Tharion Ketos is sent on a covert expedition into the stormy northern Haldren Sea as punishment from the River Queen, whose daughter was upset by his behavior. Miserable, cold, and resentful of his entanglement with the River Queen’s family, Tharion boards a small fishing vessel and supervises a deep-sea search for the body of Sofie Renast, the rebel thunderbird who was reportedly executed by being chained to lead blocks and dropped into the sea.

As the submersible descends, Tharion reflects on why the mission matters. The River Queen somehow learned precise details of Sofie’s death and insists that Sofie’s body is valuable enough to recover, though she refuses to explain why. Tharion also thinks about his promotion, his dead sister Lesia, and the broader aftermath of recent upheavals, including the horrifying fate of the wraith Viktoria trapped in the trench.

Tharion uses his water magic and the River Queen’s information to guide the search. After hours of scanning the seafloor, the crew finds the lead blocks and chains exactly where expected. However, Sofie’s body is missing, and Tharion notices a crucial detail the captain does not: the shackles are not broken but unlocked.

Back on land, Tharion reports to the River Queen that Sofie’s body was not on the seafloor and that the restraints appear to have been opened. This changes the meaning of the mission entirely. Rather than assuming Sofie died on impact or was scavenged, Tharion concludes that she likely never reached the bottom.

The River Queen immediately infers two possibilities: either someone retrieved Sofie before Tharion arrived, or Sofie is still alive. She orders Tharion to find Sofie by tracing her to her brother, Emile Renast, whom she believes is also highly gifted and therefore valuable. The chapter ends with Tharion forced into a new search, now chasing living targets instead of a corpse.