Stroud examines Helena and discovers the fetus is female. Stroud reacts with contempt because Morrough wanted a male animancer child, but Kaine argues that any animancer child should be valuable. After Stroud leaves, Helena feels the pregnancy become real and grows protective of the unwanted girl, especially because Kaine seems distant from the baby.

Kaine takes Helena into the rear gardens, away from Morrough’s usual surveillance. At an old apple tree, Kaine unexpectedly shares memories of his childhood, including his sick mother, Enid. Helena realizes Kaine is trying to give her stories to pass on to their daughter because Kaine expects to die before meeting her. When Kaine discusses inheritance for the child, Helena breaks down, and both accept Enid as a possible name.

Later, Helena asks Kaine to have sex because she does not want their last sexual memory to be the coerced encounters under Morrough’s control. Kaine initially refuses, but later responds to her desire. During intimacy, Helena’s trauma overwhelms her and she tells him to stop; Kaine immediately withdraws. Helena insists the moment was still meaningful because she could choose to stop, but the experience exposes how damaged they both remain, and Helena sees more of Kaine’s scars.

When Kaine is away, Helena sneaks to the chamber containing Morrough’s old array, despite Davies’s fearful pleas. Helena studies the altered floor markings, compares them to earlier clues, and realizes the array is animancy-based. As relief and urgency drive her to reconstruct the design, Helena’s heart begins racing uncontrollably, and she collapses in the torture chamber.

Helena wakes in bed with nullium back in her manacles and Kaine beside her. Kaine explains that the doctor believes imprisonment, pregnancy, and distress have left Helena with an irregular heartbeat that may not resolve. Helena argues that she has nearly solved Morrough’s method and must save Kaine, but Kaine insists Helena cannot save him and must prioritize their daughter, Lila, and survival. They compromise: Helena may continue copying and studying the array only under Kaine’s supervision, and she may no longer leave her room without him.

After more than a day away, Kaine returns and tells Helena she must stay in her room because a dinner party will be held for Aurelia and the remaining Undying. Kaine says he is expected to convince them that nothing is wrong, making clear that Morrough’s political control and the coming Abeyance still threaten them.