Back at camp, Lorreth fumes that they let Everlayne be taken, while Renfis sounds defeated after failing to draft workable rescue plans. Kingfisher sits opposite Saeris in near silence, staring as if shut down, ignoring Lorreth’s suggestion that Cahlish’s library might hold answers about breaking Malcolm’s blood curse.

Saeris forces an explanation: Renfis describes Malcolm as the first vampire afflicted by the blood curse, millennia old and ever-growing in power. Lorreth explains “enthrallment” as a binding that turns victims into mindlessly devoted thralls. Renfis adds the crucial difference: Malcolm needs only one bite to create a thrall, and Everlayne is already doomed within roughly fifty-six hours unless Malcolm gives her his blood and she drinks, transforming into something like his Lords; otherwise she dies and returns as a feeder.

The reality breaks through Kingfisher’s silence and he rises, but Danya storms in, furious, and punches Lorreth hard enough to burst his nose. She demands her sword, but Kingfisher coldly reminds her that Avisiëth was reforged and chose Lorreth. When Danya grabs the weapon anyway, Avisiëth erupts with light and destroys her sword hand, throwing her across the room.

Kingfisher offers to take Danya to Cahlish for a healer, and she tearfully swears to calm down. He then asserts control of the larger crisis: the group will all return to Cahlish, three of them needing Te Léna, and they will scour the library for a way to help Everlayne while time remains.

Before they leave, Kingfisher insists they honor Saeris for standing her ground in battle. Lorreth, then Renfis, and finally Kingfisher kneel and cut their hands, pressing blood to Saeris’s chest in a warrior rite. Kingfisher completes it with the words, “I give you my blood in thanks, Saeris Fane.”