As evening falls after the chasmfiend attack, Adolin oversees casualties while Dalinar reflects on the transformed war: gemhearts have turned siege into deadly sport and prolonged the conflict. Dalinar’s dramatic rescue of Elhokar tempers criticism, but he worries the focus on contests has eclipsed true vengeance and unity.

In the pavilion, Elhokar praises Sadeas’s recent gemheart wins and urges Dalinar to adopt faster bridges. Dalinar condemns Sadeas’s expendable bridgemen, insisting means matter as much as victory. Adolin nearly provokes a duel, but Dalinar restrains him. Wit arrives, skewering Sadeas with biting mockery until Sadeas withdraws.

Elhokar asks Dalinar to investigate a broken saddle girth; Dalinar and Adolin note a suspiciously smooth tear but concede a fall would not kill a Shardbearer. Despite Adolin’s frustration over politics, Dalinar proceeds to maneuver Highprince Vamah—coordinating with Sadeas’s doubled wood prices—to remind Vamah of reliance on the king’s Soulcasters.

Dalinar and Sadeas argue over paranoia, the Codes, and protection of Elhokar, hinting at Dalinar’s storm-borne troubles. Dalinar then tells Adolin of that night: Sadeas served as decoy for Gavilar, bravely but unsuccessfully, and both men swore to protect Elhokar. He reveals Gavilar’s secret, blood-written message—“find the most important words a man can say”—a quote from The Way of Kings that Dalinar studies for meaning.

Elhokar, convinced the girth was cut, presses the investigation; Dalinar urges caution and assigns Adolin to follow the evidence while doubling the king’s guard. As a bridge crew arrives to return them, Dalinar tends Gallant, then rides out reflecting on a passage from The Way of Kings about rulers sharing burdens, seeing bridgemen as the lowest who bear the weight of kings.