Pekka Rollins hides at his country house, clinging to the respectability and safety he built there for himself and his son, Alby. Though surrounded by paid guards, Pekka remains shaken by Kaz Brekker’s deception and by visions of Alby buried alive, which have made Pekka doubt himself in ways he never did as Barrel king.

After a calm summer morning with Alby, Pekka reviews the damage to his businesses. The Emerald Palace and Kaelish Prince have been closed because of the false plague scare, and the Sweet Shop may be ruined, but Pekka decides the gambling halls can be renamed and salvaged. This restores Pekka’s confidence, and he resolves to return to Ketterdam and reclaim power.

That night, Pekka wakes to find Inej Ghafa pinning Pekka to the bed with a knife at Pekka’s throat. Inej refuses to negotiate, makes clear that Kaz did not send Inej, and reminds Pekka that Dunyasha failed to kill Inej. Inej cuts Pekka once above the heart and warns that if Pekka ever comes back to Ketterdam, Inej will return to make the second cut.

After Inej vanishes from a locked, barred room, Pekka rushes to Alby and finds Alby unharmed. However, Alby’s lion toy has been replaced by a black-winged crow, proving Inej reached Pekka’s son as easily as Inej reached Pekka. Terrified, Pekka orders the household to pack money and leave immediately.

Pekka recognizes that Kaz, Inej, and their crew are the dangerous result of the ruthless city Pekka helped create. Pekka chooses life over pride, abandoning any plan to return to Ketterdam, and imagines drinking to the men like Pekka who unknowingly raised enemies fiercer than themselves.