Raihn takes Oraya on a long flight to visit Mische even though his wings are still healing badly enough to make him wince. Away from danger, Oraya finally gets to enjoy flying and trades teasing banter with Raihn, which shows how much easier they have become with each other. They arrive at a remote farmstead beyond Sivrinaj, where Oraya notices Raihn's pain again as he dismisses his wings.

At the house, Cairis greets Raihn warmly but reacts to Oraya with surprise and caution, while Ketura is openly frozen and unfriendly. Raihn keeps Oraya close and quickly brings her upstairs to Mische, who is recovering in bed. Mische is ecstatic to see both of them, talks cheerfully about healing at the farm, asks excited questions about the Halfmoon Trial, and insists Oraya's magic was real rather than luck. As Oraya watches Mische and Raihn together, Oraya is struck by their deep, easy affection.

When it is time to leave, Raihn embraces Mische tightly and tells Mische to get better, and Mische asks both Raihn and Oraya to stay safe. That exchange makes Oraya feel guilty, because Oraya knows the Kejari will force a choice in which Raihn and Oraya cannot both survive. After leaving Mische's room, Oraya pauses on the stairs and overhears Cairis and Ketura speaking with Raihn about Vale, a new human wife, and Vincent's brutal attacks on Rishan cities such as Genra and Isca. Ketura angrily objects to Oraya's presence and calls Oraya Vincent's human whore, but Raihn sharply orders Ketura not to speak about Oraya that way, revealing both his authority over Ketura and his determination to protect Oraya.

On the flight home, Raihn explains that Ketura's wife is in Salinae and that fear is driving Ketura's anger. Oraya then reveals that Salinae is where Vincent found Oraya during a rebellion, and Oraya admits a fragile hope of returning someday to see whether any family survived there. Raihn answers gently that any family Oraya still has would be lucky to have her. He also admits Cairis and Ketura are not really friends but trusted old colleagues from his past as a kind of private guard. Before they return, Raihn tells Oraya he no longer thinks of her as Vincent's pet or whore, and Oraya is quietly comforted by being seen as herself rather than as Vincent's possession.