Chaol waits for Yrene in his rooms after Nesryn leaves early to seek Sartaq and his ruk. When Yrene is late, Chaol grows restless and exercises on his own until he is exhausted and sweating, partly to escape the silence and his worries about Dorian.

Yrene arrives looking shaken and sends Kadja away with a false errand about a rash on Chaol’s legs, ensuring privacy. When Chaol presses Yrene, she reveals that a healer was murdered in the Torre library the night before and that someone hunted Yrene while Yrene was researching the Valg power connected to Chaol’s wound.

Yrene explains that the dead healer looked like Yrene and had been drained into a desiccated corpse, leading Yrene and Chaol to suspect that the attacker meant to kill Yrene. The books Yrene had been reading about Valg lore vanished afterward, and Chaol realizes a Valg demon may already be in Antica. Chaol also tells Yrene that Prince Kashin suspects Tumelun’s death may not have been suicide, though Yrene notes Hafiza declared it so.

Chaol promises to warn the khagan and apologizes for drawing Yrene into danger. Yrene says security has been increased at the Torre, but she is most concerned for the frightened acolytes. She asks Chaol to help teach her weekly self-defense class, explaining that she promised the person who taught her to pass those lessons on to as many women as possible.

Yrene also reveals that she has arranged for special straps and braces so Chaol can ride a horse to the Torre, giving Chaol fragile hope that riding may still be possible. When Chaol asks to be called by his first name, their guarded rapport softens slightly.

Despite exhaustion and danger, Yrene refuses to stop healing Chaol, suspecting the attacker wants to prevent her from continuing. She declares that she will not return to living in fear, places her hand on the scar at the base of Chaol’s spine, and begins confronting the darkness in the wound, causing Chaol to scream.