Jerrod escorts Kel through the Maze to one of Prosper Beck’s establishments: an abandoned shipbuilder’s manufactory transformed into a gambling house, drug den, and brothel. Kel observes Beck’s organized power, his protected workers, his wealthy customers, and the signs of addiction spreading through the Maze.

Jerrod brings Kel upstairs to meet Prosper Beck, who is larger and rougher than Kel expected. Kel uses courtly self-control to present himself as acting only for Conor, not the Palace. Beck reveals that Conor has already paid the full ten-thousand-crown debt, leaving Kel shocked and uncertain where Conor found such money.

Beck says someone on the Hill funded his business and specifically wanted him to buy up Conor’s debts to destabilize House Aurelian. Beck offers to identify this patron, but only if Kel brings him Antonetta Alleyne’s heart-shaped gold locket, which contains information Beck wants. Beck also reveals Conor paid in Sarthian lire, then leaves to deal with trouble on the gambling floor.

Lin returns to the Sault and learns from Chana that Mariam was badly shaken by seeing a Malgasi royal carriage. Chana explains that the vamberj were the Malgasi Queen’s masked guards who hunted Ashkar in Favár. Lin then realizes she missed Mez and Rahel’s wedding, and the remnants of the celebration deepen Lin’s sense that she is drifting away from the life of the Sault.

Lin visits Mayesh, who says he was at the Palace greeting the Malgasi Ambassador. Their conversation turns unexpectedly intimate: Mayesh compares Lin to her mother, explains why the Ashkar need a voice outside the Sault, and hints that Lin might one day be trained as Counselor. Lin leaves unsettled, unsure of her place either inside or outside her community.

Kel returns to Marivent, choosing not to contact Andreyen until he better understands Beck’s revelations. He sees the Malgasi Ambassador’s wolf-marked carriage, finds Conor asleep, and wrestles with the news that Conor secretly repaid Beck. Kel realizes that protecting House Aurelian may require betraying Antonetta, and for the first time his duty to Conor conflicts with Kel’s own sense of right and wrong.