This time Querilous’s hand was more carefully placed and Emuel shuddered at the cold touch.

And then there was intense pain as Fitch’s fingers sank into his mind.

“Now, Emuel. What happened to the Llothriall? Let’s see what you remember.”

Before, when Emuel had heard rumours of Querilous Fitch’s power, he had dismissed them, sure that the kind man who had brought him to Scholten was incapable of such cruelty. But now he knew better. Everything the Final Faith’s enemies said about them was true; there was no method or sorcery they would not employ in fulfilling the will of the Lord of All, no matter how seemingly heretical.

Querilous’s voice filled Emuel as his last few moments onboard the Llothriall flickered before his eyes.

“Sorcery, certainly,” Querilous said. “But whose magic interfered with ours?”

It felt like the manipulator’s fingers were behind his eyes and, for a terrible moment, Emuel was afraid that they would be pushed from their sockets.

“Come on, Emuel, see for me. Show me who stole away your comrades and left you and Ignacio to face the music.”

Emuel was sure that he could hear the plates of his skull shifting; the pressure was unbearable and there was a warmth on his upper lip, a strong salt taste in his mouth. The angry sea seemed to roll all around him. Looking into the storm, Emuel thought that he caught a glimpse of a desert landscape, a brilliant blue sky.

“That’s it, Emuel. That’s it…”

Emuel pulled against his restraints, the straps biting deeply into his wrists. Even though Querilous held his mind, there was nothing the manipulator could do to lessen the eunuch’s hatred for him. Emuel focused on that anger now, and sawed his wrists back and forth until he heard the light patter of blood hitting the stone floor. With one great tug, he pulled his right hand sharply back, the restraint holding his blood-slicked wrist for only a moment. Querilous brought Emuel to the brink of unconsciousness, but the manipulator had once taught the eunuch how to use pain as a focus, and Emuel pulled himself out of the darkness using the anger and hurt instilled in him.