Jakob wakes on a fishing boat after nearly drowning, vomiting seawater and realizing with mixed disappointment that he is still alive. He is badly injured, naked among the catch, and in severe pain, but he immediately asks who rules Troy. When the fishermen tell Jakob that Empress Alexia rules the city, Jakob is relieved enough to believe he may have survived for something worthwhile.

After some days, Jakob painfully makes his way through the Hanging Gardens in borrowed clothes, still struggling to breathe because of his wounds. There Jakob finds Baron Rikard, now physically ruined and aged, and the two men exchange bitter jokes about pain, hell, and their decline. Rikard then tells Jakob that Baptiste is dead; the news hits Jakob harder than his own injuries, and he borrows Rikard's walking stick before continuing to the basilica.

Inside the Basilica of the Angelic Visitation, Jakob sees that one of the empty tombs at the shrine of the Second Crusade has been filled for Baptiste. Alex, now visibly marked by her own recent injuries, greets him with shocked relief, and the two share grief for Baptiste while talking about honoring her memory. Alex also shows Jakob two orphan girls she has taken in as handmaidens, a sign that she is building a new court in her own image rather than inheriting one fully formed.

Alex then presents Jakob with an ancient, jeweled sword that once belonged to John of Antioch and offers him command of Troy's armies when the elves return. The offer tempts Jakob because it matches the dreams of his younger self, and handling the weapon reminds him how power, war, and righteous causes have always drawn him in. Yet Jakob refuses because every supposedly good war has turned him into a devil, and he believes he must keep his oath to serve the Church instead of taking up another crusade. Before he leaves, Jakob warns Alex that John of Antioch was both hero and traitor, accepts a small icon of Saint Stephen from her rather than the sword, and parts from Alex with affection, grief, and uncertainty about whether goodness can still redeem men like him.