The Sun Blade

Metamorphosis

But the only thing there was pain.

*****

"General, she won't survive another treatment," Ivan commented from the doorway. Ivan had been stationed outside Cresana's chamber since the beginning of her treatment to ward away the servants whose curiosities got the better of them. It had been difficult to secure an empty wing of the Little Palace and keep Cresana's treatment from discovery, but the General had insisted on having her kept close to him so he could monitor her progress from moment to moment. With the others, the servants, he had been content to shackle them to the dungeon walls and receive progress reports from the Little Palace apothecary, who had paid to create the tinctures. Once the formula had been perfected, the General had dismissed the apothecary and sent him home to Udova in exalted praise for his many years of loyal service. Ivan had later learned that the apothecary had mysteriously died of natural causes on the road to the Fold in preparation for his crossing home. Ivan knew the General well enough to know that, while the apothecary's death may have appeared mysterious to outsiders, it was no mistake. The General was a careful man, and he did not abide loose ends.

The earlier attempts – "the experiments", as Kirigan called them – had been conducted in the utmost secrecy. Although Ivan begrudged Kirigan for withholding the plans from him, Ivan also recognized the necessity of such secrecy. If anyone, especially the King, had gotten wind of Kirigan's plans, the General would no doubt have ordered Kirigan's immediate execution. Most of the Second Army would have backed Kirigan, Ivan thought, although not all. The First Army would of course have sided with the King. Ravka would have been plunged into a civil war.

Kirigan had assured Ivan that the sensitive nature of the work demanded he keep it a secret even from his top advisor. The apothecary had been under the strictest supervision and threat of death throughout the process, and Kirigan only involved the man because he alone did not possess the knowledge of how to prepare such elaborate treatments. The apothecary had originally defied Kirigan's orders, threatening to expose his experiments to the King, but after Kirigan had paid a visit to the apothecary's home in Udova and returned to the Little Palace with the apothecary's whole family in chains "for insurance", his cooperation had been seamless.

That had been almost four years ago.

"She will," Kirigan replied simply, standing with his hands clasped behind his back, regarding the writhing woman with a cool indifference. Any hint of envy Ivan felt at not being selected to be crafted into Kirigan's Sun Summoner had long since dissipated, replaced only by a begrudging admiration for the Blade's endurance. Ivan felt certain that the woman's body would not last through the night, but the General was confident in his prediction and insisted that the treatment wasn't complete until her blood ran black.

When Ivan had first confronted Kirigan about the stories Baghra had revealed to him and the Blade, Ivan had expected Kirigan to have him executed. In retrospect, Ivan had allowed his emotions to get the better of him. As soon as he had returned to the Little Palace late that night from Baghra's hut, he had insisted that the General be awoken immediately.

Kirigan's temper was not overly reactive, but he had been incensed that night at being summoned out of bed like a commoner. Ivan had worried for a moment that Kirigan would use the Cut on him, slicing him in two like a loaf of bread.

Kirigan hadn't, but his rage had been awesome to witness.

Ultimately, it was the intensity of Kirigan's rage that convinced Ivan to confront him. To lie to the General in such a state would be perilous, and Ivan knew Kirigan's propensity for recognizing lies in others, especially those he knew well.

And so, Ivan had asked him.

"Why are you experimenting on Otkazat'sya?" he had blurted out, interrupting Kirigan in the middle of an outraged rant about the importance of knowing one's place in relation to your superiors.