Darrow, Sevro, and Apollonius carve through the fortress’s thin garrison and reach a gilded suite guarded by medical machines. They subdue two Brown servants and an old Pink caretaker and uncover the Ash Lord on a sickbed, emaciated and sustained by tubes. The sight derails Darrow’s imagined confrontation, and the Ash Lord speaks with weary clarity about war’s costs.

Apollonius arrives and, with chilling pride, reveals he poisoned the Ash Lord three years earlier. The revelation explains the tyrant’s condition and raises the question of who actually led his forces. The Ash Lord confirms Atalantia has commanded in his stead, engineered the peace talks, and is moving to ambush the Republic fleet over Mercury while Darrow’s forces are weakened by political turmoil.

The Ash Lord then twists the knife further, stating that Sevro’s daughter and Darrow’s son were taken. The news unmoors both men. Sevro assaults the Ash Lord in rage, but before they can extract more, the Ash Lord bites a poison tooth and begins to die, refusing to name the kidnapper beyond hinting it was “one of yours.”

Faced with the collapse of his strategic gambit and the threat to his family, Darrow orders Apollonius to burn the Ash Lord. Apollonius sprays disinfectant and ignites it with a candle, immolating the dying tyrant as Sevro watches in fury and Darrow in hollow grief. With the Ash Lord dead, Darrow is left to confront Atalantia’s looming ambush and the terror that his son is lost.