The assassins spread through the ballroom and search the sitting area where Talasyn and Alaric are hiding. When a panicked noble runs for the exit, an assassin shoots him with void magic; the dead man is Wempuq, Oryal’s father. The assassins’ Dominion speech confirms they are Nenavarene, and Oryal’s screams reveal that she witnessed the killing.

Alaric urges Talasyn to act, and they charge with an overturned table as a shield while Talasyn fires a captured void musket. Once the table splinters and the musket cores run out, Talasyn and Alaric keep fighting with blades, fists, and improvised weapons. Nalam Gao and the Lachis-dalo arrive, and Gao tells Talasyn that Prince Elagbi has been extracted, the castle soldiers were poisoned, and attackers have surrounded the ballroom. Talasyn orders Gao to evacuate Jie and the other civilians instead of guarding her.

Elagbi then appears outside in a small armed airship and fires on targets on the terrace. The explosions destabilize the attackers’ amplifying configuration, ending the sariman nullification and restoring the Shadowgate. With their aethermancy returned, Talasyn and Alaric tear through the assassins with light and shadow magic, though their battle instincts briefly turn them against each other before Alaric kisses Talasyn and they separate again under renewed fire.

Talasyn sees Oryal kneeling by Wempuq’s corpse, and the sight triggers memories of wartime loss, especially Khaede holding Sol’s body. Talasyn notices a strange white spark in Oryal’s eyes but is forced back into combat. When Oryal vanishes, Talasyn follows her into the antechamber and hallway, leaving Alaric fighting with the guards despite an irrational fear that she might never see him again.

In the hallway, Talasyn finds dead assassins and then Oryal weeping against the wall. Talasyn embraces Oryal out of sympathy, but Oryal reveals that she knows Talasyn’s grandmother killed Talasyn’s mother, then strikes Talasyn with Tempestroad lightning. Oryal injects Talasyn with a turquoise-and-crimson mixture of sariman blood and rain magic, slowly eroding the Lightweave from Talasyn’s body. Oryal tells Talasyn she does not belong in Nenavar, and Talasyn loses consciousness while trying to hold on to the thought of Alaric.