Kingfisher brings Saeris back to the Cahlish estate after she drinks with Lorreth, barely speaking to her and leaving her alone for an entire day. Saeris wanders the quiet house, feeling out of place and imagining the life Kingfisher’s mother was forced into when she was taken to the Winter Palace. Kingfisher returns the next afternoon with signs of a border skirmish, then leaves again to see Te Le9na, promising to return and take Saeris somewhere else for the night.

Kingfisher shadow-gates them to Ballard, a small forest village holding a feast for the longest night. Saeris is startled by the lively mix of High and Lesser Fae and the warmth of ordinary community life, so different from Zilvaren and the warfront. As they drink and watch the celebration, Saeris and Kingfisher talk about Hayden, the crushing scale of Saeris’s forge-work, and Kingfisher finally offers to help her make the rings and avoid Danya’s wrath.

The mood shifts when Saeris jokes about Kingfisher’s title. Kingfisher snaps that he is not the Lord of Cahlish because he abandoned his lands for a hundred and ten years, leaving his people to flee or become feeders across the Darn. When Saeris tries to respond, Kingfisher presses her about what happened between them; he admits he does not hate her but claims there are reasons he cannot act on what he feels.

An elderly local named Wendy interrupts, delighted to see Kingfisher again, and treats both him and Saeris with blunt affection. Wendy immediately clocks Saeris as Zilvaren and seems unconvinced by Kingfisher’s insistence that Saeris is only a temporary friend. Over a generous meal, Saeris teases Kingfisher into rare, genuine smiles—until Saeris suddenly hears a frantic chant of “Annorath mor” and briefly dissociates, drawing attention and alarm.

Kingfisher hurriedly leads Saeris away, demanding to know why she said the phrase aloud. Saeris explains the quicksilver once pushed the words into her mind, but Kingfisher panics and refuses to explain, insisting she not ask and not repeat it. He drags her through the village to a square with a fountain statue Saeris recognizes as Edina of the Seven Towers, Lady of Cahlish—Kingfisher’s mother—then takes Saeris into a dust-covered upstairs apartment he clearly owns. Kingfisher blocks the view of the statue, forbids Saeris from uncovering a painting, assigns them separate bedrooms, and conjures Saeris’s forgotten bag before saying goodnight.