Hadrian accompanies Dorian, Anaïs, Valka Onderra, Doctor Onderra, and Mataro soldiers to Ulakiel, an island alienage where the Umandh are confined. The visit is meant to educate the Mataro children about Emesh’s native xenobites, but Hadrian immediately notices the heated fence preventing the Umandh from escaping and the miserable condition of their hovels beneath the human overseer’s keep.

Niles Engin, the gray-skinned vilicus of Ulakiel, greets the party with deference to Dorian and Anaïs but condescends to Valka as an outsider and xenologist. As the group tours the settlement, Engin speaks casually about exporting Umandh offworld to Triton and reveals his background in the alien slave trade, disturbing Dorian and angering Valka. Hadrian observes the Umandh feeding, singing, and moving collectively, while Valka explains that their signals are not true language as humans understand it.

Hadrian and Valka separate from the noble children to examine Umandh chimes and circular woven objects. Valka explains that the Umandh perceive by sound and that the objects may be writing, art, or maps. Hadrian recognizes one as an anaglyph, impressing Valka because Norman survey teams took years to understand that much, and the two discuss alien cognition, language, and theories about why humans and Cielcin developed spacefaring civilizations.

Under the shelter of a Umandh hovel, Hadrian asks about the ruins of Calagah and how the Umandh could have built them. Valka becomes distracted by scars on one Umandh and reveals that Engin has the creatures pinned down and chiseled rather than simply whipped. The brutality sickens Hadrian, and Valka condemns the Chantry and Imperial culture for normalizing violence.

In a rare private moment away from cameras and courtly performance, Hadrian speaks honestly as himself and admits that what the Chantry does is vile. Valka is surprised that he would risk such blasphemy, and Hadrian insists that not all Imperials think as she assumes. The exchange softens Valka, and she briefly touches Hadrian, acknowledging that she knows he is different.

Valka begins to answer Hadrian’s question about the ruins by saying the Umandh did not build them, but Anaïs interrupts before she can finish. Anaïs and Dorian find Hadrian and Valka alone in the hovel, creating tension, especially from Anaïs. Engin hurries them out on the excuse that the hovels are unstable, and Anaïs pulls Hadrian away to watch the Umandh perform a dance for the visitors.