After leaving the lake in silence, Deaglan is taken with Lir to Gallchobhar's camp. Gallchobhar fixates on the silver arm Deaglan brought from Fornax and demands to know why Deaglan was treated differently there. Lir refuses to explain and tries to protect Deaglan's secret, so Gallchobhar spears Lir through the stomach, then slits the druid's throat and kills him in front of Deaglan.

Gallchobhar reveals that King Fiachra began besieging Caer Aras two days earlier and that Deaglan is being delivered as payment owed by Ruarc. Gallchobhar says Deaglan will be sacrificed in Lake Aras at dawn in two days. He then uses a stone brooch from Ruarc, marked with the same triple-whorl symbol as Fornax, to stab Deaglan at the base of the neck. The wound triggers overwhelming pain in Deaglan's head, and Deaglan immediately realizes that he can no longer sense his father nearby.

Gallchobhar's party rides hard toward Caer Aras, giving Deaglan little rest. When they arrive at night, Deaglan sees that Fiachra's forces have surrounded the fortress with hundreds of warriors. The siege is violent but appears tactically stalled, with repeated assaults, missiles, ladders, and many wounded, yet no clear path to a breach. Gallchobhar tells Deaglan that Ronan was never likely to win.

Inside the encampment, Gallchobhar learns from a chieftain that Fiachra has left with his personal warband to confront the Grove because Ronan has created trouble for the druids in the north. Gallchobhar follows his instructions anyway. He ties a noose around Deaglan's neck and drags him toward Caer Aras's gate, where defenders watch from above.

At the gate, Gallchobhar publicly denounces Deaglan as a failed warrior who lied about becoming nasceann. He hangs the silver arm around Deaglan's neck as proof of supposed blasphemy, then displays Lir's staff and severed head to enrage the defenders. After the gate stays shut, Gallchobhar leads Deaglan through a gauntlet of Fiachra's warriors, who pelt Deaglan with filth, rotten food, stones, and abuse while the walls look on in silence. When the spectacle ends, Deaglan is washed off, thrown into a guarded tent, and left injured, freezing, and waiting helplessly for dawn.