In the Scholars’ Quarter, Lin Caster tries to buy an Academie medical treatise from Dom Lafont, hoping to access knowledge denied to the Ashkar. Lafont refuses because Lin is not an Academie student and because Ashkar are barred from such institutions. When Lafont insults Lin and her people, Mariam Duhary pulls Lin out before Lin can strike him and risk punishment from the Vigilants.

As Lin and Mariam head home before the Ashkar curfew at nightfall, the chapter reveals Lin’s frustration with Castellane’s laws and her own community’s resistance to her career as a female physician. Lin privately thinks she needs the book because Mariam has grown thin, pale, and breathless, and none of Lin’s remedies have helped. Mariam encourages Lin, reminding her that Lin’s success may make it easier for other Ashkari girls to become physicians.

The friends pass through the festive university district during Castellane’s Independence Day celebrations. Lin reflects on the Academie she cannot attend, the Ashkar’s confinement to the Sault, and the strange position of her grandfather Mayesh Bensimon, an Ashkari counselor close to the royal family. A wrong turn brings Lin and Mariam into the packed square before the Convocat just as Prince Conor Aurelian appears to address the crowd.

Lin resents Conor because Mayesh chose duty to the Palace over caring for Lin and her brother, while Mariam admires the prince’s looks and clothing. As Conor begins speaking, Lin observes the crowd’s devotion and thinks about the power of royalty: Conor could change unjust laws with a word, and Mayesh could advocate for her people if he chose.

During the speech, Mariam suddenly collapses, bleeding from the mouth and struggling to breathe. Lin has no physician’s satchel and fears the surrounding malbushim will not help Ashkar. A red-and-gold Palace carriage arrives, and its driver says Mayesh ordered him to bring Lin and Mariam back to the Sault. Lin climbs in with Mariam, notices her bloodstained scarf left behind in the square, and feels the sight is ominous.