25. The Mercy of Agia

Directing the flyer over extensive battlefields, the Autarch invites Severian to observe the Ascians.  Noticing children and the aged in their ranks, Severian is overcome with emotion.  The Autarch explains that their enemy is in the service of Erebus and that the war might be ended if the Commonwealth would be subsumed by the Ascian monoculture.

Severian presses the Autarch on Thecla’s imprisonment and death.  The Autarch denies ordering her arrest but discloses that Thecla traitorously passed intelligence to Thea in the service of Vodalus.  Severian confides that he once saved the life of Vodalus and dined on human carrion with the outlaw.

An explosion rocks the flyer, and the craft hurtles to the ground.  In the aftermath of the crash, Severian wakes alongside an injured Autarch.  They discuss the future of mankind among the stars and the aims of the Ascians.  The Autarch foresees the end of his reign and instructs Severian to swallow a concoction held in a vial at the ruler’s neck.