The chap­ter opens with Sar­taq and Houlun spend­ing over a week research­ing ancient maps of the Dagul Fells, prepar­ing for a dan­ger­ous mis­sion into the ter­ri­to­ry of the kha­rankui (spi­ders). The maps are vague, as few rid­ers have dared to ven­ture close enough for detailed recon­nais­sance. The group faces inter­nal con­flict when Borte, Houlun’s heir, is ordered to stay behind for the sake of their people’s blood­line. Despite her out­rage, Borte reluc­tant­ly com­plies, while Sar­taq defi­ant­ly insists on join­ing the mis­sion, declar­ing he would refuse the crown if it meant avoid­ing bat­tle.

The small team—Nesryn, Sar­taq, and Falkan (in mouse form)—departs on Kadara, Sartaq’s ruk, after debat­ing whether to bring a larg­er force. Houlun ulti­mate­ly decides a small group is best for stealth, with plans to send an army if they fail to return with­in four days. As they approach the Fells, ten­sion mounts; Nes­ryn feels the weight of the impend­ing dan­ger, while Sar­taq remains silent and Falkan con­serves his ener­gy. The mission’s stakes are high, as they aim to res­cue stolen hatch­lings and uncov­er the spi­ders’ weak­ness­es.

Dur­ing the flight, Nes­ryn and Sar­taq engage in a reveal­ing con­ver­sa­tion about his reluc­tance to mar­ry and his views on the khaganate’s suc­ces­sion tra­di­tions. Sar­taq admits he has avoid­ed arranged mar­riages, pre­fer­ring a part­ner who shares his love for adven­ture. He reflects on his sis­ter Duva’s suc­cess­ful arranged mar­riage but ques­tions the com­pet­i­tive nature of his family’s suc­ces­sion. Nes­ryn probes fur­ther, ask­ing if he would ever aban­don the tra­di­tion, to which Sar­taq mus­es that future rulers might pri­or­i­tize fam­i­ly over rival­ry.

The chap­ter con­cludes with Nes­ryn express­ing hes­i­ta­tion about drag­ging the rukhin into war, now that she knows them per­son­al­ly. Sar­taq reas­sures her, jok­ing about Borte’s com­pet­i­tive rela­tion­ship with her betrothed, Yer­an. The con­ver­sa­tion shifts to lighter top­ics, but the under­ly­ing ten­sion of their mis­sion lingers as they near the spi­ders’ ter­ri­to­ry. The exchange high­lights Nesryn’s grow­ing attach­ment to the rukhin and Sartaq’s com­plex rela­tion­ship with his roy­al duties.