A Change of Heart

Monday April 12 to Friday March 27, 1491

Reluctantly, I pulled away from Thoren just far enough to lean my forehead against his chest. The golden embroidery of his insignia, the emblem of a Primus of House Bonisagus, very nearly scratched me, and I realized with a pang that he still wore the formal robes from his funeral, the ones cut just so to emphasize the wearer's power, which he had never needed to wear in life — and to which he would no longer be entitled after he left Hades.

Guilt filled my eyes with tears, and I was glad he couldn't see my face. "There's so much to tell you that I don't even know where to start," I said, the fabric muffling the catch in my voice.

Perhaps he heard it, or guessed, anyway, because he made no move to lift my chin. "It is generally accepted practice to start at the beginning," he said, drily but not entirely unsympathetically.

Bustling skirts heralded the arrival of Ynez's drab boots and Zoe's screaming pink slippers.

Very stiffly, in that overly polite voice she reserved for dealing with people she absolutely did not like and wished would just go away, Ynez greeted him. "Magister Thoren."

There was a heartbeat of silence during which each waited for the other to speak. When Ynez continued to stare at him, Thoren said with a degree of emotion I'd rarely heard from him, "Prima Ynez. I appreciate the rescue mission. Especially in light of the history between our Houses."

In a rebellious tone I'd rarely heard from her, Ynez informed him tartly, "In light of my sister's categorical refusal to leave you down here, I couldn't not accompany her." When Thoren accepted her reproof in silence, she added reluctantly, sounding more like herself, "Also, Magister Thoren, um, our House owes you a debt. I — I came down here to repay it."

"A debt?" Thoren looked honestly puzzled.

At the same time, Zoe objected, "I hardly think House Criamon owes House Bonisagus any debts at this point, Ynez." I could practically feel her glare at Thoren. Having sacrificed her career and devoted her life to Ynez, she'd also very thoroughly adopted my sister's opinions on practically everything. (Except for Ynez's acceptance of Avaris' Buddhist teachings, of course. That, of all the things my sister had done, dismayed her. But Zoe hadn't given up returning Ynez to the true faith — and honestly, spent little time trying to. Maybe it formed part of her justification to the hierarchy of House Quaesitor for gallivanting all over Greece with us.)

"Yes, a debt," Ynez persisted. I turned my head just enough to see her jut out her chin stubbornly. "It is a debt of honor, in fact." With the expression of one mounting the scaffold — which she'd probably prefer to any kind of apology to the creator of the Obscura — she admitted, "House Criamon was in part responsible for your death, Magister, and for that I, on behalf of our House, needed to make amends."

Thoren's arms tightened around my back, but his voice was even as he replied, "Prima, I knew and accepted the risks of invading another Hermetic House. I absolve House Criamon of any guilt."

Under her breath, Zoe pointed out, "Especially since it was the one that got invaded in the first place."

Sotto voce, Ynez reminded her, "But Astera — Astera sort of made it happen...." Her voice trailed off.

"What do you mean, Astera made it happen?" Thoren demanded. He pulled back from me to look me in the face. "Marina, what exactly is going on?"

I couldn't bear to meet his eyes and studied the collar of his shirt instead. "It's complicated...," I hedged.

"Yes, I gathered as much," he said intensely. "So please enlighten me."

How angry would he be when he learned the truth? Would he repudiate me? Was this my just dessert for the destruction of Athens? "It turns out that Astera had a plan to, to Ascend — " I began hesitantly.