“By what definition is that fine?” I snapped. I knew having Brother Qown as a hostage against my good behavior meant nothing if they harmed him. But if Qown had managed to wake and commit suicide in my absence, the sensible response would have been to lie.

She looked up, surprised by my venom, and then smiled. “Oh, darling, you really do think Relos Var’s the villain here, don’t you? Are you the hero?”

“At least I haven’t wiped out whole villages.”

“No, but you support a government that does,” Senera said. “Did you think I invented Lysian gas?”

“What is Lysian—?”

Senera waved her fingers. “The blue smoke. That’s a present straight from your Academy of Magic in Kirpis. Quur used it against the Yorans during the invasion. Against, oh yes, whole villages.”

“T-that was a war,” I stammered to hide my shock. I dismissed her claims as fabrication. They had to be.

“Pay attention. This is a war. Do you think Quur sat down with the Yoran rulers and said, ‘Oh yes, very good. Now we shall accept your formal surrender, whenever you’re ready, to bring a lasting peace’? No, the Quuros stomped until blood turned all the ice red. When they concluded they’d well and truly broken the Yoran spirit, that’s when they moved in.” She laughed. “I suppose subjugation worked in Jorat. All that thudajé business. You people know how to accept you’ve been beaten.”

The casual way she spoke the words belied their razor edge. I felt it even though—if Relos Var had told the truth—my lineage was Khorveshan rather than Joratese.

And what did that mean, anyway? I knew little about Khorvesh except that they have a reputation for being good soldiers, at the forefront of every Quuros military push. I knew they lived in a land opposite from Jorat in almost all respects: dry, hot, and arid. I knew the army that had helped us—helped the Joratese—defeat Khorsal had been Khorveshan.

Well, so much for my pride at being descended from Atrin Kandor.

“We weren’t beaten by Quur,” I said. “We joined forces with Quur and accepted their aid in destroying the tyrant who enslaved us. And no matter what the Quuros did to Yor, you can’t expect me to shrug and say, ‘Oh, well, that’s okay, then. Go ahead and use a horrible weapon against unsuspecting, innocent people since Quur did it first.’”

“No, but I do get to say Quur made the rules. We’re just playing by them.”

I didn’t answer. There seemed no point. We wouldn’t convince each other.

I reminded myself I needed to start pretending she was convincing me.

Senera walked over to the couch and sat down. “I know you think he’s a terrible person, but maybe you should take a moment to rethink your assumptions. He’s the finest man I’ve ever known.”