In the forge, Saeris studies centuries-old alchemist books that are mostly written in Old Fae and useless to her. Food appears at midday, and Saeris shares part of a meat pie with Onyx. Frustrated, Saeris switches from theory to trial-and-error, using scrap metal so she will not ruin any of the warriors’ rings.

Saeris relearns how to “feel” metals by their vibrations, isolates Yvelian silver, and runs multiple experiments: melting and mixing silver with various ingredients, then trying to test the results with quicksilver. Saeris realizes no quicksilver has been left out—until she hears a faint whisper and finds a hidden box containing only a tiny amount. Saeris liquefies it, submerges a crude medallion, and gets no reaction. After four failed attempts (including one that produces noxious red smoke), Saeris quits for the day and leaves the forge.

Outside, Saeris runs into Ren, who is freshly injured and muddy from defending the pass during skirmishes. Ren admits he confronted Kingfisher about forcing Saeris into the oath and asks Saeris to have dinner with Kingfisher so Kingfisher will start seeing Saeris as a person, not a “tool.” Saeris reluctantly agrees on the condition there is alcohol.

Dinner is staged at an enormous table laden with food, served by Archer and other fire sprites. Kingfisher uses the magic of Cahlish to cast his voice close to Saeris, bargaining for information about Saeris’s progress before granting wine. Saeris moves to sit beside Kingfisher and pours her own drink, unsettling the fire sprites and amusing Kingfisher. As they talk, Kingfisher explains silver is scarce because the realm has been “picked clean,” Belikon enforces an embargo, and all silver within Yvelian borders is seized by the crown; quicksilver is critical because other realms have silver they could trade for if Yvelia could cross between realms.

The conversation turns sharp when Saeris presses Kingfisher about failing to retrieve Hayden. Kingfisher claims the oath was fulfilled because he tried, then cruelly implies he tracked Saeris’s scent incorrectly because it was mixed with sexual pheromones and points to Carrion as evidence, escalating Saeris’s anger. Before it can go further, the eastern windows explode inward and four Sanasrothian “Feeder” soldiers drop into the room.

Kingfisher attacks with Nimerelle, severing limbs and killing one, while Saeris fights two attackers with her thigh dagger. Saeris is knocked down and clawed, nearly bitten, before Kingfisher decapitates both threats. Saeris vomits from shock as Kingfisher lifts her, warns that the claw wounds are poisoned and must be scourged, and reveals the crucial fact: Feeders are why Yvelia needs silver—because silver is the only thing that can kill them.