At sunset the day after Samuel Hay's house burned, Odessa and Ransom escorted Samuel and his son Jonas toward Ellder with their salvaged belongings loaded into a wagon. The group traveled in somber silence, the air still choked with smoke; neighbors had supplied the Hays with provisions, and Jonas rode guarding items while Odessa tended to the rescued tarkin pup, Faze. Odessa, stewing over King Ramsey, distracted herself by passing Faze to Jonas and opening her journal, which secretly contained a disguised, execution-forbidden map of Turah built from overlapping illustrated pages. She added marks for Ravalli and the Lyssa-infected lionwick before sketching Faze.

Samuel, weak and coughing from smoke and injury, thanked Ransom, recounting how Ransom had carried him through the flames and even retrieved dropped keepsakes of Samuel’s late wife. The tale reinforced for Odessa that Ransom’s reputation as a "Guardian" was earned. Odessa rode up to Ransom and pressed him with questions, prompting him to explain that years ago in Westor, shortly after being bitten by a bariwolf, he rescued a kidnapped girl and killed her abductor; the girl’s mother called him a guardian and the name spread. He then revealed the abductor had been Banner’s brother, which is why Ransom had killed him.

Ransom also disclosed that he had later confirmed the one-eyed bariwolf that bit him survived and was found in Ashmore. When Odessa asked about King Ramsey’s one-month warning, Ransom said Ramsey demanded he serve as general in Allesaria on the autumnal equinox, but Ransom refused and expected to resist any attempt to force him. They reaffirmed their mission to hunt Lyssa and find its source (Odessa still hoped for a cure; Ransom did not). Odessa noticed fresh and older cuts on Ransom’s leather cuff and deduced the markings likely constituted a secret map of Turah, including references to Ashmore and perhaps their recent hunts.

As they approached Ellder at nightfall, Ransom told Odessa that Zavier was in Ellder, which Odessa greeted with feigned enthusiasm. At the fortress, soldiers welcomed them, and Ransom arranged lodging and aid for Samuel and Jonas. Odessa, wanting to see Brielle and Jocelyn, set off toward Zavier’s house, and Ransom briefly reached for her hand, struggled to speak, then wished her good night.

Odessa took Faze and went to the servants’ quarters at Zavier’s residence. Turning a corner, she found Zavier in the doorway with Jocelyn and another man; Jocelyn and the man were kissing and partially undressed, and Zavier was pulling on his shirt. The scene confirmed ongoing sexual involvement between Zavier and Jocelyn, with an additional partner. Jocelyn and Zavier saw Odessa, and the shock drained Zavier’s color as Odessa, exhausted and furious from the day’s events, silently registered the betrayal.