Two days after Hadrian's argument with Switch, Switch still refuses to speak to him, though Switch has not revealed Hadrian's identity to anyone. Hadrian feels that losing Switch's trust has cost him his only true ally, and that guilt turns into anger during training.

In the training yard, Hadrian drills three new myrmidons and easily humiliates them despite their numerical advantage. Instead of teaching them patiently, Hadrian vents his bitterness by knocking them down, mocking their lack of teamwork, and pushing them harder than necessary.

Pallino intervenes, rebuking Hadrian for abusing first-time trainees rather than preparing them. Elara and Siran join the confrontation, quickly guessing that Switch's sulking and Hadrian's rage are connected. Hadrian admits that he and Switch had been looking into buying a starship, but he only partly explains the quarrel, letting the others assume he had been dishonest about their escape plans.

The discussion turns briefly to Gilliam, the intus priest who stunned Hadrian, and to the rumor that the coliseum may hold a captured Cielcin. Hadrian does not reveal the full extent of his plans, but he thinks about breaking into the gaol and recognizes that the possibility of reaching the Cielcin helped drive him back to Gila's shipyard and toward exposing part of his palatine identity.

Pallino warns Hadrian that reckless anger will get him killed in a real bout and that his friends cannot save him if he throws himself into danger. Hadrian leaves rather than admit they are right, but afterward he understands that Pallino, Elara, and Siran were not judging him; they were worried about him. Their concern makes Hadrian recognize them as a kind of chosen family, even as he remains determined to leave Emesh, acquire a ship, and pursue the knowledge represented by the hidden Cielcin.