At first light, Kaladin leads Bridge Four through exercises and coordinated runs, building discipline and morale despite the mockery of soldiers and the scrutiny of Gaz. He pushes the crew to practice with their bridge and offers honest praise to keep them engaged, even as he hides his worries about casualties and sustainability.

From Gaz’s perspective, his missing eye leaves him haunted by darkness and fear. He pays a partial bribe to Lamaril, a low-ranked but dangerous lighteyes who blackmails him and orders that Kaladin be made to die in the field to avoid creating a martyr. Gaz despises his role but feels trapped between debts and duty.

Kaladin tallies recent losses and wounded, recognizing that the constant assaults will destroy his crew without a new approach. Syl reports seeing Gaz speaking darkly with Lamaril, but Kaladin decides not to react without proof, knowing how easily a shash-branded slave could be framed and executed in Sadeas’s camp.

Studying the carpenters’ work, Kaladin notes the strong, light makam wood and conceives a plan: carry the bridge on its side to potentially use it as cover. Accepting the risks, he organizes subsquads under Rock, Teft, Skar, and Moash. Moash admits he doesn’t trust Kaladin but follows out of curiosity.

Bridge Four tests the side-carry, awkwardly bunching into three rows and struggling with poor handholds. Gaz confronts Kaladin, who masks his true aim by claiming it’s to rest different muscles and to manage return trips with fewer survivors. Realizing the tactic would slow them and increase exposure, Gaz encourages it, seeing a chance to engineer Kaladin’s death while avoiding open suspicion, and he resolves to keep paying Lamaril somehow.