Marisol returns to the B and B with Attie and Keegan and immediately notices two dash-packs are missing from the four that Roman had laid out. Iris reports muddy footprints through the garden, and Keegan confirms from a boot print that a soldier likely took them during the evacuation. Marisol decides to replace the supplies, while Keegan shows a flicker of sadness, as if sensing a last peaceful moment in the garden.

The town transforms into a fortified trap, with barricades and soldiers everywhere. Iris helps Marisol cook for platoons and assists Keegan with street defenses, then asks permission to scatter her mother’s ashes before the battle. Keegan predicts Dacre will finish sacking Clover Hill today and march on Avalon Bluff by morning. Iris, Attie, and Roman accompany Iris to a golden field, where Iris releases her mother’s ashes to the wind.

Keegan trains Iris and Attie to drive a lorry for a potential retreat; Attie takes to it well, while Iris struggles. Back in town, Keegan privately orders Iris and Attie to flee east in that lorry with Marisol and Roman if things go badly, naming River Down as their destination and extracting their sworn promise. The two then serve as runners, delivering meals and messages across town.

On the bluff, Iris and Attie see smoke from burning Clover Hill and brace for the next day’s assault. They debate how to judge the moment to flee and find a calico cat that Attie adopts and names Lilac. Returning to the B and B, Roman—on kitchen duty—confesses his second jumpsuit is missing and mentions an allergy to cats; Iris notices he has bathed and shaved.

As evening falls, the household prepares large pots of soup and bread for soldiers. Marisol pointedly sends Iris upstairs with Attie. In the lavatory, Attie urges Iris to shower, then dresses her in a clean jumpsuit, braids her hair, and crowns her with a fresh flower circlet. Attie reveals that Roman asked for and received her, Marisol’s, and Keegan’s permission to marry Iris, showing proof he is Carver when Attie hesitated.

Iris worries that celebrating on the eve of battle is foolish, but Attie frames it as beautiful defiance and urges her to savor the night if it is their only one. The chapter ends with Attie telling Iris that Roman Carver Kitt is waiting in the garden to marry her.