On Tehome’s Day, Chaol accompanies Yrene through unusually quiet Antican streets while most of the city attends the sunrise ceremony. Yrene visits an elderly man suffering from a recurring disease, using her healing light to soothe his lesions while his wife weeps with gratitude. Afterward, Yrene admits she may only be buying the old man time rather than curing him, revealing the limits of even her skill and the harsh standards she sets for herself.

Chaol asks if Yrene has other patients, wanting to remain outside rather than return to the palace. Yrene takes him across the city to visit a young mother recovering from a dangerous labor. The mother and baby are healthy, and the woman’s teasing implication that Yrene and Chaol might be involved flusters Yrene, prompting a charged exchange in which both acknowledge boundaries: Yrene says Chaol is her patient and with Nesryn, while Chaol confirms he is with Nesryn.

Because Yrene is afraid a healing session might make them lose track of time and miss the palace party, she offers Chaol a tour instead. They ride through Antica as the holiday crowds return, and Yrene shows him temples, libraries, neighborhoods, currency, and favorite sweets. Chaol is struck by the city’s wealth, openness, learning, and safety, seeing in it a model for what his own war-torn homeland might someday become.

In a quiet garden, Yrene asks whether places like Antica could one day exist again in Adarlan, Fenharrow, or elsewhere. Chaol thinks of ruined cities, Eyllwe, Rifthold, Aedion’s hope for a better world, and the army he still needs against Erawan. Chaol tells Yrene he believes they can build such a place if they survive the war, and Yrene observes that Chaol loves his people deeply before hinting at darker, unresolved feelings about Fenharrow’s own guilt.

Back at the palace, Yrene leaves to prepare with Hasar, and Chaol reunites with Nesryn before the feast. Nesryn appears in fine amethyst clothing rather than her captain’s uniform, and Chaol still postpones telling her that his toes can move. In the great hall, Duva explains that the khagan and his wife will celebrate privately because the khaganum is unwell and the mourning banners have just come down.

Hasar, Renia, and Yrene enter the feast together, and Yrene’s cobalt gown and jewels draw the attention of the princes and courtiers. Chaol notices that Yrene looks beautiful but resigned, as if Hasar’s preparations have erased the ease she showed earlier in the day. The princes rise to greet Yrene, recognizing her political value as the likely heir to the Healer on High, and Arghun seems to assess her as a prize before Hasar reaches Chaol and Nesryn and tells Nesryn to move.