At the Torre, the previous night's vigil and the library attack still weigh on the healers, but Chaol's defense lesson succeeds. He guides the girls and women through throwing techniques using palace guards as volunteers, and by the end each student has flipped a guard. Chaol is precise and controlled with everyone, yet he remains visibly cold toward Yrene.

After the lesson, Yrene suggests another healing attempt, and Chaol sharply insists they return to the palace. On the ride and afterward, his silence and resentment grow clearer. When Chaol snaps that Yrene could ask several acolytes to push him as she had at the Torre, Yrene leaves him to wheel himself after her.

In the palace, Kashin stops Yrene. He notices her disheveled state, tells her he has arranged extra guards for the Torre at night, and urges her to be careful despite the distance between them. Kashin also acknowledges Chaol's warning about Tumelun, making clear that he understands the danger may be serious. Yrene thanks Kashin but leaves to continue Chaol's treatment, and Chaol catches up after witnessing enough to infer Kashin's hurt.

Inside Chaol's suite, Nesryn emerges and learns that Chaol rode to the Torre with a brace. Her surprise briefly wounds him, but her hope returns when she offers to ride with him and show him the city and her uncle's home. After Nesryn leaves for family and other duties, Yrene and Chaol resume their tense exchange.

In Chaol's bedroom, Yrene asks what she did wrong. Chaol admits he felt displayed like a broken object before Yrene's acolytes, stripped of dignity by being handled and used as an example. He explains that his old life, plans, and sense of purpose have crumbled, leaving only his king and the faint hope of surviving the war. Yrene apologizes and realizes that walking away would damage the fragile trust required between healer and patient.

As Yrene prepares to enter the darkness in Chaol's spine again, Chaol asks whether Yrene's grudge is against him or all of Adarlan. Before beginning the painful healing, Yrene finally tells him the source of her hatred: Adarlanian soldiers burned her mother alive when Yrene was eleven. She then places her hand on the scar at the top of his spine.