Hesychast and Iscend took turns to step forward, fix Baru’s gaze, and then—suddenly!—reveal a nonsense word printed in black ink. If Baru hesitated they would shout at her and smash a gong. “Failure!”

Baru hated failing. So she had to answer the question as quickly as she could:

What word did she see?

If they showed her the nonsense word foer she could answer four, or fear, or foe, or maybe fore or even fare or fire. “Faster! Faster!” And Iscend, with soft disappointment: “Too slow. Do better.”

There was no time to calculate a deception. Baru could only think, desperately, I shan’t associate the woman with the words of terror: when Iscend shows me grievy I will say gravy not grieve, and when she shows me caut I will say cat and not cut. But her plan only tripped her up.

“Faster!” Iscend barked, in a thrilling low contralto. “Faster! You’re not making sense! Answer quickly and accurately!”

And the glee of service burnt in her eyes, the delight of a task well-executed. She was tricking Baru and she took joy in it, which only made Baru more discomfited: she could deduce, now, that her reactions must be different when Iscend stepped forward with magnificent sway-hipped grace and those hard plates of muscle beneath the soft full undercurve of her breast—what was she betraying? Ah, a new card, __press, she had to fill in the prefix—

“Impress!” she shouted, after a sputter and a stumble. Not repress. Impress.

In the second phase they put a helmet on her with an enormous steel blade instead of a nose, portioning her vision into left and right hemispheres. Hesychast and Iscend swapped sides, left and right, back and forth, ever faster. Cards blurred past. Baru’s tongue knotted. The gull woke up and began to squawk and patter.

Iscend held a card out at arm’s length to her left, Baru’s far blind right, and snapped, “What is it?” Baru couldn’t see—but Iscend would have none of it. “Tell me what you see!”

“Beast!” Baru guessed, wildly. “It says beast?”

“That’s enough, I think,” Hesychast said. “Iscend, you have the times and error rates?”

“Perfectly, your Excellence, I have them firmly housed. I’ll compute the results at once.”

“Wait,” Baru protested, “wait wait, surely you can explain what you just did?”

“I’m afraid,” Hesychast said, regretfully, “that there is no time. In brief summary: I’ve tested you for the effects of the Farrier Process.”

“Yes? And? What’s the Farrier Process?” But he was turning away, dressing himself again. “Why did you have to be so naked? What was that about?”

“I think that’s obvious.” Iscend winked at Baru, devastatingly.

“It’s time,” Hesychast said, “for all of us to sit down and tell you what comes next. Dinner in the evening-room at first dog watch. Come alone. We will await you.”

8. Dinner, Destiny …

8

DINNER, DESTINY …