The chapter opened at dawn, marking the twenty-seventh year since daysdeath began, with Gabriel de León described as the murderer of the Forever King who was still awaiting execution. He stood at a narrow window in a ransacked room—glass shattered, furniture splintered, ink and soot staining the stone—his hands marked by new blood and ashes.

Gabriel watched snow fall over a château returning to its diurnal sleep as vampires withdrew to their resting places. Thrall soldiers patrolled the battlements, and Gabriel, though contemptuous of them, recognized that he himself was the true slave in this situation, confined behind an iron-clad, locked door.

Turning inward, Gabriel considered the dual legacy of his hands—having slain monsters and saved an empire—while condemning himself for allowing the last hope for humanity to be lost, likening it to glass shattering on stone. He noted the sky’s darkness and the blood-red horizon, recalling his last kiss with an unnamed lady.

He pressed a bone pipe to his lips and smoked sanctus, reflecting on its hellish taste, then looked at letters inked beneath his knuckles. Closing the scene, Gabriel traced the marks with his thumb and whispered a single word to himself: “Patience,” signaling resolve amid captivity and regret.