Darrow flees the keep after dropping Vixus and calls to Cassius for aid. Titus’s students give chase, but Quinn intercepts Cassandra, smashing her knee to clear Darrow’s path. Darrow’s dregs open the castle gates and disappear into the mist. They regroup at the remote northfort after midnight, scavenge birds for food, and accept that Mars is now at civil war.

Expecting a siege, Darrow hopes Titus will attack and expose his followers to the fire-fed comforts inside the fort. Instead, Titus avoids the northfort and keeps his tribe frenzied with raids, awarding blood marks for violence. From the highlands, Darrow, Cassius, and Roque watch Titus besiege House Ceres: Titus lassos a Ceres archer from the wall, and Cassandra enslaves the captured girl while Proctors hover aloof.

As they observe, Cassius concludes Titus lied about killing Priam, arguing the Institute would not pair Priam with a brute like Titus. Darrow subtly steers Cassius toward suspecting Titus of killing Julian, letting the idea fester. Roque notices Darrow’s manipulation and remains wary.

Titus’s slaves prove sullen and literal, undermining his efforts beyond violence. The siege devolves into farce—filthy latrines, poisoned attempts at sabotage—while Ceres bakes fish and bread behind high walls, even sending down razor-laced loaves that wound Titus’s starving force.

Enraged, Titus forces slaves to beat the captured girl for spectacle, then hides her near Ceres’s gate and fakes her screams. Ceres riders, duped by the ruse, trample her in a dawn rush; medBots remove her, and still the Proctors do nothing. Darrow longs for the safety of his old allies.

With Ceres secure behind walls and no more slaves to take, Titus’s campaign stalls. Unable to conquer outwardly and fearing dissent, Titus’s gaze turns inward, foreshadowing purges within House Mars.