After the overseer grafts spidersilk onto Abraxos’s wings, Manon keeps the remaining silk hidden and tells no one where she obtained it. Once Abraxos heals, Manon brings him to the Northern Fang to attempt the Crossing, while Asterin and Sorrel wait mounted nearby to rescue Manon if Abraxos fails and falls.

At the edge, Abraxos refuses to move. Manon checks his gear, commands him, threatens him, and tries to mount, but Abraxos remains terrified of the plunge. With Iskra watching from the platform, Manon is publicly humiliated and orders Abraxos confined until he will make the Crossing.

As Manon walks away with Asterin and Sorrel, Iskra taunts her and then seizes a whip, claiming Abraxos needs discipline. Iskra strikes Abraxos across the face, and Manon instantly attacks Iskra. The two heirs fight brutally until other witches pull Manon away, while Asterin faces Iskra’s Second and the watching witches realize the conflict could escalate.

Sorrel forces Manon to look at Abraxos and see that he is alive and only lightly wounded. Manon regains control, stops the wider fight from breaking out, and warns Iskra that if Iskra touches Abraxos again, Manon will kill her. That night, Iskra is punished by Iskra’s mother for the fight and the lashes given to Abraxos, but Manon refuses the offered right to whip Iskra herself.

The next day, Petrah, the Blueblood heir, visits Abraxos’s cage with her Second and offers a goat leg caught by Petrah’s wyvern, Keelie, saying Keelie wanted to share it with Abraxos. Manon refuses meat from a rival clan, but Petrah suggests the clans are meant to fly under one banner and hints that wyverns may communicate with their riders. After Petrah leaves, Manon throws the meat away.