Traveling under the name Deaglán, Vis finally reaches Caer Áras with Lir, Aodh, and Kegan after weeks of guarded travel through the countryside. He remains a prisoner despite Lir’s relatively considerate treatment, and he keeps studying the land because its people seem to know nothing of the Catenan Republic. Before they enter the hill fort, Lir warns that judgment will come soon, then privately presses Vis for the truth, revealing that Cian had been investigating Ruarc’s influence over the Grove, the Otherworld, and Dia Oiche. Vis chooses to maintain his cover story because he wants survival and a path back to the quiet life he found, not deeper involvement in another dangerous struggle.

While confined in a bare hut, Vis considers escape but rejects it because he still believes these people may be his best refuge. At dusk, Lir brings him to the king’s hall, where Vis is shocked to see severed heads displayed outside. Inside, he observes King Rónán, the court druid Donnán, and the powerful warrior Gallchobhar. He then watches a formal allegiance ceremony in which young warriors swear themselves to Rónán, are blood-marked, and spar. Afterward, Donnán and Lir perform a haunting song with black eyes, and the hall is completely enthralled by it.

The mood shifts when Lir presents Vis and Cian’s staff to Donnán. Donnán reacts with immediate fury and argues that Vis should be executed simply for possessing the staff, while Lir tries to defend him. Realizing the druids may decide his fate before he can explain himself, Vis acts first: he rushes to King Rónán and recites the same oath of allegiance he just heard the initiates use. Lir then strengthens Vis’s position by revealing that Vis lost his arm defending a family from a raid and that the family owes him a life-debt, which would make his execution far more complicated.

Rónán takes control of the dispute by declaring that a sworn oath now falls under his authority, not Donnán’s alone. Vis admits that Cian gave him the staff before dying and says he did not understand the taboo. Rónán accepts the oath, declares the life-debt paid, and publicly takes Vis into his protection. Then, to the hall’s shock, Rónán announces that Vis will be sent to Loch Traenala because a man who sacrificed himself to protect others is needed there. Vis immediately realizes that Lir and Rónán likely maneuvered him into this outcome and that he has been guided, not merely rescued.

Gallchobhar bitterly opposes the decision and demands that Vis be tested before the warriors. Rónán agrees and tells Vis to choose a spear from the hall’s weapons. Remembering Lir’s warning to choose carefully, Vis ignores the showier weapons and follows a faint pulse to an old nine-section spear with an obsidian tip. The choice provokes outrage because the weapon belonged to someone who died, making Vis seem presumptuous. Lir tells him the offense cannot be undone and urges him to keep his mind clear. As Gallchobhar steps forward for the test, his eyes flood black, revealing a far more dangerous fight than Vis expected.