The Bull at the Start

Alia and her friends got what they came for, but Zaeldroug is under siege and their plan didn't stretch past the Mage-Killer. They know there's a traitor in their ranks, so going back to the Complex is a gamble. That all the war and death is the doing of one of them is the only thing they know, including what the little bottle of mysterious liquid does.

At the Complex, Dyafer's plan to unite Congress bears fruit, and she's able to send mages to investigate Pathmelon and New Towtiel. That's the only good news; her peers continue to seek delays, quarrel over trivialities, and obsess over the Kwentaro. No one does she mistrust more than the Atsises, who's up to something. So far, all she can say for certain is that he's being too helpful and polite. It wouldn't have been in character before she publicly humiliated him.

On the eastern front, Giloren arrives in time to meet a flood of refugees, driven ahead by the menace flowing out of the southeast. At their back, the survivors from New Towtiel make their way north as well, carrying with them the terrible truth that they were betrayed. Mages themselves are the targets and they can't name the guiltiest party.

Before this can get better, it's going to get worse.