Nona wakes in Blood of Eden’s meeting room, badly disoriented and sick, with Palamedes present in Camilla’s body. Palamedes explains that the bullet was lodged in Nona’s head and had to be removed, that Hot Sauce was allowed to leave, and that Blood of Eden shackled Camilla and Palamedes after witnessing Nona’s impossible regeneration. Nona admits she saw and recognized the red-haired girl from her dreams during the broadcast, and Palamedes is upset because this information changes his understanding of Nona.

Nona then confesses that she believes she has only a few days left to live. Palamedes examines Nona with necromancy and concludes that Nona is losing thalergy because Nona’s soul is trying to leave Nona’s body. Palamedes reasons that the body does not recognize the soul inside it, suggesting Nona is not simply the original owner of the body. Palamedes tells Nona that the red-haired body from the broadcast belongs to Gideon Nav and that getting Nona to that body may allow “spiritual gravity” to resolve what is happening.

Palamedes switches back to Camilla, and We Suffer enters unmasked. We Suffer apologizes for the restraints but explains that Blood of Eden is frightened and impressed by Nona’s violence and healing. We Suffer also reveals that the Angel, whom she calls the Messenger, is vitally important to Blood of Eden, and that We Suffer has been put in charge of the next move while Unjust Hope has been sidelined.

We Suffer and Camilla discuss Crown’s current mission: Crown has volunteered to approach the House barracks and get inside. Camilla insists the mission is a trap and begs We Suffer to pull Crown out, warning that Corona cannot lie to Ianthe. We Suffer refuses because Blood of Eden needs intelligence and believes Crown may be their best chance, while also revealing that a more aggressive faction had wanted simply to bomb the barracks and hope Ianthe died.

Through an audio feed, Nona, Camilla, and We Suffer hear Crown drive up to the barracks and claim sanctuary as Coronabeth Tridentarius of the Third House. Ianthe, speaking from within Babs’s dead body, comes to Crown and embraces her. Their reunion is emotional but warped: Crown is horrified by Babs’s corpse, while Ianthe alternates tenderness, mockery, and manipulation. Crown reveals she has brought Judith Deuteros and demands Ianthe help her, refusing to enter unless Judith is protected.

Ianthe realizes Crown is wired and addresses Blood of Eden directly. As the Saint of Awe, Ianthe thanks them for returning Crown, then changes the terms of the negotiation: she demands every House asset Blood of Eden holds, the Sixth House Oversight Body, Camilla Hect, and Harrowhark Nonagesimus intact, or the planet will be forfeit. We Suffer’s snipers line up a shot, but Camilla repeatedly urges We Suffer not to take it. The audio then reveals another familiar voice: the Saint of Duty is present, and after ordering that the “fishhook” be removed from Crown’s earring, the line goes dead. Nona recognizes the voice as Pyrrha’s.