As Gabriel and Dior descend from San Michon to the valley, Gabriel is consumed by fear that Celene forced him to drink her blood. Gabriel explains that vampire blood can heal and strengthen, but repeated drinking from the same vampire over three nights creates a thrall, a slave bound to the vampire’s will.

To make Dior understand the danger, Gabriel tells a story about Liame Voss and Estelle: a woman enthralled to her vampire fiancé loved him so obsessively that she buried him behind a cellar wall to keep him safe, feeding him through a drain for years. In the framing conversation, Jean-François dismisses the tale as nonsense, but Gabriel insists it shows how blood serfdom can twist devotion into madness.

Back in Gabriel’s tale, Dior asks what happened to Celene. Gabriel explains that the vampire Laure, the Wraith in Red, burned his home village in revenge during Gabriel’s youth, killing Gabriel’s mother, stepfather, and supposedly Celene. When the platform reaches the valley, Gabriel finds missing horses and then Celene appears in crimson, wearing her porcelain mask and radiating the presence of the Dead.

Gabriel introduces Dior to Celene, who calls Liathe a title meaning crusader or knight. Celene says Dior must come with Celene because the Forever King and the other Priori will seek to control Dior. When Gabriel says there are four bloodlines, Celene corrects him: there are five. Celene reveals the Esani crest in her own blood and shows that Celene can wield sanguimancy, the bloodgift Gabriel also carries.

Celene explains that the Esana are not merely a bloodline but a belief, and that Celene learned from an ancient vampire named Wulfric before Wulfric was murdered. Celene says Dior’s blood can end daysdeath and restore the sun, but when Dior asks how, Celene admits she does not yet know. Celene insists they must seek Master Jènoah at Cairnhaem in the Nightstone Mountains to learn the truth.

Gabriel is furious that Celene has chased and attacked them without knowing the answer herself. Celene argues that Gabriel failed to protect Dior and demands Dior come with her. Gabriel draws Ashdrinker and refuses, declaring that when it comes to Dior, he will stand in the world’s way. Celene raises her blood-made blade and threatens to make Gabriel move.