Overview

Benji’s entourage arrives at a remote village in the Fervent Peaks, where nobles of the hamlet receive him for a night ceremony at a mountain basin. Before the gathered villagers and knights, King Benedict Castor submits to a harsh ritual, entering the freezing water wrapped in fishermen’s nets as a display of faith. Under cover of the rite, Rory and Six set a trap with Aisling spring water to draw out the Ardent Oarsman. From a hidden vantage, they watch sprites scout the bait, then witness a tall, cloaked mortal figure drink the water, revealing the Ardent Oarsman as a person rather than a god.

Full Summary

Late at night in cold rain, the caravan climbs into the Fervent Peaks and reaches a plateau village arranged around a roaring basin fed by a waterfall from the Tenor River. The settlement is austere, its doors carved with a single oar, and its people quiet and wary. Five nobles in fishermen’s garb greet King Benedict Castor, remarking on his delay and addressing him with formality tinged with skepticism. Hamelin embraces Avice Fischer, implied to be his mother, who quickly notices Six’s presence as a Diviner.

When an elderly noble pointedly alludes to rumors of five ill portents at Aisling Cathedral and likens Benji to his grandfather, Maude and Rory bristle, but the gargoyle defends Six and the king with sharp words, cowing the man into a grudging apology. Rory warns the nobles that Six is protected and that any attempt to unveil her will meet consequences from both knighthood and gargoyle. Six quotes the Ardent Oarsman’s creed to smooth tensions, and the nobles proceed with a formal call-and-response about hardship and devotion, to which Benji and the knighthood echo, “Ever but visitors.”

The group descends slippery rock steps to the moonlit basin. There, the five nobles cast their nets into the churning water. Benji ceremonially removes his armor piece by piece, his knights collecting each item, and he stands naked before them, pale and dreading the ordeal. At Maude’s hard-voiced explanation that the king must be a witness and symbol of faith, Benji enters the freezing basin and wraps himself in the fishermen’s nets to endure an hour in the water.

As the ritual continues, Rory arrives behind Six with a silver flask filled with Aisling spring water. He quietly instructs Six to be a “good little soldier,” and uses his coin to blink them invisibly to a shale outcrop where he places the flask as bait. He then transports them to a higher, shadowed ridge directly above the lure, establishing a covert lookout.

Waiting in the mist and cold, Rory and Six exchange tense, personal conversation. Rory thanks Six for saving Benji and admits his ethic of compassion toward sprites comes from human harms, not sprites. Their talk turns intimate: Six reveals she has never climaxed with another person, and Rory responds not with mockery but with desire, saying he wonders what it would be like to watch her “unravel.”

Their vigil is interrupted when three stone-skinned sprites crawl over the rocks, sniffing around the flask like guards; after circling it, they retreat into the darkness. Moments later, a tall, hunched, cloaked figure with a staff-like stick emerges, takes the flask, and drinks the Aisling water. Six and Rory realize the Ardent Oarsman has come to the bait—and that this Omen is in fact a mortal figure rather than a divine being.

Who Appears

• Six — Diviner protagonist; participates in the Peaks ceremonies, sets the spring-water lure, and witnesses the Ardent Oarsman drink.
• The gargoyle — Six’s companion; publicly defends Six and the king against a disrespectful noble.
• King Benedict “Benji” Castor — King; performs the basin ritual, entering freezing water wrapped in nets as a symbol of faith.
• Maude — Mentor to Six; frames Benji’s role as a subservient symbol and watches the ritual, ready to act.
• Rory — Knight and Maude’s former squire; sets the bait with Aisling water, transports Six via his coin, and shares personal revelations; observes the Oarsman’s appearance.
• Avice Fischer — Hamelin’s mother; Peaks noble who leads elements of the ceremony and engages Six.
• Hamelin — Knight; greets his mother, introduces Six to the nobles.
• Elderly Peaks noble — Peaks noble; challenges Benji with mention of ill portents and is rebuked by the gargoyle.
• Five Peaks nobles — Local leaders/zealots; host the ceremony and cast nets into the basin.
• Sprites — Stone-skinned mountain sprites; scout the baited flask before withdrawing.
• The Ardent Oarsman — Omen figure revealed as a mortal; drinks the Aisling spring water from the baited flask.