The long-awaited Jaddian delegation arrives at Calagah, led by Lady Kalima Aliarada Udiri di Sayyiph, Satrap of Ubar, and guarded by silent mamluks and the Maeskolos swordmaster Olorin Milta. Sir Elomas tries to greet the visitors with elaborate hospitality, but Kalima makes clear that her party has only three hours and wants to see the ruins rather than linger over wine.

As the group descends toward the ruins, Anaïs Mataro walks with Hadrian and openly mentions their expected future marriage. Hadrian is uncomfortable, especially with Valka nearby and with Anaïs speaking as though Ligeia’s possible revenge for Gilliam can be solved by having her killed. Anaïs’s confidence falters when the subject turns to the Cielcin war, and she admits that she had imagined the conflict would remain far away.

Inside Calagah, Doctor Onderra begins explaining the site while Elomas interrupts to soften or redirect inconvenient claims. The visitors admire the alien architecture, and Valka remarks that such ruins should remind humanity that it is not the center of the universe. Rather than argue with Valka’s heretical view, Kalima observes that the chamber resembles the insides of Cielcin ships.

Hadrian questions Kalima and Olorin about that comparison. Kalima says the Jaddians once captured a Cielcin outrider at Obatala and found its interior dark and cave-like, much like Calagah. Olorin explains that the Jaddian party is traveling to the front beyond Marinus and that Emesh is only their last stop before crossing the Veil, confirming that the Cielcin threat is not a distant rumor but part of a widening war.

After the tour ends, Hadrian lingers alone in the sepulcher, troubled by his earlier vision and by Valka’s coldness since he told her about it. Anaïs finds him and again asks him to return to Borosevo. When she embraces him and speaks of her father’s plan to make Hadrian her consort and the father of their children, Hadrian feels trapped, comparing himself to a breeding animal and to others denied any real choice.

Anaïs kisses Hadrian despite his unease, and Hadrian insists that the arrangement is exactly as coercive as it appears. Anaïs imagines them ruling Emesh together, but Hadrian feels sick and powerless. Valka arrives in the doorway and sees them together; Hadrian tries to explain, but Valka says she does not care and tells them the Jaddians are waiting.