Alizeh rushes toward the scream with Omid close behind, still shaken by the discoveries that Hazan serves Prince Kamran and that Hazan may have meant his warnings for Alizeh. She worries over the stranger’s earlier command that she leave before midnight and tries to understand what messages Hazan claimed to have sent, while the ballroom stalls in uneasy confusion after the music stops.

When Miss Huda screams again, Alizeh recognizes her voice and fears the stranger has broken his promise by attacking her. Omid leads Alizeh quickly through the crowd, using his street-child skill to find hidden routes, and they hide behind a wooden screen. There Alizeh discovers that Miss Huda is not helpless: she is threatening the stranger with a candelabra, furious that he stole and restored her voice only to abandon her at the ball improperly dressed and socially exposed.

Miss Huda’s renewed scream draws the crowd, including Hazan and Kamran. The stranger reveals himself and surrounds himself and Miss Huda with a ring of fire. Kamran steps forward and addresses him as “Your Excellency,” which makes Alizeh realize that the blue-eyed stranger is the Tulanian king. Alizeh is horrified by what Kamran must think of her earlier conversation with Cyrus and begins wondering whether Hazan has made a dangerous bargain with him.

Cyrus taunts Kamran, mocks the Ardunian court, and claims the Diviners are dead, causing panic in the ballroom. King Zaal arrives, and Cyrus releases Miss Huda only to trap himself and Zaal inside another circle of fire. Cyrus rejects the idea of a duel, accuses Ardunia’s magistrates of collecting street children for the crown, and suggests that Zaal is guilty of monstrous crimes.

As Cyrus exposes Zaal, Alizeh recalls the dark riddle about a man with snakes on his shoulders feeding on children’s brains. Omid confirms in terror that street children have seen this horror and were threatened into silence. Cyrus tears open Zaal’s robes, revealing discolored, scaly skin and two white snakes rising from the king’s shoulders, and Zaal drops his sword in shock.