Back in camp after the pre-dawn pillar of angel’s breath, everyone buzzes with questions about what Saeris helped create. Kingfisher sends Lorreth to sleep, still stunned and clutching Avisiéth, while Carrion chooses to bed down at the forge. Saeris, exhausted and barely able to walk, is taken to Kingfisher’s tent, where he insists she bathe and rest in his bed with him after he speaks to Ren.

Kingfisher carries Saeris to a conjured copper tub and uses his smoke-magic to strip away the grime and her clothes, treating her gently despite her weakness. In the warmth of the bath, their quiet contact feels more intimate than anything they have already done together. Before leaving, Kingfisher admits Saeris is “a good thief,” then tells her to sleep while he goes to talk to Ren.

Later, Saeris wakes in stages as Kingfisher washes her hair, dries her with magic, dresses her in soft sleepwear, and curls around her in bed. In the dark, with war pressing close, Saeris decides to try what she has never attempted before: negotiating directly with the quicksilver inside Kingfisher. Reaching into the loud, chanting presence, Saeris asks it to leave Kingfisher and bind with her or return to other quicksilver instead.

The quicksilver refuses, revealing that it and Kingfisher are one: it cannot leave without all of them dying. It calls Kingfisher a “weapon,” claims it permitted him to live when he entered its pool as a boy, and insists the decision was accepted long ago. Saeris reacts with grief and anger, but before she can push further, she realizes Kingfisher is awake; he confirms he has been waiting to see if she would try to remove it, and admits it is part of him—without it, he will die anyway.

Renfis suddenly bursts in with urgent news: a feeder horde is breaking the riverbanks again. Saeris refuses to stay behind, forcing a crucial choice—Kingfisher will not banish her to safety if she swears to stay close, hold position when told, and run if commanded. After Saeris swears, Kingfisher arms her with Solace, his father’s restored sword kept since their escape from Madra’s palace, and fits it to her waist as they prepare to face the attack.