After the battle at Coste, Gabriel, Talon, Aaron, and Greyhand rode back to San Michon. Their wounds closed but left lasting scars: Gabriel bore claw marks from Adrien, Talon a belly wound, and Aaron a hook-shaped facial scar. Greyhand suffered most, losing his sword arm, right eye, and ear, and though he attended mass, he would never be the same hunter.

Following the service, Abbot Khalid and Seraph Talon summoned Gabriel and Aaron. Khalid praised their survival against Laure Voss but tempered it with rebuke. He informed Aaron that Greyhand had recommended him for sainthood due to his conduct and his role in destroying Laure’s child, Adrien. Gabriel feared expulsion for disobedience in Coste, but Khalid, while censuring him, spared him from dismissal, acknowledging that Gabriel saved lives and uncovered the Forever King’s strategy.

Khalid confirmed the invasion plan: the Forever King would strike Avinbourg, then drive south along the Godsend to seize Coste, Tolbrook, and Skyefall to choke silver supplies. With Wintersdeep upon them and the Cherchant nearly frozen, garrisons had been pulled to reinforce Avinbourg, and the Empress Isabella would lead forces mustering at San Michon within a week. Talon scheduled Aaron’s sainthood for the next prièdi, and Khalid dismissed Gabriel to rest.

That night, troubled by Talon’s rage when Laure had invoked Sister Aoife, Gabriel slipped to the Great Library’s forbidden section, where he found Astrid and Sisternovice Chloe studying. They discussed new arms training for the sisters, instituted after Aoife’s death, and Gabriel received a letter from his mother. The letter expressed love, shame for hiding his heritage, and a plea for him to come home for Firstmas to learn the truth about his father; the vagueness angered Gabriel.

Astrid and Chloe then shared their research. They had been hunting for the “fifth line” and produced an ancient bestiary in Old Talhostic, attributed to a vampire scholar. When Astrid’s nosebleed dripped onto a blank page, the blood activated hidden script and a sigil: two facing skulls. Chloe translated a passage condemning a hidden court as sorcerers and cannibals, revealing the name Esani, “the Faithless,” effectively identifying a secret, reviled bloodline. The blood-script faded after appearing, suggesting a concealed method akin to “fire writing,” but keyed to blood.

Chloe took this as providence that the solution to daysdeath is hidden somewhere in the Library. They debated informing Khalid or Archivist Adamo but decided secrecy was necessary without definitive proof, especially with the monastery focused on the Avinbourg defense. They briefly revisited the mystery of Sister Aoife—Gabriel had seen her distraught and meeting Kaveh earlier—but Astrid warned against trusting vampire taunts, and Gabriel conceded to patience and to prioritize the impending siege.