Grieve summons Murtagh and Thorn to Bachel’s audience. Because the temple doors are too small for Thorn, Grieve directs Thorn to an atrium behind the temple. Thorn agrees to go only that far, warning that Bachel must come to him if she wants to speak directly.

Murtagh follows Grieve into the warm, sulfurous temple, passing a black, jagged statue Grieve calls “a depiction of dream.” Thorn finds the statue abominable and promises to tear the building apart if Murtagh is attacked. In the presence chamber, Murtagh sees a brazier, dragon-headed stonework, old banners, an altar, and Bachel enthroned in ceremonial splendor while Genvek, a dwarf villager, reports a vision of victory.

Bachel dismisses Genvek and welcomes Murtagh to the Court of Crows, noting that a Rider has not stood there in over half a century. When Murtagh sees no crows, Bachel reveals a hidden flock perched above and calls them down with a magically charged command. She presents herself not only as Speaker but as Queen of Crows, then explains that she views crows as hungry creatures drawn to battlefields, rather than as sacred guides of the dead.

Bachel asks whether Murtagh and Thorn dreamed in Nal Gorgoth. Murtagh recounts the dream while withholding Nasuada’s presence, hoping Bachel’s interpretation will reveal more about the Dreamers. Bachel performs a ritual with chanting acolytes and interprets the dream in ominous, prophetic language involving a king, a snake, unavenged wrongs, future triumphs, a cleansing sword, and a son freed of his father, disturbing Murtagh deeply.

When Murtagh demands clearer answers about Bachel’s agents, her prophecy, and the Dreamers’ purpose, Bachel reveals that her sanctum mirrors the Hall of the Soothsayer beneath Urû’baen. She claims the same sacred vapors once rose there and that she belongs to the Soothsayer’s lineage of belief. This connection shakes Murtagh, especially because the chamber recalls where Galbatorix held Nasuada captive.

Bachel insists Fate brought Murtagh and Thorn to Nal Gorgoth and claims even Galbatorix failed to destroy the Dreamers. Murtagh loses patience, but Bachel asks him and Thorn to remain one more day and night, observe the Dreamers, dream again, and then receive plainer answers. Murtagh and Thorn agree because they need to understand her power and intentions, after which Bachel announces a diversion: a boar hunt.