After losing a large stretch of time, Harrow wakes in Ianthe Tridentarius’s bed, too exhausted to panic. Ianthe, practicing awkward rapier forms in her nightgown, tells Harrow to lie still and confirms that Augustine remains awake. Harrow weakly realizes that Ortus the First can bypass or consume wards, explaining why she has been afraid to sleep, but Ianthe tells Harrow to sleep in Ianthe’s room anyway.

When Harrow wakes again, rested and clear-minded, Harrow finds Ianthe on the floor in a widening pool of blood. Ianthe is repeatedly stabbing at the seam of Ianthe’s right arm, trying and failing to separate it as Lyctoral healing seals the wound each time. Harrow understands that the arm must be removed all at once and tells Ianthe to bite down on cloth.

Harrow amputates Ianthe’s arm at the shoulder with a bone blade, cauterizes the wound, and constructs a new arm from Ianthe’s own bone and marrow. Harrow makes not a full flesh-and-blood limb but a functional skeletal construct, adding enough tendon and nerve to let bone communicate with brain. Harrow explains that Lyctoral healing depends on nerve fibers and that Harrow lacks the normal Lyctoral process, which is why Harrow had tried and failed to trigger it through pain.

Ianthe tests the new skeletal arm with Ianthe’s rapier and finds it light but responsive. Harrow notices that Ianthe’s swordwork no longer looks like idle Ianthe but like the trained cavalier whose instincts Ianthe carries. Ianthe leaves despite Harrow’s anxiety and returns after testing the arm with Augustine, reporting that Augustine threw Ianthe into the River and fought Ianthe’s body; the arm worked, even if Augustine considered it hideous.

Ianthe is exhilarated because the arm restores Ianthe’s ability to fight as a Lyctor. Harrow asks for thanks, and Ianthe responds with intimate teasing, insisting that Harrow enjoyed the work. Ianthe finally reveals Ianthe’s chosen repayment: Ianthe will help Harrow kill the Saint of Duty.