She had known full well what Magus’s answer would be. What she did not know was how savagely he would react. His hand was around her throat before she registered the movement. Fingers tightened about her larynx, choking out the needed words to complete her prayer. Deadly light faded from her fingertips. He lifted her up by the throat as if she weighed but a feather.

“Do I blame you?” he asked. She dug her nails into his skin and pulled at his hand, but her meager strength paled in comparison to the divine power flowing through his veins. It felt like trying to carve stone with her fingertips. “Yes, Sinshei, I blame you. The botched ritual, Gordian’s death, Vagrant’s rise… it all stems from your failure to convert the hearts of the ignorant wretches that fill this damnable island.”

Her vision was a blurry blotch of orange fire and a circular shadow that was Magus. Her lungs burned for air, but she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t break free. Her legs kicked, weak little hits that meant nothing to the Imperator’s armor. If only she could speak. If only she could tear apart his body with blades of light. If only the Vagrant had killed Magus during their duel instead of fleeing to the boats…

“We are the Three Pillars of Thanet’s Conversion,” he said, his words thick and distorted as if her ears were clogging with blood. “Yet two of those pillars are crumbling and weak. One has collapsed. The other is rotten to its core. You may have those in the church fooled, but we of the God-Incarnate’s Legion can see the truth. You have risen far above your deserved station, vin Lucavi. The others of your family have great deeds and conquests to their names, but they are not thin-blooded and born of a concubine. What deeds can you boast of from your miserable life? Only Thanet, a poorly handled failure. Unfaithful, disloyal, a viper’s nest growing unchecked while you play at games that led to a regent’s death.”

His fingers tightened. Her vision blacked out, and her light-headedness threatened to sweep her away completely. This was it, she realized. This was how she would die. All her plans and preparations for the God-Incarnate’s arrival, come to naught. He brought her closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.

“You ordered my men to stay back. You hoped the Vagrant would kill me, didn’t you? But I lived, and whatever plans you had for Gordian, they are now dead. Open your eyes to your proper place, woman, or I will open them for you.”

Magus dropped her to his feet. She hit the ground and fell to one side, her weight braced on her elbows as she gasped in gulps of air. The Imperator lorded above her, scowling with naked displeasure.