Overview

In the forge, Rory begins crafting a wax exoskeleton over Six’s tailored Diviner dress to obtain precise measurements for custom armor. As he works, Six and Rory confront past slights and intimacies, revealing remorse, vulnerability, and the manipulative nature of the abbess. The scene builds to charged tension when Rory stops short of waxing Six’s torso, leaving to have Maude finish.

Full Summary

Six and Rory enter the empty forge behind the barracks to begin preparing armor for Six. Rory lays out a process: start the armor now and send measurements to Maude’s blacksmith at Petula Hall in the Chiming Wood, with chainmail found for the interim. As Rory melts beeswax, Six provokes him by raising his earlier insult and admits she nearly slept with Hamelin out of spite. Rory, visibly affected, confesses he wanted to sully her faith and status because he believed nothing was holy and regrets his cruelty, offering an apology.

Rory tends Six’s split lip with wax and asks about the alley fight; Six explains she intervened against men stalking girls. This leads them to the abbess and Aisling: Rory notes the abbess always plucks foundling girls, and Six articulates that the abbess groomed her with conditional kindness, calling into question her faith and role. Rory counters that Six is not a burden and need not be useful to deserve care.

Rory then tailors Six’s dress to her body with needle and thread, cutting away excess fabric. During the work, Six asks about Rory’s past; he confirms he lived at Castle Luricht under the Artful Brigand, at Petula Hall with Maude, and longest in the Seacht at Pupil House II as a foundling. He acknowledges knighthood typically requires noble birth but says there are exceptions, implying he is one.

With the wax melted, Rory pours and molds it over Six’s sleeves and shoulders despite initial pain and her stoicism, admonishing her not to martyr herself. He names the armor components as he works—pauldron, rerebrace, vambrace—and continues down her legs—greaves, poleyn, cuisses—until her limbs and back are encased, forming a rigid shell for precise measurements.

When only Six’s torso remains, their dynamic turns intimate and confrontational. Six taunts him about his discomfort and her Diviner status; Rory steps close and confesses their mutual attraction expressed through antagonism, suggesting she enjoys putting him in his place and he wants to drag her into the dirt. Breaking the moment, Rory refuses to proceed further and says he will ask Maude to finish the torso.

Rory leaves Six alone in the forge, sealed in a shell of wax, to calm her breathing and process the encounter.

Who Appears

• Six — protagonist and Diviner; confronts her grooming by the abbess, endures waxing process for armor, and engages in a tense, intimate exchange with Rory.
• Rory — knight; apologizes for past cruelty, reveals foundling background and varied upbringings (Castle Luricht, Petula Hall, Pupil House II), tailors and applies wax to Six’s dress to create measurements, and withdraws before waxing her torso.
• Maude — knight and smithing contact; discussed as the person who will finish the armor measurements and whose blacksmith at Petula Hall will fabricate the suit.
• Hamelin — knight; mentioned regarding Six’s near-spite rendezvous and prior meeting, highlighting tension with Rory.
• The abbess (unnamed sixth Omen) — discussed; framed as having groomed foundling girls, including Six, with conditional kindness for the purposes of Aisling.
• The Artful Brigand — mentioned; former guardian of Rory at Castle Luricht.