The chapter opens with an earlier memory from Diago’s youth. At thirteen, Diago tried to observe a diplomatic meeting with the Catenan Republic, but the negotiators refused because they did not trust his promise to stay silent. When Diago complained, Diago’s father told him that words matter, but most people believe truth only after they have seen it demonstrated; six months later, the Hierarchy invaded.

Later, at the bonfires by Loch Traenala, Leathfhear steps into a ceremonial combat trial that will help decide who joins Tara’s group. Instead of choosing a weaker opponent and losing honorably, Leathfhear challenges Tara because he needs to prove that he belongs with his companions and does not want to be sent away as someone else’s piece. Tara clearly outmatches him, first tripping him and then disarming him, but Leathfhear refuses to concede. When Tara pins him and warns that she will break his finger, Leathfhear tells Tara to do it, and Tara obeys. Even after resetting the finger himself in agony, Leathfhear picks up the spear again and still refuses to yield.

That act of stubborn resolve changes the fight. Leathfhear suddenly feels fully connected to the spear, as if it is part of him, and a guiding presence in his mind directs his movements. With that new awareness, Leathfhear blocks Tara’s attacks, presses her back, and fights at a level beyond normal training, making Tara genuinely afraid of failing at the final test. Tara eventually finds a tiny opening, strikes him hard, and sends him tumbling away, but by then Leathfhear has achieved his real goal. Confident that Tara has seen what his words could not prove, Leathfhear drops the spear and concedes.

Afterward, Pádraig binds Leathfhear’s broken finger and confirms that Lir witnessed what happened. Pádraig says Leathfhear is nasceann and must follow the Old Ways, though Pádraig also makes clear that Tara would be foolish not to take him. During the formal choosing, Tara selects Conor, Seanna, Miach, and Fearghus first, then publicly says she will not take Leathfhear. Instead, Tara declares that she will take Deaglán and places an iron torc around his neck, accepting him under that name to the crowd’s cheers. At the feast afterward, Tara and Deaglán speak more openly; Tara suggests that the guiding voice may be an echo of Artán and says that Lir will insist on taking Deaglán away for a time, but that Tara has demanded he be brought back.

On the shore, Lir confirms that Deaglán is nasceann and says the path before him was set once Deaglán denounced Gallchobhar. Deaglán insists that he wants to stand with his friends rather than submit to endless training, and Lir eventually offers a compromise. Deaglán may join the others at Caer Áras and stand against Fiachra, but only if Deaglán surrenders his spear for now, tells no one about the nasceann experience, and later accompanies Lir along a separate, more dangerous route for further testing. Deaglán reluctantly agrees and hands over the spear. With that bargain made, Lir tells him that they sail for war the next day.