The next day at Iantas, the Kesathese delegation prepares to leave. Alaric and Talasyn watch from their balcony as the repaired shallop is loaded with supplies, and their teasing argument over the excessive provisions briefly lightens Alaric’s mood.

Alaric is troubled because he must return to Kesath. His officers need him for meetings and evacuation planning before the Moonless Dark, and his father continues to pull at the edges of the Shadowgate from the In-Between. Despite these duties, Alaric privately imagines staying at Iantas with Talasyn and is pained by the thought of a month apart.

As Alaric and Talasyn descend through the quiet castle, Alaric’s restraint breaks. He pulls Talasyn into a supply closet, where their banter turns into a hurried, intense farewell encounter driven by desire and the looming separation. Their intimacy confirms how deeply attached Alaric has become, even as both still mask vulnerability with provocation and irritation.

Afterward, Alaric embraces Talasyn and she stops protesting long enough to promise she will write to him. Alaric promises to write back, reinforcing that their parting is not only political but personally wrenching.

Once Alaric’s airship has left, Talasyn goes to the kitchens and drinks tea made from wisewoman’s lilac, using menstrual pain as an excuse though the tea also serves as a morning-after preventive. She then retreats upstairs to send a missive to the Sardovian encampment in the Storm God’s Eye, signaling that her connection to that side of the conflict remains active after Alaric’s departure.