Adolin finds solace in recon­nect­ing with Shal­lan after their encounter with the star­spren, appre­ci­at­ing Ua’pam’s sug­ges­tion for alone time. Despite their bond, he reflects on their dif­fer­ing strengths—Shallan excels in decep­tion and artistry, while pol­i­tics should be his domain as a for­mer heir to the throne. As he pre­pares for their jour­ney, Adolin loads Gal­lant, his Rysha­di­um, mus­ing on the sim­plic­i­ty of a horse’s life com­pared to human com­plex­i­ties. His thoughts shift to strat­e­gy, recall­ing Arshqqam’s advice to appeal to hon­or when nego­ti­at­ing with the hon­or­spren, though he strug­gles to for­mu­late a con­crete plan.

The group sets out, with Adolin lead­ing and Godeke scout­ing ahead despite their deplet­ed Storm­light reserves. Adolin’s ini­tial calm fades as he grap­ples with the pres­sure of diplo­ma­cy, near­ly snap­ping at Felt, a reli­able scout. Felt reports that the mys­te­ri­ous Tukari, who had been trail­ing them, have abrupt­ly turned south­ward. Adolin ques­tions their motives, sens­ing some­thing off about their behav­ior. Climb­ing an obsid­i­an out­crop to observe, he remains uneasy, unable to shake the feel­ing that the Tukari’s depar­ture is sus­pi­cious, even as they vis­i­bly retreat.

Adolin’s sus­pi­cion deep­ens as he real­izes the Tukari may have been observ­ing rather than pur­su­ing them. He orders Felt to keep watch dur­ing their break, though the group’s imme­di­ate threat seems to dis­si­pate. Mean­while, Veil—one of Shallan’s personas—checks the com­mu­ni­ca­tion cube, using a trick learned from Tyn to detect tam­per­ing. Find­ing it undis­turbed, she con­tem­plates using it as bait to expose the spy among them. Her focus on the mis­sion con­trasts with Adolin’s diplo­mat­ic anx­i­eties, high­light­ing their shared ten­sion.

The chap­ter under­scores Adolin’s inter­nal con­flict between his war­rior instincts and diplo­mat­ic respon­si­bil­i­ties, as well as the group’s vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty in Shades­mar. His care for Maya, a dead­eye spren, reflects his empa­thy, while Veil’s vig­i­lance under­scores the lurk­ing threat of betray­al. The shift­ing dynamics—between Adolin and Shal­lan, the Tukari’s odd behav­ior, and Veil’s spy hunt—create a sense of unease, set­ting the stage for impend­ing chal­lenges in their quest to win the honorspren’s alliance.