After Alizeh vanishes from the square, Kamran remains troubled by what he has witnessed. Kamran had noticed the danger to Alizeh before the knife was drawn, but Alizeh disarmed the attacker without help and then disappeared with impossible suddenness.

Kamran studies the details of Alizeh’s appearance and behavior. Although Alizeh wore a servant’s snoda, Kamran reasons that a real maid would not likely wear it outside work at that hour, and Alizeh’s bearing seemed too refined for a servant. Because spies have been increasingly infiltrating Ardunia, Kamran concludes that Alizeh may be a spy using a stolen uniform as cover.

Kamran abandons his planned meeting with the Diviners, who had mysteriously summoned him despite his unannounced return. Instead, Kamran approaches the red-haired attacker, recognizing the injured boy as someone from Fesht by language and appearance. Kamran covers his face with chain mail and demands to know what Alizeh said to him.

The boy first lies or evades, but when Kamran grips the boy’s dislocated shoulder, the boy admits that Alizeh returned his knife and offered him bread. Kamran struggles to believe that Alizeh showed mercy after being threatened, yet the boy insists it is true and begs not to be turned over to the magistrates. When Kamran condemns the attack and demands justice, the terrified boy says he would rather die than be handed over.

Before Kamran can fully react, the boy drives his own knife into his throat. Kamran catches the starving child, then instinctively commands bystanders to help carry him away. Shocked by the suicide, Kamran reflects that although he has seen much death in war, he has never watched a child kill himself.

Kamran then notices the handkerchief Alizeh had pressed to her wounded throat. Remembering Alizeh’s composure, mercy, and uncanny escape, Kamran’s suspicion and shame intensify. When Kamran lifts the handkerchief from the snow, Kamran expects it to be bloody, but it is completely pristine.