only use violence as a last resort in the future. Osric attempts to bargain, confused as to why she fears death.

Eventually, Aurienne tells him the name of the man behind the Swanstone attack: Bardolph Wellesley, a retainer of the Wessexian queen. They debate why Wellesley might have an interest in Swanstone. Osric believes the intel is dubious, but Aurienne sends her deofol to inform Xanthe of the new developments. Xanthe’s own deofol comes and demands more concrete proof, then blackmails Osric into infiltrating Wellesley’s castle, citing his likely recurring clot issue and threatening to withhold treatment. Osric demands proper compensation, but Aurienne reminds him that her healing skills are the compensation. When he belittles the healers, Aurienne leaves, offended. Osric chases after her, hating himself for needing her, and agrees to the deal.

Although Osric feels conflicted over his need for Aurienne, he also feels relieved when she agrees to help with any foreseeable clot issues. He admires her for her skills, but he knows that the gulf between them will inevitably remain. He hates that he has come to enjoy helping her and feels as though he has lost a part of himself to her.

Days later, he meets her at a clinic for torn nipples and is shocked to find that Leofric is there as a patient. Osric and Aurienne remain on edge as she treats Leofric for his torn nipples. He eventually leaves after making suggestive comments to Aurienne.

Aurienne brings Osric to a back room to explain that for the June full moon, she has found a location at the Færwundor, near the Glastonbury Tor waystone, where there is a crossing of three ley lines, a labyrinth, and two watercourses; these features should make the area “thin” between the worlds. However, the location is problematic for Osric because it is Druid territory; he murdered their chief Seer some time ago. When Aurienne looks distraught, Osric agrees to try a healing at this location anyway, but she insists that they can’t chance it.

He then informs her of another complication: Wellesley has Fyren-proofed his fortress by flooding it with light and eliminating any of the shadows that Fyrens use to walk about unseen. Aurienne thinks that this measure is suspicious and demands that Osric find a way to infiltrate the fortress. They banter over Osric’s limits and over the question of why he chose to kill the Seer. When Aurienne examines him again, she is astonished to discover that his degeneration has stopped. In his elation over the news, Osric kisses the back of her hand repeatedly.

The residual heady feeling from Osric’s kisses on her hand leaves Aurienne uneasy. She finds herself inappropriately blushing when she thinks about the exchange. Returning to Swanstone, she immerses herself in her work. She attends a Haelan robing ceremony and witnesses her protégés as they graduate and earn their tācn. As she watches the proceedings, she feels inner turmoil over her belief that in her dealings with Osric, she is disregarding everything for which her Order stands.

Partway through the ceremony, someone fetches Aurienne because Xanthe has collapsed from overusing her seith. As Aurienne treats her mentor, she tells Xanthe about Wellesley’s illuminated fortress. Xanthe has Aurienne find an old request from Wellesley, who asked for treatment for his sick child. Xanthe believes they could use this request to infiltrate his fortress.

Days later, Aurienne arrives at the fortress, with Osric disguised as her Warden. They are greeted by Wellesley’s chamberlain, Pipplewaithe, who is attentive to Aurienne but dismissive of Osric. They are brought to their rooms, and Aurienne finds the lack of urgency over the matter of the sick child to be odd; she suspects that the child isn’t really sick, and Osric agrees with her theory.

When they are alone in their rooms, Osric removes his helmet, and for a moment, Aurienne sees him as the knight he could have been in another life. They banter as they try to decipher Wellesley’s hidden intentions. Osric deliberately destroys the food they’ve been given, just in case it has been poisoned. When Osric comments on his plan to inspect Wellesley’s cellar, Wellesley’s daughter strides by, perfectly healthy. Their suspicions confirmed, Osric and Aurienne remove Osric’s armor before he departs.

When he returns near morning, he states that the entire Keep is clean, but he did pilfer intel to sell to other kingdoms (specifically, letters to Wellesley’s seven lovers, a bottle of aged scotch, and a kitten that the guards had left to drown in a bucket). Osric dons his Warden armor just as Pipplewaithe comes to guide them to Wellesley’s reception room. Aurienne and Wellesley briefly speak of his supposedly sick daughter, and he then asks to know the identity of the person who made the large donation to the Haelan Order. She refuses to reveal this information and attempts to leave, but Wellesley orders his men to capture her. Aurienne warns them to let her leave or risk dying themselves, but they follow through on the order.

Osric reveals himself. They believe Osric is powerless because of the lack of shadows, but he shows the extent of his power by walking in the shadows inside the guards’ bodies and killing them from the inside. A massacre ensues, and Wellesley attempts to use Aurienne to shield himself. With her seith, she pinches his carotid artery, intent on rendering him unconscious. When he falls, he smashes his skull open and dies. Osric teases Aurienne for being a murderer.

She and Osric leave the reception room and sit in the lobby as if they were never called in. The chamberlain finds them there and then enters the reception room to find the carnage. Deemed not guilty on account of being a Haelan, Aurienne is spared from the investigation, as is Osric. Aurienne struggles with the fact that she has killed a man. She sends her deofol to Xanthe with the latest development, and her mentor dismisses her guilt, saying that she acted in self-defense.

As Aurienne and Osric wait to be released, Osric goes to drink some of his pilfered Scotch, only to smell a rancid odor. Aurienne recognizes it as sophoglycolate broth, a stabilizer that preserves viruses. She and Osric guess that the bottle contains a sample of the Pox, and Osric reveals that Wellesley’s cellar was full of these bottles. Aurienne no longer feels guilty for killing Wellesley, and she and Osric name the rescued kitten Acts of Warranted Brutality.