Lin returns to the North Tower to check on King Markus and notices that the scratches on the window are on the inside. Markus looks directly at Lin and speaks into Lin’s mind, instructing Lin to remove his gloves. Lin discovers that Markus’s hands have become blackened, cracked, fire-filled claws, revealing that the king is undergoing a supernatural transformation rather than an ordinary illness.

Markus shows Lin his memories: as a fosterling at the Malgasi court, Markus heard a tormented phoenix imprisoned beneath the throne room. The Belmanys had bled the creature for generations to power their Source-Stones and preserve Malgasi dominance. Markus killed the phoenix to free it, and its fiery essence entered Markus’s blood. Fausten helped Markus flee to Castellane and made medicine to slow Markus’s transformation, but later betrayed Markus by altering the medicine for Malgasi interests. Markus explains that Conor inherited phoenix blood, which is why the Malgasi wanted Conor alive and bound to Princess Anjelica; the Királar bond with Kel was meant as protection.

Markus tells Lin that the Malgasi fear the Ashkar prophecy of the Goddess because only an ancient power like hers could oppose them if they reclaim the phoenix. Markus offers Lin power through his blood, so Lin’s Source-Stone can surpass the Belmany stones. Lin accepts, and Markus cuts his wrist with a claw, dripping molten, fiery blood onto Lin’s brooch until the stone turns a burning red.

Meanwhile, Kel hurries back to the Castel Mitat and encounters Conor on the steps. Conor is carrying succession documents for the dye and tea Charters after Ciprian and Gremont’s deaths, naming Beatris as Ciprian’s successor and sending for Artal’s brother Donan. Kel conceals that Lin is with Markus, saying only that Kel wished Lin well before her trial. Conor asks after Lin and suggests that Conor and Kel speak later, while Kel worries about the difficult truths Kel still has to tell Conor.

Lin races from Marivent to the Sault, barely arriving by sundown for the trial. Mayesh meets Lin outside the Shulamat and warns that the test may not be what Lin expects. Inside, Lin finds witnesses, Aron Benjudah, the Maharam, and Mariam. Aron announces that Lin’s test is to heal Mariam, the very thing Lin has tried and failed to do for years. Though shaken, Lin places her hands on Mariam’s chest, draws on the newly empowered Source-Stone, reaches for words of wholeness and life, and forces a black fluid from Mariam’s body. Mariam sits up healthy and pain-free.

The healing horrifies as well as amazes the assembly because Lin’s hands become transparent and blaze with red fire. As the magic overwhelms Lin, Lin’s perception shifts to a dark hall where Lin sees Elsabet Belmany with a Source-Stone embedded at her throat. Elsabet recognizes Lin as an Ashkar. Remembering Markus’s warning, Lin raises her burning hands and unleashes fire toward Elsabet before the power fades and Lin’s vision goes dark.