Alizeh walks through another brutally cold night toward Follad Place, the home of the Lojjan ambassador, for an important sewing appointment. As she travels, Alizeh thinks about Mrs. Amina, whose behavior continues to confuse her: the housekeeper is often cruel, but also capable of unexpected permissions and small acts of care.

Before leaving Baz House, Alizeh had tried to avoid Mrs. Amina because Alizeh feared being judged for seeking seamstress work above her station. Mrs. Amina caught Alizeh at the door with her carpet bag, asked whether Alizeh was running away, and unsettlingly mentioned the ball the next night. After a cryptic remark about Alizeh seeing only thorns instead of a rose’s bloom, Mrs. Amina abruptly returned to ordering Alizeh not to forget the fire.

As Alizeh continues through the dark, Alizeh recalls making the carpet bag herself as a child after learning weaving from her parents and using needlework to endure grief after her mother’s death. The bag holds Alizeh’s sewing supplies and few belongings, but its bulk makes Alizeh more visible and vulnerable as she moves through the streets. Alizeh stays close to the gaslights, aware that poor young women alone at night are often treated as easy targets.

Alizeh is exhausted because Mrs. Amina worked her hard after Omid’s visit, draining the happiness Alizeh had felt about the invitation. Alizeh also mourns the apparent disappearance of the mysterious firefly, whose arrival had given Alizeh hope that someone might be searching for her. By the time Alizeh reaches Follad Place, warmth, lamplight, and the possibility of earning enough for winter clothes lift Alizeh’s spirits.

At the servants’ entrance, Alizeh thinks about Miss Huda, the ambassador’s illegitimate daughter, whose commission could help Alizeh rise as a seamstress. Mrs. Sana opens the door irritably, but before Alizeh fully enters, something strikes Alizeh’s cheek. Alizeh realizes it is not hail but a firefly, likely the same one from before, and glimpses possible movement in the hedge before the light vanishes again.

Mrs. Sana loses patience and orders Alizeh inside, threatening to throw Alizeh back out if she delays. Alizeh tries to explain that she thought she saw something, then abandons the attempt when Mrs. Sana demands an answer. Alizeh enters Follad Place, hiding her alarm and preparing to begin the appointment.