I had disobeyed him, had I not? If not his specific instructions, certainly his intent. I grimaced to myself.

This wasn’t going to go well.

“When you challenged Relos Var to a duel,” Mithros said, “I’m curious … what was your brain doing?”

“That’s not fair,” I protested.

“Isn’t it? Because I want to know what minuscule amount of logic could’ve played into the decision to challenge Relos Var to a duel. Please tell me you weren’t so stupid as to think he couldn’t swing a sword just because he’s a wizard?”

I raised my chin. “I played a Nemesan gambit: a battle he couldn’t win.”

“Must I point out the flaw in your plan? He won. Decisively.”

I fought the temptation to cross my arms over my chest. “If I won, well, then I would have proved my case against him. Given what Thaena and you both said about this man, I didn’t think that outcome likely. But I could turn losing to my advantage. To my people, there is prestige to be gained by losing well.”

Mithros stared at me for a second, trying to figure out the riddle. Then he threw his head back and scoffed. “Of course. You surrendered to him. Bowed your head and gave him a proper Joratese demonstration of thudajé.”

“The only way he could’ve ‘won’ would have been if he had accepted my surrender gracefully. He didn’t,” I said, “which makes him thorra. He’s tolerated in Jorat because he portrays himself as a wise mare who wants to serve, profoundly humble, worthy of trust even though he’s not Joratese. No one will believe him now. The whole dominion saw him strike down a young stallion who had acknowledged his idorrá. It won’t matter that he proved me a witch by winning—he didn’t have the right to put me to death, even after he proved his idorrá over me. By doing so, he told everyone watching he thought himself better than Markreev Stavira, better than Duke Xun. Relos Var overstepped his authority. He won. And by winning, he lost.”

The God of Destruction stared hard.

I swallowed and returned the stare. He was easier to look at than Thaena, but that didn’t make it easy. “You asked what I was thinking.”

Mithros tipped his head. “And I admit, your answer surprised me. I apologize. I assumed you’d given the matter no real thought at all.”

I raised my chin. “Believe me, I had.”

“And did you think about the price you’ll pay for this very minor victory?”

The price I’ll pay … “So I’m not dead, then?” I felt my heart—or the illusion of my heart—pounding inside me. I had assumed … when I’d seen Relos Var’s sword coming at me …

I’d survived?