Chapter 4 Summary

Palinor has been in jail for several months, when a clerk in Cuidad comes across his request to travel to Cuidad. The clerk asks Laurenx, his superior, what they do with atheists. Laurenx believes that atheists are burned if they don't recant.

The prefect receives an order to transfer Palinor to Cuidad. The note conveys no other details, and the prefect wonders if Palinor is considered a criminal or if he really is important. Palinor, who has received food from Lazaro's mother Esperanca for months, is allowed into the sunlight for the first time in months. The prefect tells Palinor that he will be traveling to Cuidad, and Palinor asks if he may bathe first. The prefect is annoyed that he does not intimidate Palinor.

Palinor and his escorts travel to Cuidad on horseback, and the prefect notices that Palinor sits well on...