Guards come running to Terisa's room. Geraden directs them to the secret passage in the wardrobe. Then the Castellan comes, spitting fire...Sitting cross-legged on the rug, Terisa clamped her hands to the sides of her head to keep her mind from flying apart. She didn't understand; none of it made any sense. Master Eremis. Gart. What were they doing to her?
"Terisa?"
And why was Geraden so angry at her? He was her friend. Why was he so suddenly blind to her pain?
"Did he hurt you?"
He was her friend. He must have a good reason for snarling at her as if she had broken his heart. She struggled to concentrate. The room was full of disaster. She had to think.
The Castellan demands cooperation this time. Geraden tells him that the Monomach has once again tried to kill them...but they had been saved by Eremis, who had been there with Terisa. Terisa tells them that Eremis had arrived while she was asleep, but Geraden seems to feel no better. Geraden tells Lebbick that when he came to Terisa's room, the guards thought she was alone. The explanation for both Eremis and Gart entering her room had to be the secret passage in the wardrobe, and that Eremis must know about it because Saddith, his lover, told him about it."Don't torture yourself, Geraden...she isn't worth it..."
Lebbick tells them he will wait for more explanations for the meeting of the Congery. He then leaves them alone, in a room filled with misunderstandings and pain.
He hadn't shifted his stance an inch. Dim gray from the windows and dull red from the hearth lay along the stone lines of his cheeks and jaw, his straight nose, his strong forehead. Nor a muscle move. His hair curled into darkness.
His eyes were closed.
This was her fault: he was in so much pain because of her. Because he had found her nearly naked with Master Eremis. Because he had seen the Master touch her so intimately.
"I didn't invite Master Eremis here. He came while I was asleep. That's why I'm dressed like this.
"He wanted me to choose between you."
A muscle twitched in Geraden's cheek, a knot of pain.
"I think he's probably the only man in Orison who has a chance to save Mordant. he has the ability to make things happen." That was the limit of her honesty. "But I chose you."
His eyes popped open. A subtle alteration of the planes and lines of his expression made him appear both astonished and suspicious. His voice continued to shake.
"Your robe was open."
"He did that. I didn't."
For a long moment, he reamined motionless - and yet, in spite of the fact that he wasn't moving, she seemed to see the entire structure of his face being transfigured, the whole landscape behind his eyes and emotions reforming. he didn't smile: he wasn't ready for that. But the potential for a smile was restored.
Slowly, he unbent his arms from his chest. Slowly, he reached out his hand and stroked her cheek as if to wipe away tears she hadn't shed.
Unable to hold back, she flung her arms around him and hugged him desperately, as if he could cure her shame.
Terisa sends Geraden away to visit his brother. She dresses in her new clothing, delivered by the tailor, and goes to meet with the King, the Tor, and Adept Havelock. the three are drinking Rostrum wine, from a small village famous for their vino. Terisa tells them that she is worried for Geraden, because Master Eremis has said that he wishes to ruin the younger man in front of the Congery. She calls Eremis a liar, but admits that she has no proof. The King says he trusts Geraden, but not Terisa, as he is sure that she lied to him about Myste's whereabouts. He threatens, in fact, to throw her into the dungeon over the matter.
To Terisa's astonishment, Joyse isn't at all angry when he learns where Myste actually went -- and he says that he is glad his daughter has done something he can be proud of. And he tells Terisa he has deliberately kept her ignorant to keep her alive and safe. But he refuses to tell her who his (and her) enemies are."No!" The cry burst from her before she could stop it. "I'll tell you. I'll tell you anything. Geraden needs me. If I'm not there, he'll have to face the Congery alone."
After being sent away by Joyse, Terisa meets Geraden for dinner in her rooms. It doesn't take long for the Congery to send for Geraden. Terisa joins him, even though she has not been invited.
Castellan Lebbick is at the meeting, along with Nyle, of all people. Geraden is shocked to see his brother, and even more shocked when Eremis states that Nyle will support the accusations against Geraden!
Geraden gets to go first. He talks about how Terisa had been attacked four times by Gart, about the secret passage in her room...about the meeting of Eremis with Kragen and the Lords of the Cares...that Eremis was Saddith's lover, and used the maid to spy upon Terisa..."We hold this meeting to consider a question which I will not attempt to soften." His manner suggested that he might be looking for a place to hide, yet his voice was firm. "As you all know, Master Eremis claims that Apt Geraden is a traitor to the Congery and to Orison, to King Joyse and to Mordant. He also says that Apt Geraden will make the same claim of him. We will hear both speak. They will give their reasons. They will provide what corroboration they can. And we will try to determine the truth."
Eremis defends himself with something close enough to the truth that it sounds VERY plausible...and his accusations directed towards Geraden hinge upon his close working relationship with the known traitor Gilbur, as they had worked on the champion's mirror together.
Barsonage and others clearly do not believe this ...and they want to know what is going on and, more importantly -- WHY.
Terisa rises to the occasion and provides the why. She explains that she knows that Eremis is a liar. That he had mentioned the attack by the killer cockroaches -- and he had no way of knowing about that because no one had told him about them. And the Masters are clearly believing her! (Go, Girl! Go Girl! Go Girl!)
Eremis calls Nyle forward. Geraden and Nyle go to one end of the room. The two brothers have soft words no one can hear and a bit of a tussle. Then a knife falls to the floor, all covered in blood. Nyle slumps to the floor. Geraden's hands are all bloody.