Balthazar Sham Ivam Draxi broods in the Chapel of the Holy Expediency's miserable quarters, less offended by the cold, hunger, and confinement than by the humiliation of serving with people he considers beneath him. He contemptuously sizes up the others present: Baron Rikard the aging vampire, the silent elf, Jakob of Thorn the hard-faced jailer, and Brother Diaz, whom Balthazar sees as a frightened and incompetent priest.

Cardinals Zizka and Bock arrive with a procession of overwrought acolytes and Child Pope Benedicta. Benedicta behaves more like an impatient child than an awe-inspiring pontiff, joking with the prisoners and delaying business, while one acolyte collapses from exhaustion. During the confusion, Balthazar quietly traps a blank prayer-sheet under his foot, already thinking ahead to escape and revenge.

Benedicta applies the binding with a simple stroke of red ink on each captive's wrist. Balthazar is appalled by how crude the ritual appears, especially when Cardinal Bock casually improvises the wording: the group must conduct Princess Alexia to Troy, obey Brother Diaz, and see Alexia enthroned as Empress of the East before returning. When Alexia is indicated, Balthazar judges her a shabby, frightened impostor and the whole mission a ridiculous fantasy.

Benedicta adds that if they do not give the task their best effort, they will feel very sick, and she tells them to be nice to one another. After the pope and cardinals leave, Balthazar dismisses the entire binding as laughably weak. Convinced he can ignore it, he immediately starts imagining escape and vengeance instead of helping Alexia.

That defiance triggers the binding at once: Balthazar is suddenly overwhelmed and vomits violently across the floor. The elf calmly informs him that this is the binding at work and that it functions better than he assumed. The chapter ends with Balthazar forced to accept that the Church's childish-looking spell is real, and that he cannot simply walk away from the journey to Troy.