In the early days at Canaan House, Gideon remains isolated and miserable. After nearly revealing too much about herself at lunch, Gideon spends two days mostly shut in the Ninth quarters, drilling with the rapier, exercising, and sleeping in frustration. During one night, Gideon half-wakes to see Harrowhark silently enter, pause near Gideon, and disappear into the bedroom; by morning, Harrowhark is gone again without explanation.

At breakfast, Gideon is lonely enough to be easily drawn in when Coronabeth Tridentarius approaches with theatrical charm. Coronabeth invites Gideon to spar with the other cavaliers, and Gideon follows her to the lower training room Gideon had previously explored. Skeletons are cleaning the chemical pit while several cavaliers and necromancers gather, including Magnus, Jeannemary, Naberius, and the Second House cavalier Dyas.

Coronabeth introduces Gideon as her prize addition to the sparring matches, and Gideon agrees to fight Magnus. The others react with surprise when Gideon reveals that the Ninth is using knuckle-knives as an offhand weapon. Fighting silently under Harrowhark’s orders, Gideon keeps her robes, hood, and dark glasses on, then defeats Magnus in only three moves. The easy victory shocks the room, impresses Coronabeth, and makes Naberius eager to challenge Gideon next.

Naberius presses for a match despite objections that Coronabeth should not arbitrate her own cavalier’s bout. Before the duel begins, Naberius quietly insults Ninth cavaliers and questions Gideon’s identity. Once the match starts, Gideon discovers that Naberius is technically precise, controlled, and skilled at keeping Gideon at range. His trident knife traps Gideon’s blade, and after a careful exchange he disarms Gideon with a practiced move.

Because the duel is formally over when Gideon is disarmed, Coronabeth awards the match to the Third. Gideon, however, instinctively continues the fight: Gideon punches Naberius in the solar plexus, trips him, retrieves her sword, and places the blade at Naberius’s collarbone. Naberius is furious and insists Gideon fouled the match, while Dyas agrees he won technically but says Gideon is the better fighter because Gideon fought to win. Jeannemary is excited by Gideon’s practical brutality and says she wants to fight that way rather than in show bouts.

As Magnus redirects the group toward exercises, Gideon reflects that Naberius’s disarming technique was clever and worth studying despite his contempt. Then Gideon looks up and sees Harrowhark standing silently at the entrance, skull-painted and hooded. Gideon and Harrowhark stare at each other for a suspended moment before Harrowhark turns and leaves.