“What incident?” he asks and even though he is eager to know, he is more puzzled about the older voice. Who could it be? Before he got to the boat, most of the Circle members were there to say farewell. Hurmaz was waiting for him by the harbour and the guards were holding back the pilgrims that tried to get closer to the Circle and the First Disciple.

“I already told you… I don’t know what incident. But I’m guessing it’s not going to be good,” Dalia replies with a shameful tone. Tirad starts brooding. He knew that Mart was up to something and he couldn’t do whatever he is planning, alone. This sort of planning will definitely go back to one of the Circle members. Excluding Tirad from the meeting with a note that had never reached him on time, signing a peace treaty that looks like a warrant and Hurmaz’s worried look, they all pointed at some sort of a hidden agenda. But if Hurmaz knew Tirad’s life was at risk, he wouldn’t send him on this trip. Yet he was in the meeting that morning. Could he have known? Tirad feels ashamed for even thinking this way and undermining Hurmaz’s goodwill. But he needs to be sure.

“Was it Hurmaz? The voice you heard?” he asks her. Dalia says no. but Tirad needs her to be absolutely certain. He asks her how she can be so sure it was or was not Hurmaz. How many times had she heard his voice before? Now he is undermining Dalia’s goodwill by pressuring her and asking her the same question three times, although her case is different. She had lied to him before and he has to be sure she is telling him the truth this time. She might as well be a part of Mart’s agenda or what she thinks she has heard might be another imaginary story made up by her creative mind. But if she is telling the truth, his life might be in danger. He goes on and asks her the same question again.

“How can you be so sure when you don’t recognise Hurmaz’s voice?” he asks. Dalia looks down. She seems ashamed. Is it because she knows something that she doesn’t want to say or that there is something she should have said sooner, he doesn’t know. Or maybe because she is involved in all this. Tirad pressures her to explain.

“It wasn’t Hurmaz because I heard them mention his name!” she says. Tirad shakes her bare shoulder and makes her go on.

“The older man said that he will take care of Hurmaz and when Mart’s mission is finished, Hurmaz is also gone,” she says and tries to find the right words, giving a more fragmented account of her ears dropping. She says that Mart insisted that Hurmaz should be taken care of immediately. She tries to choose her words carefully, avoiding certain nouns or verbs like ‘death’ or ‘killed’. But the older man had said that if they take care of Hurmaz instantly, his passing would seem suspicious, and that they should continue as before not to attract unnecessary attention. Mart had said something cruel about Hurmaz like how does the old man cling like this to life, anyone else would have been gone by now. Dalia’s voice lowers, and she seems upset of the things she has heard and said aloud. Tirad doesn’t know what to believe. Are her bitter words true or is she just a good player, pretending all this? The boatman turns on the lights and Tirad knows from the trembling of the boat that the passengers are stepping on the deck. Oxan is not just shiny spots of light anymore, they are approaching the harbour and the high walls that circle around the island are visible. He is better not to be seen talking to Dalia. Even if there is a small chance that her words are true, it might risk her life as well. He sends Dalia to her mother and tries to comfort her.