Nes­ryn reflects on her com­pli­cat­ed rela­tion­ship with Chaol, rec­og­niz­ing his recent atten­tion stems from guilt rather than gen­uine inter­est. Though she tells her­self she’s fine being a place­hold­er for the oth­er women in his life, her weari­ness is evi­dent as she returns to the palace after a fruit­less search for Valg activ­i­ty. Seek­ing soli­tude, she climbs to the aerie where Kadara, Sartaq’s ruk, is feast­ing. The prince sur­pris­es her, reveal­ing his net­work of spies and inquir­ing about her well-being. Their con­ver­sa­tion hints at a grow­ing con­nec­tion, as Nes­ryn admits she enjoys his com­pa­ny despite her usu­al reserve.

Sar­taq shares his own strug­gles with famil­ial expec­ta­tions, con­trast­ing his deep bond with Kadara and the rukhin against the dis­trust among his roy­al sib­lings. Nes­ryn relates to the ten­sion between duty and per­son­al ties, hav­ing spent a drain­ing day with her demand­ing fam­i­ly. The prince’s can­did­ness about his iso­la­tion with­in the roy­al fam­i­ly sur­pris­es her, reveal­ing a vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty that res­onates with her own feel­ings of dis­place­ment. Their mutu­al under­stand­ing fos­ters a rare moment of open­ness between them.

The tone shifts as Sar­taq reveals his immi­nent depar­ture for the rukhin moun­tains to inves­ti­gate the threats they pre­vi­ous­ly dis­cussed. He extends a hes­i­tant invi­ta­tion for Nes­ryn to join him, acknowl­edg­ing the risks but empha­siz­ing the brevi­ty of the jour­ney. Though eager to accept, she insists on con­sult­ing Chaol first, main­tain­ing their part­ner­ship despite her per­son­al tur­moil. The arrival of ser­vants with sup­plies con­firms the urgency of his depar­ture, leav­ing Nes­ryn star­tled by his near-dis­ap­pear­ance with­out farewell.

Their final exchange crack­les with unspo­ken ten­sion as Sar­taq admits he assumed she’d be pre­oc­cu­pied with Chaol after the pre­vi­ous night’s events. His teas­ing remark about tak­ing “all day” flus­ters Nes­ryn, though the moment is inter­rupt­ed by the bustling prepa­ra­tions for his jour­ney. The chap­ter clos­es with their dynam­ic poised between pro­fes­sion­al alliance and bud­ding inti­ma­cy, as Nes­ryn faces a piv­otal choice between duty and the allure of adven­ture with the prince.