The Kotaku sat on his ornate chair beneath the gently swaying leaves of the vivinder tree, his skin turned a deep blue in their light. Rial could see him clearly though there were barely half the usual number of lanterns alight within the courtyard, and though the night sky was obscured by the branches above. The inner light of the vivinder leaves that had been hinted at the last time Rial had stood here was no longer a hint; the glow of each was strong and clear.

The light revealed all yet hid much, features changed in curious ways by patterns of light and dark that made corners round and soft curves sharp. The stream that flowed around the square seemed a part of that square, the boundaries where water met land indistinguishable.

More than that, the blue light changed the expressions of those around him. Rial could not tell if the look on Seb’s face was one of concern or anger as the old head servant stood at the Kotaku’s side. He seemed frail, far weaker than Rial had ever seen him, bent in on himself.

Aside from Seb and the Kotaku all others stood on the edges of the courtyard, and their feelings too were concealed by the light. Shaleigh, who had rushed back to the compound the instant she heard Rial had arrived, looked passive, empty, her eyes dark pools from which nothing escaped. Rial was sure he would be able to see more in more natural light.

Rei stood slightly besides and behind Shaleigh, deeper in the shadows. Rial could make nothing out of her expression.

In lines either side of his two former companions were various servants and other interested parties who were prominent enough to be welcome in the courtyard. He could not see Eselwol; Rial assumed he was not healthy enough to make it here.

Trian also was not there. He had been ordered to leave shortly after bringing Rial to the Kotaku, several long hours ago, after which Rial had been made to wait in a small side chamber as others were roused and gathered.

Rial didn’t spare much attention for the bystanders, though. Not when the Kotaku sat in front of him, a faint smile on his face as if at a joke only he could see.

They began by making Rial tell his story, starting from the moment he had departed the village with Brin and the others on their expedition to the water source. It was Seb that asked the questions, clear and to the point, whilst the Kotaku stared unblinkingly at Rial, always with the same faint smile. Seb had clearly been coached on what to say in advance; Rial wondered when the Kotaku had managed that.

Occasionally the Kotaku would nod as if Rial’s tale agreed with some supposition he already held, but the timing of these nods was always strange and Rial could see no logic to them. It unnerved him despite his best efforts. The Kotaku was obviously not free of the effects of the red water.

Rial was allowed to tell his story to the very end, but well before that he knew the Kotaku did not believe him. It was in the man's sneer, the set of his shoulders as he hunched forward like a hagetak over a carcass. The Kotaku was only humouring Rial until he could pounce. Rial could see it clear as a two-sun day.

Let him pounce, Rial told himself inwardly. He won't know what hit him.

"And that's what you want us to believe, is it boy?" sneered the Kotaku derisively once Rial had finished. He was drumming his long fingernails into the wood of his chair in a strangely arrhythmic way, and as he leaned in closer towards Rial a web of new folds in his skin were visible. The man was no more than 40 suns or so, yet he looked far older.

Rial did not let his fear show.

“It’s not what I want you to believe. It’s what I’m telling you is true.”

Disapproving murmurs rippled through the audience surrounding them; it was not done to speak to the Kotaku in such a direct manner, but a mixture of tension and fatigue had worn away whatever patience Rial had left. He would not simply stand here whilst the Kotaku toyed with him.

The Kotaku laughed, a ragged, guttural laugh that spoke of deep-down sickness.

“And yet we have another whose account tells a greatly different tale.” The Kotaku turned his head to where Shaleigh and Rei stood. “Come, girl.”

Rei stepped out from behind Shaleigh, and Rial could see the hesitation in her movements. Someone who was not familiar with her would have seen only the usual cool bluster and aggressive assertiveness, but Rial noticed the slight drag to her step, the way her hands reached down to the place her knives usually hung. They were not there now.

Rei was as wary of the Kotaku as she was of Rial, eyes flickering between the both of them as if expecting an attack from either at any time. Even without her knives she had an aura of readiness, of danger.

The Kotaku did not seem to notice any of this.

“Come, girl, come here,” he said irritably, gesturing her over towards him.

The Kotaku reached out a hand, a hand Rial could now see was disquietingly thin, and placed it on Rei’s shoulder, spinning her to face the captive. He raised his other hand and pointed at Rial.

“This one. This is the one you say has the power of a demon?”

There was an eager rasp in the Kotaku’s voice now. He licked his lips in anticipation.

Rei did not respond at first. Her eyes rose to meet Rial’s, cutting through the fatigue and anger he felt. He could see the worry in them, the fear, and more.

“He spoke the truth,” she said hurriedly. “He did clear the stream of its poison.”

The Kotaku pushed her shoulder with the hand that lay there, frustrated.

“And how did he do that? Tell us, girl. Tell us what you told me when you first returned.” The Kotaku spoke to Rei but his gaze remained fixed on Rial.

“He… summoned a dark energy. It spoke from the air and boiled the stream. I… I don’t know what it was.” Her eyes fell from Rial to the ground as she spoke.

She had seen that? How long had she watched him after he thought she had left? Rial grit his teeth. Mead hadn’t thought to tell him?

