Summary: Betriz sees Cazaril's back for the first time.
Iselle, Betriz, and dy Sanda hurried along as fast as possible without attracting undue notice. Dy Sanda had requested to see them early in the morning, much to the suspicion of their ladies, but Nan had let them go. Now they were racing to Ias's Tower to find out the truth about Cazaril's supposed arrest.
They turned a corner and came face to face with Orico's guards. It took some unladylike persuasion, but they finally pushed through. Iselle was just finishing her tirade when Betriz saw Cazaril's back.
She'd heard his story of being in the galleys, and other horrors that he presented so matter-of-factly. But she hadn't expected this. There didn't appear to be one square inch of bare skin from the base of his neck to his lower back. She didn't know how he maintained his straight military posture, or how he wasn't trembling from the outrage of this humiliation. Iselle and others were still speaking, but she paid no attention.
Cazaril finally asked to don his tunic again. As he fastened his shirt, he wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. She wanted to go up to him and tell him that she knew him, knew he could never do what the flogging scars indicated.
And it appeared that he had left out some details of his story. When he told of the Roknari oar-master and his young Ibran benchmate, she felt her first thought slip out unbidden. She'd read between the lines of his tales and discovered how much he'd sacrificed for the men in his charge at Gotorget and knew first-hand what he was willing to do for her and Iselle every day, no matter that his sacrifices for them were far from a matter of life and death. But she hadn't known that his forgetfulness of self extended so far.
However, she knew any defense of Caz on her part would be useless. Dy Jironal would say that he had already seduced her. He would question why she was so eager to defend him when her mistress was possibly in grave danger. And of course, her honor counted as nothing to the chancellor. There would be nothing that she could say to prove that she was not so easily suborned. Dy Jironal would claim her woman's weakness in the face of infatuation and it would override all other evidence. Anything to defame Caz and oust him from his position so close to Iselle.
Dy Jironal proved her right by making snide insinuations about her being a "temptation," at which it took all her will to remain silent. However, he was thrown off balance, and he clearly didn't know what to say to force them to leave. The makeshift trial continued. Orico vacillated with the onslaught of Iselle's anger.
When Orico finally summoned Umegat to fetch a sacred crow to act as the arbiter of justice, the room fell into a most awkward silence. Not for very long. First, Orico directed all in the room to his desired positions for them. As he regained his seat, dy Jironal started muttering a stream of commentary into the roya's ear. Iselle sought to override him. Dy Sanda was shifting from foot to foot and making the floors creak. Only Cazaril was still and quiet in his dim end of the room. If Betriz had her way, she would go up to him and hold his hand, but that was impossible for the moment.
Umegat returned after what seemed a small eternity, and Orico made a show of commanding the proceedings. But he soon faltered again. She felt dy Jironal's glare when she asked which man the bird should choose, the true or the false. Umegat answered smoothly and she wondered just how much he knew of what lay behind these convoluted proceedings.
The crow validated Cazaril as almost everyone in the room knew it must. She still felt relief seep through her. She would give her life to protect to protect Iselle, but she had neither the resources nor the knowledge to do it properly. They both knew that they needed him as the world spun pell-mell around them and their enemies grew closer all the time.
She broke from her musings to study Caz for a moment. His face had not seemed to lighten at all. As they escorted him out of the chancellery office, he thanked them for their intervention, but his smile was forced and he wore the look that he did when deep in thought.
A new thought struck her like a bolt of lightning. Martou was known to bend to his brother's will for all his reputation as the true leader of Chalion. If her prank against Dondo had had anything to do with this… She voiced her worry. Cazaril instantly denied it, and the warmth of his eyes reassured her more than his simple words.
However, as he bowed her and Iselle into their chambers, she was left with a lingering sense of unease.