After Shae leaves, Lan tells Hilo to have a discreet, low-jade informant watch Doru for contact with the Mountain. Lan refuses to confront Doru without proof because Doru is deeply tied to Kaul Sen, and a public accusation of treason would devastate their grandfather. Lan plans to explain Doru’s exclusion as a private sibling conversation about Shae returning to the clan.

Hilo questions Lan’s mixed approach to Shae: Lan has told everyone not to pressure her, yet secretly used her to investigate clan finances. Lan explains that Shae was useful because she understands numbers and is outside Doru’s control, but he still refuses to coerce her back into No Peak. Lan insists Shae may choose an ordinary life without jade, and that Hilo must stop treating her like a child.

Hilo notices that Lan’s aura is flaring strangely. Lan at first defends wearing the jade he won from Gam, insisting the public proof matters because he must show No Peak he is strong enough to face the Mountain. When Hilo urges Lan to put the jade down, Lan briefly becomes possessive and resentful, then realizes the new jade is causing symptoms of overexposure. Lan sets Gam’s jade aside, immediately feels better, and is left shaken by the implication that his own strength may be in doubt.

Hilo then asks for Lan’s blessing to marry Maik Wen. Lan raises political objections: the Maiks’ disgraced history, Wen’s assumed illegitimacy, her stone-eye condition, and the clan’s long memory. Hilo argues that Wen is loyal and that he trusts the Maiks with his life, but he insists that a marriage without the Pillar’s approval would have no real standing.

Lan weighs the political cost of endorsing the Maiks against the personal and clan cost of wounding Hilo during a dangerous time. Remembering his fear when Hilo was nearly killed, Lan decides not to deny his brother happiness when the future is uncertain. Lan gives Hilo his blessing, and Hilo responds with a formal oath of loyalty to his brother, his Pillar, and the clan before leaving with a final warning that Lan should sleep before wearing Gam’s jade again.