Diem braces for the Descended man’s killing blow, but the same icy heat she felt at the palace and in the forest floods her body. A flash of light follows, and the attack somehow fails. When the man launches a second volley of shadow arrows, another glow protects Diem again, leaving both Diem and the attacker confused.

Diem uses her earlier plan and shouts “fire” to draw people into the alley, knowing locals will respond to a threat to their homes even if they would not intervene for a stranger. With witnesses approaching, Diem dives for Brecke’s fallen blade and cuts the Descended man’s leg instead of disabling him completely, hoping to force him to flee without provoking him into slaughtering the crowd. The man memorizes Diem’s face, glances once more at the boy, and escapes.

When Diem turns back to the child, Diem discovers that the boy has been fatally wounded. Diem tries to think through possible treatment, but the blood loss is too great, and the boy is already dead. Devastated, Diem holds the child and blames herself for not acting sooner.

An older grey-bearded man approaches and assumes the child is Diem’s son. When Diem explains that the boy’s mother is dead nearby, the man blames the mother for becoming involved with a Descended man. Diem erupts in anger, condemning the laws that doomed the boy and openly criticizing the King, even though the man warns that such words could get Diem killed. Despite the risk, Diem asks the man for help.

Afterward, Diem and the man carry the mother and child into the forest for burial. Diem digs a shallow grave and lays the boy in his mother’s arms, thinking of Auralie and wondering whether anyone found and buried her own mother. Diem then returns to Paradise Row in the rain, searching unsuccessfully for anyone who knew the victims.

As Diem’s grief hardens into rage, Diem concludes that healing is too passive to address the cruelty she has witnessed. Diem goes to Henri’s home behind the post office, covered in rain, mud, and blood. When Henri asks what happened, Diem tells Henri she is ready to fight the Descended and wants to join the Guardians.