Chapter Fourteen: Chef of Aprelêu

Poleen Juvukis, leaving Nicôdî tû Dêidontâ’s lair, informs Âvorê and Isidorus of Ezeldu’s guilty verdict and her deal with the sorcerer, giving them gems to secure Ezeldu’s freedom if she fails. Alone, she enters a Singing Saints District warehouse, meeting Selêf Nûwolu, who feigns taking two indilus roots for Umdûwor. Montêusarâ Moltôlboc’s men then demand the cigar box, but Poleen, stalling, shatters it in a fight, killing three with her rapier and daggers. Nicôdî’s sorcery engulfs the warehouse in darkness, then fire, incinerating Serelê and her men, including crossbowmen, as she desperately gathers the box’s fragments. Poleen, unscathed, faces the charred Nicôdî, who praises her resilience but critiques her swordplay. He gifts her Serelê’s ruby ring, urging her to save Ezeldu and flee Aprelêu, leaving Poleen to ponder the box’s lost secret and Nicôdî’s true nature.

CMU Chapter 13 — The Mean of a Gentleman
CMU Chapter 15 — Sails at Sunset