After humiliating Ligeia Vas at dinner, Hadrian finds that Lord Balian Mataro is somewhat more sympathetic to him, though Hadrian remains in danger whenever he is away from the count or the royal children. While accompanying Mataro’s retinue through Borosevo, Hadrian walks with Valka. Their conversation turns from Hadrian’s supposed barbarism to class, birth, and judgment by actions rather than status, exposing both Hadrian’s Imperial assumptions and Valka’s suspicion of palatine society.

The tour brings the party to the same Fishers Guild warehouse where Hadrian once encountered the Umandh while stealing fish with Cat. The place stirs grief and guilt in Hadrian, especially as Valka notices his distress. Inside, Engin and Imperial officials report the number of Umandh still kept as laborers, while Ligeia Vas presses the count about allowing the aliens to retain their rituals and insists that their native culture must be destroyed.

The Chantry’s hostility toward the Umandh and toward Valka sharpens the tension. Gilliam mocks the idea of converting the aliens and derides Valka, while Mataro bristles at Ligeia’s authority over his world. When a handler strikes an Umandh to silence the creatures’ altered droning, the gathered Umandh suddenly erupt into a coordinated frenzy and attack the retinue.

In the chaos, guards try to protect Mataro and evacuate the nobles. An Umandh nearly kills Hadrian by crushing and choking him, but Valka frees him. Hadrian then pulls Valka out of danger, sends her up a ladder, and fights another Umandh with a fish-gutting machete. Hadrian disables the creature but hesitates to execute it; a soldier kills it instead, underscoring the massacre of the rebelling slaves.

Outside, Gilliam accuses Valka of causing the attack with foreign technology and Chantry-forbidden arts. Valka denies it, and Hadrian argues that the uprising may have been simple rebellion by oppressed creatures. When Gilliam calls Valka an offworld whore, Hadrian punches the priest, then demands satisfaction rather than submit to arrest. Ligeia objects that a peasant cannot challenge her palatine son, so Hadrian breaks his secrecy by displaying his signet ring and asserting his right to duel Gilliam.