On the road to the palace, Maura instructs Diem in royal protocol: kneel before Prince Luther, avoid direct eye contact, keep her hands visible, and behave cautiously around the Descended. Diem jokes through the warnings, but Maura worries about Diem's anger toward the Crown. When Diem questions whether she can treat King Ulther after seeing the cruelty enabled by his laws, Maura reminds her that healers must see every patient as worthy of care.

At the palace, Sorae the gryvern watches Diem with unsettling intensity. Luther greets Diem and Maura, and the guards search them roughly. Luther intervenes when a guard gropes Diem, then conducts the search himself. He discovers the hidden Fortosian knife in Diem's boot but chooses not to expose her, leaving Diem shaken and confused about his motives.

As Luther escorts them deeper into the palace, Diem secretly drops her satchel in a shadowed alcove, beginning the Guardian mission. At the doors to the royal chambers, Diem is drawn to Luther's shadow magic, and he explains that Descended magic concentrates light and darkness into destructive forms. Inside, Diem sees the unconscious King Ulther, feels unexpected sympathy for his frailty, and resents the ritual submission expected of Maura and herself.

While Maura tends the King's bedsores and swollen joints, Diem slips away under the excuse of retrieving her satchel. Diem evades a guard, finds the bag, and consults the Guardian map that points toward the Crown's fortified boat and the hidden canal below the palace. Before Diem can reach the target, Luther searches for her. Hidden behind a column, Diem hears Luther warn that the other guards may be more dangerous and tell her not to end up like her mother, who betrayed him and lost his trust. The implication enrages Diem, but additional guards arrive before she acts, and Luther orders that Diem be found alive and brought only to him.

Realizing the mission has failed, Diem returns toward the royal chambers and is seized by guards, who cut her throat slightly and destroy her healer's satchel while accusing her of carrying poisons. Maura pleads for mercy, and Luther orders Diem released. Furious that his command not to engage Diem was ignored, Luther examines Diem's wound, takes the bloody knife from a guard, and stabs the man in the stomach with shadow-laced magic as punishment. Diem questions the violence, but Luther warns that obedience in the palace has consequences and sends Diem away alive. Diem leaves unsettled by Luther's contradictory protection, brutality, and connection to her mother's fate.