After the tavern brawl, Taladaius brings Saeris into his office at Fool’s Paradise. Saeris asks about Taladaius’s unnamed friend, but Taladaius refuses to answer and immediately focuses on Kingfisher’s absence. Taladaius warns that the Blood Court fears Fisher after Fisher killed Ereth, and that Saeris may look vulnerable if the court realizes Fisher is no longer in Yvelia.

Taladaius considers adding guards to Saeris’s rooms, but Saeris argues that more guards would make her look weak and that her edict already controls them. While they argue, Saeris’s God Binding runes flare painfully beneath her gloves. Taladaius notices because vampires cannot lie to their makers without producing a blue aura, and because he can sense Saeris’s pain.

Saeris reluctantly removes her gloves and shows Taladaius the blackened, glowing damage around her runes. Saeris tells Taladaius about Everlayne’s body being used by Edina, Edina’s warning that Saeris’s Alchemist runes are unsealed, and the need to find Edina’s book in the Cahlish libraries. Taladaius explains that ordinary shades are only echoes and cannot converse, so the entity Saeris spoke with must have been Edina herself, meaning Edina’s soul remained in the realm by will alone after death.

As Saeris speaks, the flare fades and her hands heal. Taladaius interprets the episode as evidence that Saeris has elemental fire magic and regenerative physical magic tied to her Alchemist heritage. Saeris fears the uncontrolled power could destroy her or others, but Taladaius tries to reframe the symptoms as signs of future strength.

Taladaius then explains that Saeris is only the second person he has sired and that he feels responsible for helping her survive the Blood Court. Because Saeris is God-Bound to Fisher and also bound to Taladaius as her maker, Taladaius worries that the bond gives him power over Fisher’s mate and makes Saeris vulnerable to accusations that she is his puppet. Taladaius asks whether Saeris would be offended if he publicly disavowed her and severed their maker bond.

Saeris agrees that the disavowal is wise, but demands something in return: Taladaius must act on her behalf and help govern Ammontraíeth while she is in Cahlish. Taladaius reluctantly accepts, deciding the disavowal must be theatrical enough to convince the high bloods. Saeris realizes she trusts him, accepts the end of their maker-made bond, and agrees to a new relationship as friends, prompting Taladaius to ask her to call him Tal.