The Tainted Cup

A thunderous sound draws Din out of his bunk in the Sublimes’ quarters. He and the other Sublimes rush outside to investigate the source. A flare indicates that the sea wall has been breached. Engineers and members of the Legion are dispatched to Tala. Thalamis confronts Din, insulting him for not already hurrying to join Ana, as evacuation may be imminent.

Ana, in contrast to the chaos in town, is tranquil; her monitoring device tells her that the leviathan has been driven back. Din prepares tea at her request. Several of his friends went to attend the breach, though he has grown distant from them recently—Sublimes of his age got their assignments before he did. Dispatched Engineers will be in less danger than Legionnaires, but all are “in danger now, for the rest of the wet season” (118).

In Daretana, Din and other Sublimes pester Postmaster Stephinos for information, which he lacks. A messenger arrives that evening, reporting that the felled leviathan created a huge gap in the sea wall. Many imperial forces will be directed through Daretana to help repair the breach, the largest in recent memory.

Ana is “directed to remain in place and prepare for the arrival of Commander-Prificto Desmi Vashta” (121), an extremely high-ranking officer. Ana is excited, though it is unusual for a commander-prificto to come see her personally. She assesses Din’s clothing and gives him money to purchase better items, telling him to prepare for “something very bad” and a potential “departure” to an unknown destination (122).

The next day, wearing his new clothes, Din awaits Vashta, nervous about meeting such an elite officer. Vashta is accompanied by Captain Kepheus Strovi, who asks if anyone suspicious has been to Ana’s house. Strovi is startled when Din answers in detail; he had forgotten Din was an Engraver. Vashta and Strovi request a report of the Blas murder, which Din provides.

Vashta urges secrecy before reporting that the leviathan did not breach the sea wall alone; instead, someone helped from the inside—several people working on the walls suddenly had trees sprout from their bodies.

Vashta and Strovi explain that two senior Engineers caused the key damage when they sprouted trees and died. Eight other people had trees erupt from their bodies as well. All the incidents happened at about the same time. Vashta’s investigation has failed to find any commonality between the victims that might pinpoint the source of their contagion. She suspects that someone “wants to set the titans loose,” even if this is “madness” (131). She needs Ana to help stop further incidents. Though Ana and Din would normally be confined to work in Daretana, the current emergency means they will be permitted to investigate in Talagray.

Though Din had previously thought of carriages as impressive and grand, he finds the ride a torment after many hours of Ana’s chattering. As they approach the sea walls, a blindfolded Ana demands that Din describe them. While Din marvels at the size of the walls and of the leviathans they keep out, Ana contends that the Empire’s true achievement is in managing complex systems, but she regrets never having seen a living titan. Din sees people with strange augmentations, including cracklers, who are augmented to become enormously strong. The position earns wealth and honor, though it shortens their lifespans significantly—a common tradeoff in the Empire.

The odd layout of Talagray makes it a utility city, built to support the Legionnaires that work on the sea walls. Din seeks comfort in Ana’s nonchalance, but she also hasn’t ever encountered anything like the mystery ahead of them.

As they approach the Iyalet headquarters at the center of Talagray, Ana warns Din to watch the elite officers. The Talagray Investigator, Tuwey Uhad, whose grizzled breadth makes Din feel “young and so small” (142), greets Ana warmly. He, like Din, is an engraver. Uhad’s assistant investigator, Tazi Miljin, carries an elaborate sword. Vashta is not present; she has been appointed seneschal for the emergency, rendering her “essentially a dictator of all domestic matters—until the breach was resolved” (143). Instead, Engineer Vailiki Kalista and Apothetikal Itonia Nusis will also help the investigative team. Ana introduces Din, praising his skills.

The group gathers in a disorderly chamber where Uhad, Miljin, Kalista, and Nusis have been working on the case. Uhad reasserts the need for secrecy. Ten officers have thus far been confirmed killed by dappleglass, though it’s possible more people have been affected. Nusis, who worked on the Oypat crisis, calls the phenomenon a “bloom.” Kalista, citing the skill of Engineer accounting, is confident there are not more victims.

Uhad further reports that the 10 engineers bloomed lower in their bodies than Blas did; Blas’s sprouts emerged from his neck, while the engineers’ emerged from their torsos. All the deaths happened in approximately 10 hours. Given the difficulty of predicting dappleglass blooms, Uhad and his team assume there is a pattern to the targets but cannot figure out why these people were targeted.

Ana demands records, witnesses, and lists of the victims’ assignments, neighbors, and personal relationships. Kalista is reluctant to provide this, but follows Uhad’s indication to do so. Ana asks about the group’s associations with Blas, and then instructs Din to report the full story of Blas’s death. The group provides no new information.

Miljin, who watches Din carefully in the meeting, has found no stained fernpaper. Ana asks to speak to fernpaper producers to see what panels they replaced before the breach occurred. She asks Miljin to interview the witnesses and acquaintances, with Din accompanying him. Uhad cautions Din about a system of flares that indicate the presence of leviathans, and then shows Din and Ana to their quarters.

As Din hauls Ana’s possessions, he overhears her chatting with Uhad. Uhad wishes for a peaceful posting somewhere quiet, while Ana longs for challenges. When Uhad leaves, Ana points out something odd about the meeting: Despite the group’s insistence that Blas was upstanding, none of them was shocked to hear about his habitual visits to sex workers. Ana is not yet certain why this is significant. She plans to speak to Rona Aristan, Blas’s secretary, without telling the rest of the group.

An Engineer delivers the reports Ana requested. She wonders if anyone who is not an Engineer has been killed.

Nusis cheerfully chats about all the Talagray worms that could invade Din’s body while she gives him inoculations against such infestations. She keeps the inoculations in a safe; Din inadvertently memorizes the combination. She cautions him about potential side effects and calls him “a tough little bird” for undergoing his “engraver’s suffusions” while awake (170). She cautions that the abundance of unpleasant events means that “most engravers don’t last long in Talagray” (171), too burdened by indelible bad memories.

Back in his rooms, Din recalls the horrendous process of becoming an Engraver. He looks at his scars, including those from Captain Thalamis’s canings. He worries about the importance of their investigation and the high stakes of failure.