Oraya wakes each morning in the same room she has slept in for fifteen years, in the castle where her adoptive father Vincent, the former Nightborn King, once ruled. In the hazy moments between sleep and waking, she can pretend he is still alive, but those moments are growing shorter. This morning, the grief hits immediately—she can no longer separate sleep from the memory of his mutilated body. Nightfire, her magic, scorches the bedsheets as grief locks her muscles.

Raihn, her husband and the man who overthrew her father's kingdom, bangs loudly on her door and orders her to get ready for an important meeting with guests. Oraya struggles to contain her emotions in his presence. She recognizes his concern for her but refuses to engage, suppressing every feeling under layers of numbness. Raihn gives her a silk dress and tells her he will return in an hour. After he leaves, Oraya hears Vincent's voice in her mind encouraging her to be strong, but the voice fades as it always does.

When Raihn returns, Oraya is struck by the sight of him dressed as king—wearing a fine jacket with blue trim, his hair neatly tied, wings displayed—and worst of all, wearing Vincent's silver crown. The crown triggers visceral memories of her father's death. Raihn helps button the back of her dress, and his gentle touch is almost more painful than a blade would be. Cairis, Raihn's advisor who clearly wants Oraya dead, interrupts to remind them they are late.

In the throne room, the city of Sivrinaj is visible through open curtains—mostly under Raihn's control, though fighting continues on the outskirts as Hiaj loyalists resist. Raihn moves Oraya's chair from behind the throne to beside it, a gesture of equality that visibly disturbs Cairis. Septimus, the Bloodborn prince who helped orchestrate the coup, arrives with his guards Desdemona and Ilia, putting out a cigarillo on his own palm when told. Raihn asks about someone named Vale, who is apparently late. Despite his outward composure, Oraya can tell Raihn is deeply nervous about the meeting. He orders the doors opened to receive the arriving nobles.