After the opiate-laced party, Yrene spends a restless night ashamed, overheated, and unable to stop thinking about Chaol. By morning, the drug’s effects have faded, but Yrene remains unsettled by her behavior and by her decision to trust Chaol with the false information meant for Hasar.

Yrene goes early to Chaol’s suite intending to keep the healing session professional. Instead, Yrene finds Chaol half-dressed in bed with Nesryn asleep beside him. Hurt and embarrassed, Yrene leaves the bedroom and waits in the sitting room while Nesryn wakes, quietly says farewell, and departs.

Chaol tries to explain, but Yrene shields herself with formality and work. Yrene offers contraceptive tonics, assuming Chaol and Nesryn were intimate, and Chaol says Nesryn already takes one. When Chaol sees Yrene’s pain, Chaol tells her that he and Nesryn only talked late into the night and fell asleep, and that nothing happened between them.

The tension shifts when Chaol notices the books and scrolls Yrene brought from the library. Yrene explains that Nousha found the strange symbols while searching for information on the beings tied to Chaol’s wound. Chaol recognizes the markings as Wyrdmarks and becomes alarmed, especially when Yrene shows him The Song of Beginning, which mentions a gate, keys, and three kings.

Fearing spies, Chaol orders Yrene to hide the texts immediately. Yrene conceals the books around the room and hides the ancient scroll in one of Chaol’s boots, then resumes his exercises while they speak in coded terms. Yrene asks about the other two kings named in the book, Orcus and Mantyx, and warns that if they were only banished rather than destroyed, they may still be waiting to return.