The Priory of the Orange Tree

Truyde is imprisoned for her role in the attack on the royal retinue. She confesses that she hired “playing company” (a theater troupe) to stage an attack on Sabran. Sabran would believe herself in great danger and agree to seek an alliance with the East. However, doomsingers—followers of the Nameless One—infiltrated Truyde’s plan. Following Truyde’s confession, Aubrecht’s killer is caught. Meanwhile, Loth writes to Margret of Kit’s death and the presence of the malicious Cupbearer in Sabran’s court. Ead and Margret cannot discern the identity of the Cupbearer, though the reference sticks in Ead’s head.

Sabran mourns Aubrecht deeply. She also feels physically sick from her pregnancy and worries about the future of her kingdom. Since she couldn’t save Aubrecht, she fears her blood may not be enough to hold back the forces of the Nameless One. She also confesses to Ead that though she should be happy to be pregnant, she struggles with the idea of pregnancy and motherhood. Ead comforts Sabran. Sabran tells Ead that she is not sure what she would do without Ead.

Tané is brought to the governor general of Seikii, who tells her Sulyard confessed that a woman with a scar under her eye hid him when he arrived in the East. The governor has identified that woman as Tané. Tané confesses her role and motive in hiding Sulyard. She questions why Susa had to die, and the governor tells her it was because of her complicity in hiding Tané’s secret. The governor says that by the time he learned a dragon had asked for mercy for Susa, she had already been executed. The governor also informs Tané about the disappearance of Niclays and the capture of Nayimathun by the Fleet of the Tiger Eye. Although Tané deserves to be executed for violating the Great Edict, “out of respect for the great Nayimathun” (335), the governor will let her live but exiles her to Feather Island for the rest of her life.

Loth awakens from nightmares in a beautiful room. He discovers he no longer has the symptoms of the dragon plague. Chassar asks him to join his table and explains to Loth that they are at the Priory of the Orange Tree in Lasia. The priory was founded by the Mother, whom Loth knows as the Maiden or Cleolind, to slay wyrms and protect the South. The ichneumon—whose name is Aralaq and is a child of the Priory—informed the sisters that he had found a man with an iron box in the mountains. The sisters finally located Loth in the room in Rauca. Since Jondu is dead, the prioress believes that Loth might have killed her.

Loth tells Chassar the truth, but though Chassar believes Loth, he warns Loth that he will now have to stay at the Priory since he knows of its existence. Chassar also tells Loth that the woman Loth knew as Ead is Eadaz, “one of the most gifted” of the Priory’s mages and sent to protect Sabran (342). Chassar calls the religion of the Inysh an “invented faith” based on the central lie that Galian defeated the Nameless One and rescued Cleolind. The truth is that when the Nameless One came to Lasia, the Lasian king tried to stall him by sacrificing his people to the wyrm one by one. On the day that Cleolind, the king’s daughter, was to be sacrificed, Galian the Inysh knight came to Lasia with the sword Ascalon to fight the wyrm. However, Galian would fight the wyrm only if Cleolind then married him and the Lasians converted to his religion (the Six Virtues).Cleolind refused; Galian fought the wyrm nonetheless but fell. Cleolind then fought the wyrm deep into the Lasian basin, where it badly wounded her. However, she found refuge under a great orange tree, the fruit of which healed her and gave her immense powers. She bound the Nameless One for 1,000 years and founded the Priory, where she remained. The idea that Cleolind went to Inys as Galian’s bride is a lie that Galian made up.

Bound in a rowboat, Niclays dreams about his 30 years with Jannart. As the two men grew old, Jannart considered leaving Inys so that he and Niclays could finally live together openly. His wife, Aleidine, would understand since she and Jannart had grown to be close friends. Jannart was only waiting because he wanted to spend a little more time with his granddaughter, Truyde. Around this time, Jannart showed Niclays a piece of fabric he had inherited from his aunt. The fabric was decorated with strange characters, and Jannart knew it was part of a document of great importance; he decided to go to a Seiikinese library where he believed the script could be interpreted (it later emerges that Niclays never saw Jannart alive after he left for this journey, as Jannart was found dead in an inn shortly after his return, having been infected by a wyvern).

As Niclays is hauled up onto a massive ship, he wakes up and realizes he is missing his possessions, including the scrap of fabric. The ship is called the Pursuit. Niclays is tied to a mast, and a Lacustrine woman, flanked by six pirates, approaches him. She is the ship’s captain, the infamous pirate known as the “Golden Empress.” The woman tells him he is alive only because of the obviously valuable relics that were on him, such as the scrap of fabric. She asks him what the writing means, and Niclays admits he has no idea. When Niclays tells her he is a doctor, the Golden Empress appoints him the ship surgeon. Niclays’s life will depend on his success in this role. She also tells him that Nayimathun is drugged and in the ship’s hold.