After Raimon is murdered by a crossbow shot during questioning, Kel, Merren, Jerrod, and Ji-An flee the scene before the Vigilants arrive. They stop at a cistern to wash away blood, and Kel realizes the cut on his neck is shallow but conspicuous enough to cause trouble at Marivent. The group then retreats to Jerrod’s familiar noodle shop on Yulan Road to talk in relative safety.

At the noodle shop, Kel tells the others what he had withheld: the same black-clad assassin appeared during the Shining Gallery massacre, used distinctive gray-and-black-fletched bolts, and spoke to Kel as if Kel were known to them. Ji-An argues that Kel is implicated but not responsible, and Lin arrives after Ji-An secretly summons her to treat Kel’s wound. Lin heals the cut enough that it will look like a scratch by the time Kel returns to the Palace.

The group reviews what Raimon revealed before his death. Raimon had been paid to recruit exiled criminals from the Tully, who believed they were meant only to frighten Princess Anjelica of Sarthe, not kill her, and who expected to escape. This suggests the mercenaries were tools rather than masterminds. The only new name is Magali, and Lin recalls a Magali who works for the Alleynes; Jerrod adds that a Magali with a gambling problem once borrowed money in the Maze and claimed to work on the Hill.

Kel reacts defensively to any suggestion that the Alleynes are implicated, while Lin notes that Antonetta likely knows nothing of Magali’s private dealings. Kel insists he must speak to Legate Jolivet before anyone approaches Magali, because the investigation may now be reaching a Charter Family. Merren also reveals that he drugged Raimon’s wine with a truth-inclining mixture, explaining why Raimon spoke so freely.

After the group separates, Kel walks Lin toward the Sault. They speak quietly about Lin’s claim to be the returned Goddess, the burden of being seen as both herself and something sacred, and the Great Prayer written over the Sault gates: a declaration of Ashkar faith and identity. Lin reflects on how Kel, like herself, is confined by expectations, and Kel asks her not to tell Mayesh about the night’s events before leaving to retrieve his horse.

Kel returns to Marivent near sunrise, finds a note from Jolivet demanding a report, and prepares a selective version of the night to tell Conor. Instead, Kel finds Conor asleep at his desk over state papers. Seeing the exhausted Prince as he once was in childhood, Kel reflects that power cannot truly reshape the world, then wakes Conor gently and helps him to bed.