After the night attack on Naib Sharnak’s sietch, Ishanti returns from Arrakis City and finds the Freemen guards tense, armed, and grieving six dead. Sharnak explains that only two attackers caused the damage while searching for Vorian Atreides. Ishanti recognizes the threat as the same pair that pursued her and Vor, but Sharnak says Vor brought danger to the tribe and now owes them a debt.

Inside the sietch, Vor waits under guard and reflects on Andros and Hyla’s claim that they are General Agamemnon’s children. Vor feels shame that shock kept him from fighting harder and guilt over other unresolved parts of his long life, especially Xavier Harkonnen’s false historical disgrace. Vor accepts responsibility for many past choices, though he feels no guilt for killing Agamemnon.

Ishanti and Sharnak confront Vor. Sharnak argues that the Freemen should not spend blood on Vor’s enemies and decides to cast Vor out into the desert for the tribe’s safety. Ishanti defends Vor as honorable and insists he should at least receive supplies and a chance to survive, though Sharnak says Ishanti must pay for them.

Before Vor can be expelled, Ishanti reveals that her search through Combined Mercantiles records found no rival spice company behind the attack. She also reports that a young, blond, noble-looking man in Arrakis City has been asking clumsy but detailed questions about Vor. Because this suggests more than one dangerous party may be hunting Vor, Ishanti persuades Sharnak that the Freemen should learn who these hunters are before banishing Vor.

In Arrakis City, Griffin Harkonnen has nearly exhausted his money searching for Vor. Griffin misses Lankiveil and considers giving up because Arrakis locals seem uninterested in the ancient Harkonnen grievance. That night, Ishanti and two desert companions enter Griffin’s room, demand to know why he has been asking questions, overpower him when he resists, and drug him unconscious with a needle-jet.