Saeris rushes from the forge to Kingfisher’s room with Onyx at her heels and confronts him about why he refused to say her name for weeks, pressing him to answer out loud since he cannot lie to her. Kingfisher admits he initially avoided it because he hated what Saeris represented to him: vulnerability, and the certainty that enemies like Malcolm could use Saeris to hurt him.

To explain the weight of names, Kingfisher tells Saeris the full meaning behind his nickname for her, “Osha,” describing the Oshellith—rare butterflies protected as a sacred rite—and revealing that “Oshellith” means “Most Sacred.” He confesses he used “Osha” from the beginning because saying “Saeris” terrified him, and because the nickname was an acknowledgment of what Saeris would become to him.

Kingfisher then reveals how he “knew” Saeris was coming: his mother was an oracle who left him a book describing a future where Saeris would arrive when he needed her most and love would form despite him. Her drawings assumed Saeris would be Fae, and when Kingfisher instead found a human dying in the Solace pool, he tried to leave Saeris behind to protect her, then saved Saeris and chose cruelty in hopes Saeris would hate him and keep away.

Pressed about the markings on Saeris’s hands, Kingfisher confirms they are mating-bond marks—something long thought extinct—and says he felt the bond “snap” into place when he found her. He admits he initiated a waiting period back in Ballard to give a chance to accept or reject the bond, and that he researched obsessively not to free himself, but to save Saeris from being tied to him, especially after “god bindings” appeared. He warns the marks historically “come at a cost” and are tied to tragic stories.

Kingfisher admits his condition is deteriorating: sleeplessness, worsening hallucinations, and a warded pendant from his mother and witches that will eventually fail. Refusing to accept the bond while he believes he is becoming dangerous and burdensome, Kingfisher implies he might seek Renfis’s help to end his life; Saeris erupts, arguing his death would also doom Lorreth because of the soul piece Kingfisher gave him. Furious at Kingfisher deciding her future for her, Saeris leaves to sleep and vows to go to the library in the morning to research how to save both Everlayne and Kingfisher.