During the strained Pletuna festival in Caten, Vis walks with Relucia through streets that feel nothing like last year’s celebration. The city is uneasy, with sparse crowds, sudden bursts of violence, and open distrust between social ranks. Vis has brought Diago with him both for protection and because he was told he needed to be seen, and the alupi’s presence makes Relucia visibly uneasy as they head toward the Forum.

In a dark alley, Relucia quietly tells Vis that Lanistia is scheduled to be put into a Sapper the next day, a prospect that fills Vis with guilt because politics have prevented him from visiting her despite his public defense of her. Relucia then reveals that her own father had her put into a Sapper at fifteen and kept her there for three years because her family needed money and status. When Vis calls that evil, Relucia argues that the deeper evil is a system that forces families into such choices, revealing how her politics and willingness to use violence were shaped by personal suffering.

Relucia presses Vis to understand that both of them have been permanently damaged by what was taken from them and that words alone cannot change a system so entrenched in power. Vis does not accept her argument, but he listens. She then gives him the practical reason for telling him all this: she has arranged for the prison shifts to be more chaotic that night so Lanistia can escape safely. Vis understands that Relucia’s help is tied to her broader destabilizing aims, but he is still grateful for the hope she offers.

At the Catenan Forum, the contrast between festival decorations and the crowd’s mood is stark. The space is packed, but the gathering feels brittle and close to violence, and Diago’s arrival only sharpens the tension as people recoil or stare at Vis. Ulciscor meets them near the guarded Aurora Columnae and bluntly tells Vis that bringing Diago was a mistake. He explains that the gathering was meant to let powerful factions discuss terms privately, but important military figures have suddenly disappeared, making everyone more nervous, and he warns Vis to leave before events spin out of control.

Vis cannot leave because he still needs to be noticed, so he asks for a few minutes to mingle with Relucia in order to project family unity. As they move through the Forum, they see bored cruelty directed at caged lions and reflect on how power has become something people seize wherever they can. Then Aequa appears, elegantly dressed and impatient, and pulls Vis away to join their friends, ending the chapter with Vis stepping deeper into a gathering that feels poised to erupt.