In the colosseum at Gillethrye, Kingfisher staggers to his feet, battered and exhausted, while Saeris watches in horror. Harron and Lorreth react with anger and dread, but Belikon demands that Kingfisher “share his story,” forcing him to explain what happened here.

Kingfisher recounts arriving too late as tens of thousands of vampires poured into Gillethrye during the Festival of the First Song, feeding through the streets and creating mass death. Seeking to stop it, Kingfisher went after Malcolm and instead confronted Belikon, who admits he murdered Kingfisher’s oracle mother after forcing a child on her. Kingfisher reveals Malcolm and Belikon were allies all along, with Madra also involved.

Belikon and Malcolm describe the “deal” that trapped Kingfisher: a coin toss that would decide whether Malcolm would withdraw, with strict conditions preventing Kingfisher from harming them, touching the coin, or revealing their brotherhood until the outcome. Malcolm caught the coin before it hit the ground, voiding any chance of mercy, and Kingfisher admits he then torched and sealed the city to prevent its bitten population from joining Malcolm’s horde.

Malcolm explains his punishment: he built a lethal labyrinth and this arena, filling the stands with the perpetually burning bodies of those Kingfisher tried to save, promising their suffering would end only if Kingfisher found the coin and let it fall. Madra taunts Kingfisher physically until Saeris struggles against her restraints and Kingfisher threatens Madra with violent revenge, explicitly naming Madra’s sterilization of Saeris as the reason.

Malcolm says Kingfisher spent fifty-five years reaching the labyrinth’s center and eight more searching for the coin, before an earthquake-like rupture exposed a quicksilver pool beneath. When Carrion provokes Malcolm, Kingfisher distracts the vampire king by claiming he entered the quicksilver because his father’s sword called to him. In a sudden burst of speed, Kingfisher becomes smoke, reaches Saeris, draws Solace from her scabbard, and brutally stabs Belikon through the stomach and throat, declaring it vengeance for his parents as Madra screams and chaos erupts.