Murtagh and Thorn return to Nal Gorgoth after the disastrous boar hunt. Thorn urges greater caution, while Murtagh worries that his wards may be too permissive and feels increasingly unsure whether Bachel’s promised answers are worth hearing. When they land, Alín brings water, and temple servants take away the slain boar for butchering.

As Murtagh washes, Murtagh questions Alín about Bachel’s killing of the wounded Rauden. Alín defends Bachel completely, insisting that the Speaker’s judgment cannot be wrong and that Rauden’s death was part of his proper passage into the greater dream. Murtagh challenges the idea of unquestionable authority, but Alín’s faith remains unshaken.

Alín notices the scar on Murtagh’s back and shows compassion when Murtagh admits his father gave it to him. Alín then asks to wash Thorn, treating the dragon with reverent care. When Murtagh describes the vision from the hunt, Alín grows alarmed and refuses to hear more, insisting that only Bachel should interpret such things before fleeing the courtyard.

Bachel returns with the surviving hunters, the slain boars, and the bodies of the dead warriors. Rauden’s widow collapses over his body in grief, but after Bachel comforts her, the widow thanks Bachel as Mehtra. Bachel begins to direct the burial rites, but armed warriors interrupt by driving twenty-one shackled prisoners into the courtyard.

Grieve identifies the prisoners as Bachel’s latest thralls. Murtagh is outraged by the bondage, but Bachel claims all who serve the cause in Nal Gorgoth do so willingly and says Murtagh will too. She refuses to explain the cause yet, warning that understanding may be harder than ignorance, then orders the prisoners taken away and leads the funeral procession into the temple.

Unable to tolerate the cultists, Murtagh walks through the emptied village with Thorn. They study dragon-like carvings that seem subtly different from true dragons and may resemble Fanghur. Murtagh reflects on Rauden’s killing, the prisoners, and his own past violence, then reaches a firm decision with Thorn: they will press Bachel for answers at supper, fight if necessary, and try to protect the children if Nal Gorgoth turns against them.