Alizeh returns invisibly to Baz House after fleeing with the prince, aware that she has broken several severe laws and could be hanged if discovered. She dries her wet coat and boots by the hearth as best she can, then removes her invisibility once she is fully dressed and unlikely to be reprimanded for sitting by the fire.

Exhausted and in pain, Alizeh reflects on the disasters of the night: her risky comments to the apothecarist, the attack, the loss of her packages, and the prince’s baffling kindness. Because the medicine for her injured hands has washed away and cost nearly all her money, Alizeh faces a trap: without medicine she may not be able to sew, but without sewing she cannot buy more medicine.

Her despair widens into memories of Jinn persecution and her own loneliness. Alizeh thinks about the long history of Clay violence against Jinn, the futility of isolated resistance, and the difficulty of uniting a scattered people. Her grief then centers on her dead parents and the missing handkerchief that was her mother’s, the only possession Alizeh saved from the fire that killed her mother.

A noise at the back door startles Alizeh, and she bolts it just in time. When the visitor knocks and speaks, Alizeh recognizes the prince’s voice. Suspicious that he might be there to arrest her, but desperate to recover her parcels, she opens the door and lets the rain-soaked prince inside.

The prince returns all of Alizeh’s packages, and Alizeh is overcome with relief. He notices her eyes changing color from blue to brown to silver, which alarms Alizeh and confirms why she hides behind her snoda. Alizeh politely ends the encounter, citing her need to sleep before work, and waits for the prince to leave before returning to lock up and bank the fire.

Only after the prince is gone does Alizeh realize she is not alone in the kitchen, leaving her exposed and vulnerable after an already dangerous night.