With Tharsus subdued on his patio, Apollonius asserts his primacy as heir and belittles Tharsus’s pretenses. When Tharsus insults Darrow, Sevro cuts off Tharsus’s ear, and Apollonius watches coldly. The brothers’ dynamic swings between menace and familiarity as Apollonius challenges Tharsus’s claims of loyalty.

Apollonius accuses Tharsus of abetting his incarceration and of letting the Ash Lord use House Valii-Rath’s strength, even handing forces to the Carthii. Pressed, Tharsus admits he knew and cooperated to survive. Darrow urges restraint, not wanting Tharsus killed, because they need him for access to the darkzone.

Apollonius pivots from fury to tenderness, absolving Tharsus to reforge their bond under his dominance. Darrow and Sevro, repulsed by the brothers’ toxic intimacy, reflect on the moral cost of their alliance and the distance from their own families.

The purpose of the alliance becomes explicit: Apollonius wants vengeance on the Ash Lord, and Darrow wants the Ash Lord dead. They demand Tharsus secure an audience. Tharsus reveals the Ash Lord has granted no audiences for three years after an assassination attempt; all access runs through Atalantia—who has disappeared—and Tharsus has been frozen out.

Tharsus confirms the Ash Lord is cloistered on Gorgon Isle, protected by Ash Legions, with airspace restricted to House Grimmus aircraft for two hundred kilometers. Confronted with a near-impenetrable fortress and no gatekeeper, Apollonius suggests they will need to bring an army, signaling a drastic escalation.