Chapter 17

The protagonist awakens tortured and imprisoned by Rekk Zharos, who reveals he killed Essi as bait to capture her. Rekk discovers she is a dual-bead and attempts to coerce information about The Flourish and the Elding by threatening torture, but she refuses to betray Sereme and endures a brutal whipping rather than comply.

The protagonist regains consciousness hanging by her wrists in a stone chamber, her body ravaged from torture. She discovers her internal lake of power is fractured and realizes Rekk Zharos—identifiable by his clattering spurred boots—is her captor. Rekk reveals he killed Essi to lure her as bait, and she bit off his finger during the struggle. When he accuses her of being a dual-bead, she feigns ignorance but he notices her eyes changing color from black to blue. Rekk reveals he tracked her through a runed note that Levvi, the musician from the Hungry Hollow, gave her containing her living quarters information—a detail that torments the protagonist as she realizes her carelessness endangered both Essi and potentially Sereme and The Flourish. Rekk offers her a choice: provide information about The Elding or The Flourish's location to avoid being handed to The Crown, or he will torture her. The protagonist refuses, spitting blood in his face. Rekk strips away her clothing and whips her repeatedly with an iron-tipped whip. Despite the agony, the protagonist endures the beating in silence, viewing it as penance for Essi's death and her own failures, until she loses consciousness.