27
Belik
Sandalwood. It was always sandalwood first. Belik snuffed, as though he could rid himself of the smell that meant Chetana was near. During this whole gory campaign, he’d felt her presence, but had successfully ignored it so far. A lifetime of practice had given him excellent skill at that. But he hadn’t been crowned more than a couple hours before he started to feel it again in force.
She wasn’t in the Amiran Academy—he’d had it searched—or else he would have killed her right there. If Amir weren’t valuable assets, he would have burned the infernal place down with all of them inside, in honor of her memory. Except for Daelon, maybe. As it was, they made good servants.
As pacifists, the Amir didn’t frighten him with rebellion, but as scholars, they could be capable of spying, s
