Chapters Five-Eight Summary

In Chapter Five, Ismae sees Sybella again. This time she is calm, but haughty. She gives Ismae a special pleasure by sitting next to her but shuns Annith. She will not eat the stew served to her until the nuns threaten her to do so. In the remainder of the chapter, Ismae and Sybella are taught how to fight, use weapons and seduce men. Ismae takes to her lessons, especially poison making, quickly.

In Chapter Six, time moves forward three years. Ismae has her first assignment. She is sent to kill Jean Runnion and the assignment goes well except that she is approached by a fieldworker named Herve. When she returns to the convent, she goes through defensive motions with Annith. As they fight they talk about Ismae's mission and Sybella's. Sybella has not been heard from since she left on...