“Ha!”

The Kotaku actually cackled, like some fairy-tale character the elders would imitate for the village children.

“We should have left you to the slavers, boy!” he laughed, drawing shocked whispers from the onlookers. “Something told me I needed to be rid of you. I don’t know why I didn’t see it earlier!”

Rial had not thought of the Kotaku with anything but rage for a long time, but still those words felt like knives in his back. Memories of the man who had smiled at the boy hiding amongst the khiladri statues flashed across his mind in an instant. He could hardly countenance that the kind, gentle man whose shoulders he had once ridden around the village was the same being as the wrinkled, vile husk that sat before him now.

“Cangue! Jia suo!” shouted the Kotaku. Seb, standing beside him, gasped.

The whispering of the people gathered around the square redoubled, questioning now. Rial had never heard of such a thing, and it seemed that neither had most here.

“Jia suo!” the Kotaku shouted again.

Seb shuffled to the side of the square and whispered something to two servants waiting there. The two hurried off as the Kotaku turned back to Rial.

“And now, boy, you will return what you have in that bag. It is not yours to have.”

The Kotaku shoved Rei out of the way and looked covetously at the strap hanging over Rial's shoulder.

They had left his pack with him; Rial had felt the reassuring weight of Mead pressing into his back throughout this "trial."

He made no move to hand it over now.

The two servants returned whilst Rial and the Kotaku stared at each other, each willing the other to move first. A susurration through the crowd distracted Rial first, and his head turned to look at what had caused it.

Behind the two servants came another three, houseboys barely old enough to work in the compound. They carried between them a wide, thick plank of smooth wood, more than 3 arm-lengths long. No, two planks of wood, nailed together by welded bolts in the middle. It shifted in the blue light as it was carried closer, and Rial could see a hole in the very centre of the device. Two rows of chains hung from it.

Whatever it was, he had no idea.

"Hand it over now, boy!" roared the Kotaku in a voice that caused a handful of people around the square to cry out in surprise.

Rial locked his gaze back on the Kotaku, and slowly swung his pack around to his front. With one hand he reached within, closing his fingers around the smooth, cool surface of the waiting weapon.

He drew out Mead without taking his eyes off his harasser, and spoke.

"You're wrong," said Rial. "It is mine. And you can't take it from me."

He dropped his pack to the floor and grasped Mead with both hands.

"Mead, neutralise him," he said.

It was another moment Rial would always remember, another moment to make him break out in a cold sweat when he did.

He would always remember those long seconds, long seconds of dead silence and absolutely nothing happening, as long as he lived.

"Mead, neutralise him."

For a while the chirruping of distant insects was all that could be heard, and far away the khiladri howl echoed across the mountains. Someone coughed nervously.

"Mead?" said Rial, looking down at the inert object in his hand. His voice held none of the certainty of seconds ago.

"Take him!" laughed the Kotaku, waving at his servants.

They clustered around Rial in a circle, two taking each struggling arm as one took Mead from Rial's hands.

Rial cried out the weapon's name as it was taken from him, but there was no response.

"Bind him!" cried the Kotaku once more, and Rial felt rough cords of fibre bound tightly around his wrists, locking his hands behind his back.

"Fasten him!" The Kotaku threw his hands in the air in glee.

Rial heard the cries and gasps amongst the onlookers as the wooden contraption was brought towards him, but it was a dull sound, as if cloth were wrapped around his ears. His heartbeat was far louder.

The two planks slid apart as they were lifted above his head and lowered down onto his shoulders, the carved-out hole placed around his neck, then the planks were once more joined together with a loud snap. A servant - Rial did not know his name but would remember the face - hastily swung the locks shut, hands visibly shaking as he did so. The others holding the wood stepped back, allowing the full weight to fall onto Rial's shoulders.

He staggered forward as the weight pulled at his neck, nearly toppling him. The hard wood pressed painfully against his vertebrae making him gasp as the Kotaku's cackles echoed in his ears.

"A cangue for you, boy," the Kotaku sneered. "Your thieving hands will steal no more, and bring no curse on our home."

Rial felt despair well up inside as he fought to keep his legs from buckling.

The Kotaku stood up from his chair and spoke, turning slowly as he did so to address the crowd.

"This boy shall eat only by my hand," he declared. "He shall drink only by my hand. He shall live only by my hand. Anyone who aids him without my permission shall be exiled from the village that very moment. There will be no mercy for those who deal with demons."

At a signal from the Kotaku Seb urged the servants into action, ushering the onlookers out of the courtyard and back to their living quarters. Rial was dimly aware of Shaleigh's indignant shouts as she was hustled away by two, then three, of the more senior servants, but at the same time all the exhaustion and tension of the past few weeks came crashing down upon him. He fell to his knees and slumped forward, the cangue hitting the ground by its front edge and jolting him hard. Unable to reach forward with his bound hands his full weight was pushed up into his neck, choking him, forcing him to twist onto his side, splinters of wood cutting him as he did so.

He fell into darkness as the Kotaku stood over him, smiling.