In Chap­ter Thir­teen, Bran­thor grap­ples with a moral dilem­ma as he con­fronts Teal’s pas­sion­ate desire for inti­ma­cy. Teal, with her blue-green eyes and naked body, exudes an allure that chal­lenges Bran­thor’s resolve. Despite his inner tur­moil, he assertive­ly informs her that they can­not pro­ceed, espe­cial­ly with their impend­ing vis­it to the Tem­ple. Teal, how­ev­er, coun­ters with an emo­tion­al appeal, shar­ing that she has been wait­ing for this moment for five years since she sent her blood to the Tem­ple, lead­ing to their union.

Her rev­e­la­tion that she chose this path at a young age leaves Bran­thor bewil­dered. The idea that an eigh­teen-year-old would will­ing­ly opt for an arranged mar­riage to some­one per­ceived as a mon­ster rais­es ques­tions about her moti­va­tions. Teal insists that this con­nec­tion is spe­cial and implores Bran­thor to recon­sid­er his hes­i­ta­tion. Although he acknowl­edges the wrong­do­ings of his broth­ers in orches­trat­ing the match, he can­not rec­on­cile his feel­ings about aban­don­ing the life he thought he could have.

As Teal express­es her deter­mi­na­tion to spend the night with him, Bran­thor is torn. He warns her about the con­se­quences of los­ing her vir­gin­i­ty, believ­ing that the Tem­ple’s DNA match­ing sys­tem would dis­al­low any future prospects. Teal’s reac­tion is one of resolve, as she states that her match is Bran­thor, dis­miss­ing the wor­ry of oth­er poten­tial suit­ors. Unable to main­tain eye con­tact, Bran­thor finds him­self drawn into her warmth and desire yet strug­gles with the impli­ca­tions of their actions.

Teal’s gen­tle entreaties prompt Bran­thor to con­front his con­flict­ing emo­tions around inti­ma­cy and com­mit­ment. She yearns to expe­ri­ence a bond with him, even if it is fleet­ing. Her sin­cere request for a shared moment push­es him to a break­ing point. Ulti­mate­ly, he takes the bold step of pour­ing oil into his palm, sig­nal­ing will­ing­ness to embrace their shared des­tiny, even if only for that night. The ten­sion between duty and desire hangs pal­pa­bly in the air as they pre­pare to cross the bound­ary from mere con­nec­tion to phys­i­cal inti­ma­cy.