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templar took her arm and led her aside, his maroon robes marking him as a high-ranking priest, though not a member of the Court of Decisions. “Templar Nesre is leading the investigation into this regrettable event.” Ume was unable to keep her eyes from widening. “When I see him, I shall tell him you are seeking him. Where shall I say he may find you?”
    “I’ll wait for him inside the Salver and Chalice.” Ume pressed his hand and gave him a demure smile from behind the sheer veil. “I appreciate your kindness. I wouldn’t want him to think I’d forgotten our engagement.”
    “Of course, Maiden Sky.”
    Inside the tavern, she ordered a pot of warm pepper tea to calm her nerves. As a well-respected courtesan, she had a personal booth and was able to sit in its darkness without disturbance until Nesre arrived, remarkably calm.
    “My dear Maiden Sky.” He kissed her hand. “I had hoped to speak with you. In fact, I had thought to do so before now, but you seem to have been scarce.”
    Ume curled her palms around her teacup, watching the steam make patterns on the liquid’s surface. “I have only lately left the Meer.”
    “Indeed?” Nesre sat across from her and pulled the curtain closed. “He must be quite taken with you. You’ve shared his bed, then.”
    “No, as a matter of fact. He sculpts me.”
    He knit his brows. “Sketching and sculpting. Our Meer is a man of strange passions.”
    Ume leaned toward him and spoke in a sharp whisper. “Nesre, what on earth is going on with this arrest?”
    “Nothing you need worry about, my dear. The girl has committed a crime for which I cannot charge her, and the Court of Decisions has a crime for which it needs a perpetrator. It works out nicely all round.” He gave her a dark smile. “Or would you rather hang?”
    “I can’t let someone else hang in my place!”
    Nesre sat back, once more perfectly composed, as if they were discussing the menu. “As I said, she is guilty of a serious crime, one for which hanging would be a mercy. You must leave all of this thinking to me. I am well trained to it. Meanwhile you do what you are trained to do, and all will be well.”
    “What does that mean?”
    Templar Nesre flicked his fingers against the curtain and glanced out to ensure they were alone. “I need you to engage in sexual congress with the Meer of In’La.”
    “ You need me to?”
    “The people are restless under his rule. The time has come for the Meer to step down. The Meeric Age has ended.” Nesre refilled her cup from the pot of pepper tea, his placid face infuriating her. “Most of the templars are with me, but a few stubbornly hold to the old ways. And the old ways consist of the Meeric Code, so if it is broken…then they will be with me.” He gave her a patronizing smile. “You seem surprised, yet your newfound friends also share my view, do they not?” His eyes sparkled with amusement. “Of course I keep an eye on you. I cannot afford not to.”
    Ume drew her hands away from the teacup as the porcelain radiated the boiling heat to her fingers. If Nesre knew of Cree and the expurgist movement, he knew of their meetings and their plans for protest. And he had done nothing to stop them.
    She looked him in the eye. “One of them said Zedei was a spy. Was he yours?”
    “The unfortunate Templar Zedei was, alas, not persuaded to my point of view. He did infiltrate your friends, but he meant to expose them before the time was right. He would have brought down the movement.”
    “I didn’t kill him, did I?”
    “Only I can swear for or against you, Maiden Sky. The word of a courtesan is not her currency.” Nesre stood and pulled the curtains aside. “I have it on good authority that your patron of late will be calling on you to attend him following the Autumnal Vetma. See to it that you share his bed. The testimony of your body will be needed. I believe your sex will sway those who are as yet unconvinced of our mutual friend’s