In the aftermath of the tribunal’s bedlam, Diomedes escorts Lysander to his quarters, warning the halls are unsafe. He promises to stand vigil over Cassius and send word, even extending Lysander his first open respect before leaving him locked in. Lysander struggles with guilt and fear for Cassius.

To master his turmoil, Lysander uses the Willow Way, slipping into a childhood memory. He recalls meeting Cassius at the Citadel: the polished young Bellona bristles under Lysander’s blunt critique of his pride and lack of loyalty, while Lysander praises Andromedus. Virginia appears, trading barbs with Cassius and teasing young Lysander before the memory dissolves.

Lysander wakes to the Pink, Aurae, sent by the Storm Knight. She informs him that Cassius has died of exsanguination. The news crushes Lysander’s hopes of reconciliation and redemption for Cassius, and he reels at the thought that Cassius’s last moments held the belief Lysander betrayed him.

When Lysander asks to see the body, Aurae says Dido’s men guard his door and that Cassius’s corpse was seized by Bellerephon’s schoolmates to desecrate in the Waste; Diomedes has gone to pursue them. Denied even a farewell, Lysander’s composure breaks in private grief. He thinks of Pytha’s pain and, with Cassius’s passing, accepts that the last of his boyhood is gone and a harder self must emerge.