Murtagh stands numbly before Bachel’s throne while cultists strip him. His torture wounds have been healed, but Bachel notices the scar left by his father and decides not to remove it, saying Murtagh must remember that he is flawed and not all-powerful. Thorn, unshackled but submissive, waits nearby as Bachel orders Grieve to fit Murtagh for his new role.

The cultists dress Murtagh in fine red and black clothing, archaic scale armor, a gold-studded belt, and a crown-like helm. Bachel presents him as her honored son and champion, then declares that this day marks “the beginning of the end” for all who oppose the Draumar. In the days that follow, Murtagh obeys Bachel listlessly: he sleeps in the cell beneath the temple, ignores Uvek’s attempts to speak, sits beside Bachel in the sanctum, rides with her through the valley, and attends feasts while her constant speech shapes his perception.

Thorn is also used and humiliated. Murtagh twice sees Grieve ride Thorn, once beyond the peaks for hours, after which Thorn returns cold and shivering. Alín tends Thorn’s wounds with water, food, and cloth, and Murtagh feels misery but cannot express or act on it.

Bachel announces preparations for the Black Smoke Festival and sends armed raiding parties out to gather what is needed for worshiping Azlagûr. During another boar hunt, Bachel rides Thorn with Murtagh, and Murtagh kills without fear or feeling. Afterward, Bachel confides that Azlagûr’s dreams marked her from childhood, that her mother became jealous and resentful, and that Bachel killed her. Bachel also reveals that she is not the only Speaker, that the Draumar have long shaped events wherever black smoke rises, and that one Speaker once influenced the elves in the Hall of the Soothsayer.

That night in his cell, Murtagh tries to speak his true name and realizes it no longer feels true, deepening his despair and estrangement from himself. The dreams that follow are more violent and alien, then turn into a true memory of his first duel: Galbatorix arranged an exhibition between young Murtagh and Goreth of Teirm. Murtagh defeated Goreth by luck and skill, but Galbatorix ordered Murtagh to kill him; with Tornac silently signaling that there was no escape, Murtagh butchered Goreth and was then ordered by Galbatorix to destroy a village, prompting Murtagh and Tornac to flee the capital.

Some days later, richly dressed and armed visitors arrive at Nal Gorgoth. In the inner sanctum, Murtagh sits beside Bachel while the visitors feast, and Lyreth recognizes and mocks him. Bachel explains that Murtagh is “not himself,” the incense further clouds his mind, and Murtagh becomes repulsed by boar meat while struggling to recognize another familiar-looking visitor. Thorn sits in the shadows while Alín feeds him scraps, and the crows watch from above.