Bellius chooses a careful tactic for the fight at the bottleneck, sending his warriors through first so they can exhaust Nesta before he faces her himself. Nesta accepts that she has no choice but to meet them there, because Gwyn and Emerie are behind her and she refuses to let the enemy cross the line she has drawn in the earth.

As the first attackers charge, Nesta finds that the usual hateful noise in her mind is gone. In its place are calm, determination, and love for her friends. That inner steadiness shapes the fight: smiling as the first blow lands on her shield, she counters with disciplined precision, slamming one male back, cutting down another, and knocking others off balance in a rhythm matched to her breath.

While fighting, Nesta briefly thinks about what she might do with Ataraxia in her hand and whether she has finally become worthy of the sword. She remembers that she named it in the Old Language, a tongue dead for fifteen thousand years, and that Lanthys laughed when he heard the name. Even without the blade, Nesta takes on more and more Illyrians at once, dropping them one after another as she holds the line for Gwyn and Emerie.

The chapter closes by revealing the sword’s name and meaning: Ataraxia, “Inner Peace.” That realization confirms that Nesta’s strength now comes not from rage or self-hatred, but from hard-won balance and devotion to the people she loves.