Dain swallowed, closing his eyes, his fingers keeping the same rhythm against my skin, as if he was anchoring himself in the present. "Viessa and Aleksandr were soulmated devotees, bound together by affectionate obsession. The King of Mercy enjoyed the drama of their passionate interactions. I don't..." He stopped, breathing hard, even the motion of his hand ceasing. Dain took a deep breath and drove away the tension in his body, opening his eyes again.

"I don't fully understand why he sent them," Dain said softly. "Except, perhaps, that he knew he could convince them that they would be able to succeed at killing me where everyone else has failed." He shook his head slightly, sighing. "I think you were right, and I was being... provoked. The wrong people were sent, perhaps believing they were the right people, so that they would fail and trigger... something else. A war, or some other series of events I haven't identified."

"There's not a war yet," I said, giving him a small smile. "For which you are to thank."

"No, there's not a war yet," he said, returning my smile with a trembling one of his own. "I have succeeded in delaying it, at least." Dain swallowed again, an expression of fear coming onto his face, his eyes darting between mine. "I was required to provide suitably dramatic entertainment for the King," he said. "Five revels, and five punishments. I spent the first one bound naked with my limbs outstretched, with a table holding a knife, a whip, a feather, and a tray of ice on it in front of me so that people could gawk or play with me as they desired." His mouth curved up into what looked like a forced smile. "I snarled and growled enough that I gave myself a sore throat."

I reached over and took his other hand, not saying anything. Humiliation didn't come close to what Dain was describing. They'd tortured him, and he'd submitted to it, choosing to become his own Phazikai to keep a war from erupting.

Dain clung to my hand. "The second revel I spent sitting at the King's feet and following him on all fours, wearing his leash and collar and eating from his hand like a favored hound. The third saw me painted and adorned in silk and jewels like a concubine, dancing with any who desired it, and standing posed on a plinth like a statue for admiration when not in motion." He shuddered, his grip on my hand tightening.