The goblet’s surface shimmers as she brings it to her lips, and then she tips it back and swallows down several gulps of whatever liquid it contains. She wipes her mouth and proffers it back to the Asazi director, but the woman waits, watching the queen closely. Only after some several seconds does she reach forward to accept the Chalice with obvious relief. “The words Her Majesty has spoken are true,” she announces to the amphitheater, and a knot of tension Niko wasn’t aware of loosens in his chest.
