Saeris brings the stolen gold gauntlet to Elroy’s workshop, insisting she must melt it down quickly to avoid being caught. Elroy panics, saying he has already lied to Jarris Wade about Saeris’s absence and warning that Madra’s guardians will scour the Third Ward and punish everyone involved. He demands Saeris return the gauntlet to the Hub by scaling the wall again, but Saeris refuses, driven by desperation and the need to secure a future for Hayden.

The argument turns bitter as Elroy insists survival is better than martyrdom and fears the guardians discovering Saeris’s strange ability to affect metal. Saeris downplays it as “a parlor trick,” though she recalls objects sometimes shaking or moving around her. Elroy pleads that Hayden will suffer most if Saeris is caught and executed, but Saeris insists everything she does is for Hayden and leaves without Elroy stopping her again.

Saeris finds Hayden outside The House of Kala, beaten and bleeding after another run-in with Carrion Swift. Hayden jokes through the pain, and Saeris scolds him for wasting water money and for provoking Carrion again. Inside the crowded tavern, Brynn blocks Saeris from starting trouble and bans Hayden for a day, offering to send him ale outside if Saeris pays.

To keep Carrion from noticing the contraband on her, Saeris hands the satchel with the gauntlet to Hayden and orders him to wait outside and guard it. Saeris confronts Carrion at his table about harming Hayden and breaking their previous agreement; Carrion claims Hayden tried to stab him to retrieve his mask. Carrion tries to bait Saeris with flirtation and bargaining, and Saeris negotiates for the scarf, the chits Carrion took from Hayden, and five extra chits in exchange for one drink and a brief truce.

Carrion then reveals he has heard about the stolen guardian gauntlet and presses Saeris about whether it was brought into the Third Ward. Dropping the pretense, Carrion warns that if the guardians believe the gauntlet is here, they will flood the ward with violence by morning. He urges Saeris to move it immediately, even offering his warehouse near the wall as a safer staging point, and Saeris agrees to “fix it.” When Saeris rushes outside, Hayden has vanished—and so has the gauntlet.