At the cottage, Kiela prepares a fast-growth paste from rosebuds, elder-bush leaves, water, and her own blood, while Larran boards up the windows and doors to protect the glass. Caz and Meep return with duckweed, and Kiela casts the growth spell on the ivy vines, then on raspberry brambles, until the cottage is completely engulfed and hidden. Caz and Meep agree to hide within the brambles to keep watch.

Kiela and Larran walk into town, where imperial soldiers from the Alyssium Rover have gathered at Bryn's bakery. Captain Varrik, Radane's would-be fiance, questions the villagers. Larran introduces Kiela as his wife, and the locals stick to the cover story: that the rescued woman claimed to be an imperial investigator, stayed above the bakery, and then left Caltrey by boat.

Captain Varrik reveals he is searching for Ravandil Etra L'sari, the sole surviving heir to Emperor Mevorin, offering a palace and a barony as reward. Fenerer, hostile and paranoid, repeatedly accuses Kiela of being a new arrival, a rogue sorcerer, and possibly responsible for the investigator's disappearance. Varrik dismisses Kiela as not being the heir after a glance, and brushes off Fenerer's wilder accusations.

Bryn maintains the story, saying the investigator left by boat, and Kiela claims she sold her parents' boat to the woman. Pressed by Fenerer's continued accusations and Bryn's nervous glance, Captain Varrik insists on inspecting Kiela's cottage despite his apparent reluctance. The chapter ends with Kiela forced to lead the imperials toward her hidden, bramble-covered home.