As the royal parade enters Loot Alley, Paedyn Gray feels a conflicted joy at returning to the slums where she grew up. She points out familiar places, including Maria’s shop, and exchanges barbed banter with Kai Azer to maintain their public facade while recalling her and Adena’s past thefts and survival.

Paedyn’s mood shifts when she spots the blood-stained whipping post that once scarred her. Kai notices her reaction, his concern masked by an Enforcer’s calm. Before they can speak further, explosions suddenly erupt along the street, and Kai throws himself over Paedyn and King Kitt Azer to shield them as smoke, screams, and chaos engulf the parade.

Kai identifies the blasts as man-made bombs and organizes Imperials to form a protective ring around Kitt and Paedyn. While Kitt remains in the coach under orders, Paedyn refuses to stay hidden. Feeling responsibility for the people of Loot, she slips past the guards and rushes into the devastation.

Paedyn confronts the aftermath: burning carts, collapsing buildings, and bodies strewn across the cobbles. She finds a young boy with a shard lodged in his chest and tries to stop the bleeding, comforting him with assurances she knows are false. His honey-colored eyes remind her of Adena, and when he dies in her arms, the loss reopens her trauma from the Pit.

Kai pulls Paedyn away from the boy’s body and guides her back toward the coach, his rough words edged with grief. The chapter ends with Loot Alley in ruins, the parade shattered by the attack, and Paedyn overwhelmed by guilt and sorrow, her dress soaked in blood.