A week after Ransom kissed Odessa in the training square, Odessa struggled with persistent thoughts of him while she and Evangeline cared for the growing tarkin pup, Faze. Evangeline asked if they would have to release Faze someday, and Odessa gently affirmed they would. Odessa reflected on Zavier versus Ransom's ownership of the house and Evangeline's parentage, noting Ransom and Zavier had left Ellder with rangers the same day she sent Jocelyn home toward Roslo.

Odessa visited Samuel Hay at his temporary Ellder home. After checking on Samuel, who was lonely with Jonas starting school, Odessa asked for his help with a risky task: constructing a map of Turah from her notes to seek the truth about Allesaria and Lyssa. She admitted Turans did not trust her and appealed to Samuel as a Quentin. Samuel warned the project was forbidden and dangerous, especially a speculative mountain road toward Allesaria, but agreed to try and stored the map safely out of Jonas’s reach.

On her way back, Odessa encountered a crowd in a courtyard watching the Voster High Priest conjure wreaths of leaves for children, which made her skin crawl. The High Priest met her gaze. As she turned to leave, she collided with Ransom, who looked ill and worn, and he steadied her. He confirmed he had just undergone another Lyssa siphoning and asked her to walk with him to clear the fog.

As they walked through Ellder’s quiet streets, Odessa questioned Ransom about healers and the High Priest’s process. Ransom explained that a healer had been unable to help after his bite, that the High Priest took nearly a year to attune his magic to Lyssa, and that the siphoning identified elements and slowed the infection but could not remove it entirely because Lyssa was bound to him. He rejected the idea that the Voster created Lyssa, expressing faith in them, while Odessa remained skeptical of magic and the priest.

Ransom held Odessa’s hand despite her reluctance to be seen, leading them along secluded routes. He reported recent hunts near Frezan and that pony rider outposts had little new information about attacks, though the hunts seemed to be reducing Lyssa sightings. He admitted he had lied because he feared Odessa would see him as another jailer like Zavier. Near a side gate, Ransom volunteered details about Ramsey, saying Ramsey knew Zavier still stood in for him, that he was the Guardian, and about Lyssa generally, but that father and son had not spoken for four years.

When Odessa asked if Evangeline was his daughter, Ransom said no—Evangeline is his sister. He added that Ramsey did not know she existed and that they wanted to keep it that way. He then revealed the reason: Ramsey had tried to kill Ransom’s mother.