Raeve climbs down the hidden chute into the warded home she shares with Essi and is greeted by the smell of fresh buttermin loaf. Their familiar routine quickly reasserts itself: Raeve eats, Essi works at her scope, and their easy banter about food and stolen messages shows how much care sits beneath their usual pretense of emotional distance.

Essi reveals that she is making Raeve a new diamond tooth cap designed to create an invisible barrier around Raeve’s head and chest, specifically because Rekk Zharos is hunting her. When Raeve asks about the materials, Essi explains that the adhesive ore comes from spangle droppings, which horrifies Raeve but also underscores Essi’s ingenuity and how seriously she is taking Raeve’s safety.

The conversation turns tense when Raeve dismisses the danger and jokes about accidentally killing Rekk if they meet. Essi stops hiding her fear and says she cannot lose Raeve. Raeve immediately pushes back, insisting their arrangement works best without open declarations of care, because Raeve associates attachment with death and loss.

As Raeve heads downstairs to rest, Essi makes one last plea: Raeve should obey Sereme’s order to stay away from the Undercity until it is safe, and she should not go there alone. Essi then tells Raeve that Raeve is the only family she has. Raeve cannot answer that vulnerability and retreats to her sparse room, disturbed by her own inability to respond.

Alone, Raeve prepares for sleep and reflects on the contrast between her safe, distant love for a favorite moon and her frightened love for Essi, which feels fragile and dangerous. She takes out Nee, the parchment creature carrying an old three-word message not meant for Raeve, and finds comfort in the small ritual of caring for her. Thinking of Essi’s hurt, Raeve recognizes her own emotional cruelty, curls up with Nee, and tries to quiet her mind under the sight of Hae’s Perch.