Badly weakened from her whipping and imprisonment, Raeve is escorted by guards into a domed amphitheater for her trial. She notices the Nobles gathered above her, a higher mezzanine full of spectators, and the disguised Vaegor king watching from the crowd. Expecting King Fade to appear and disappointed when he does not, Raeve is chained in place as the Chancellor opens the proceedings.

The Chancellor begins by noting that Raeve appears to be a null despite having heard elemental songs, then questions her about using Clode and Bulder to kill soldiers. A Truthtune confirms when she lies or tells the truth, but Raeve refuses to be intimidated. Instead, she answers with open mockery, admitting that she used elemental power and making the court listen to her contempt.

The trial then turns to murder charges. The Chancellor presents preserved pieces of skin taken from confirmed victims of Fiur du Ath, each carved with Raeve’s distinctive writing, and compares them to the crude writing she used to sign for prison rations. When the Nobles laugh at her handwriting, Raeve is briefly stung but covers it with more insults. Faced with undeniable proof, she stops pretending otherwise and makes clear that denying the killings would be pointless.

Rather than beg for mercy, Raeve attacks the moral rot of The Fade and publicly condemns the kingdom’s rule. She deliberately turns herself into a spectacle because she hopes the attention on her will give Rekk less reason to keep hunting the Ath, even if only briefly. When the Chancellor finally asks for her plea, Raeve calmly answers guilty on all charges, and the Truthtune confirms it.

The Nobles and spectators vote on how she should die: either by being drawn and quartered or by being fed to the Moltenmaws in the coliseum. Raeve even raises her own hand, preferring a quicker, more controlled death to being devoured by dragons. The count comes to a tie until the hooded incognito king raises his hand, breaking it by one vote. Because of that final choice, Raeve is sentenced to face the Moltenmaws at next aurora rise.