Kamran enters the antechamber to King Zaal’s rooms and senses an ambush. His mother, Princess Firuzeh, playfully attacks him with a ruby dagger, then complains that Kamran neglects her and that her boredom forces her into theatrical behavior. Their exchange reveals Firuzeh’s vanity, frustration at never becoming queen after her husband’s death, and Kamran’s impatience with courtly life.

Kamran and Firuzeh enter King Zaal’s mirrored reception chamber, whose splendor makes Kamran feel both awe and inadequacy. While Firuzeh mourns that the rooms should have been hers one day, Kamran recalls his father’s death in battle, the traumatic ceremony that made Kamran heir at eleven, and the burden of being shaped into a ruler before he was ready.

King Zaal arrives and questions Kamran about the incident in the street. Firuzeh tries to frame Kamran’s behavior as shameful, but Zaal presses Kamran more precisely: Kamran acted out of character, endangered himself, and has no convincing explanation for why he involved himself with a servant girl and a bleeding street boy. Kamran finally admits that he believed the girl might be a spy, and Zaal recognizes this as the first honest thing Kamran has said.

Zaal rebukes Kamran not only for acting on suspicion in public, but for carrying the wounded orphan in his arms. Zaal explains that Kamran’s compassion has stirred the common people, who are chanting his name in the streets, while the nobles will see the same act as reckless or unstable. To repair the political damage, Kamran must remain in Setar, host a ball, appear at court, and reassure the Seven Houses, especially the House of Piir.

When Kamran asks to return to his troops afterward, Zaal reveals that this will not be allowed. The king believes his own death is near and says Kamran was not recalled merely to rest. Because Ardunia is on the brink of war, Zaal commands Kamran to marry and secure the royal line, warning that the empire would fall into chaos if Kamran died without an heir. Kamran realizes the matter is not a request and swears upon his honor to obey.