Alone in her cell, Raeve hums the "Ballad of the Fallen Moon" until the Incognito King arrives. He opens her cell and removes the bar linking her chains, but leaves her wrists and ankles shackled, making it clear he is not freeing her. Weak, feverish, and still reeling from the guard's assault, Raeve assumes he means to use or humiliate her, and she meets him with open hatred. After he refuses her accusations and threatens to carry her if she will not move, Raeve forces herself painfully to her feet and follows him.

The King leads Raeve through the prison to a private room lit by captured moonlight. Raeve refuses to enter before him because she expects another violation, but when he goes first she discovers a mender's space and a female Runi named Bhea waiting inside. Bhea tries to examine Raeve's back, yet Raeve resists because healing feels meaningless when she is still condemned to die in the coliseum. Sensing that escape is impossible in her condition, Raeve demands the King surrender his dragonflame weald before she submits, and he does.

When Bhea helps lower Raeve's tunic, Bhea is visibly shaken by what she sees. Raeve notices that Bhea bears the mark of Dragonsight and realizes the healer can see more than fresh wounds. Terrified that Bhea will expose whatever old runes or hidden traces remain on her body, Raeve silently begs for silence. Bhea protects her by telling the King only that the damage is worse than expected and leaving to fetch more supplies. In the brief pause, the King insists the treatment still matters, asks before uncovering more of Raeve, and helps her into position without making her face the shame of her injuries.

After Bhea returns, she cleans Raeve's torn back, applies bonding agent, and begins preparing the fleshthreading. Raeve warns the King that she still intends to kill him if she gets the chance; he replies grimly and, when asked what she believes in, hears her answer: revenge. The King answers with unexpected bitterness that revenge is the loneliest deity, revealing his own familiarity with it. Bhea warns that proper healing will force Raeve to relive the pain of the wounds, then painstakingly mends the deep cuts. As Raeve endures the agony, the King remains kneeling before her, holding her hands, matching her breathing, and wiping away sweat, creating a fragile ceasefire that complicates their enmity even though Raeve is still marked for execution and he is still the ruler who condemned her.