During a typhoon, Niclays lies awake while Sulyard snores through the storm. Unable to sleep, Niclays reflects on his past with Jannart, the Marquess of Zeedeur. He recalls their first meeting in the rose garden of Brygstad Palace, where Jannart was drawn to Niclays's unusual auburn hair and asked to paint his portrait. Over that season, the two grew inseparable, and Niclays fell deeply in love with Jannart—admiring his appearance, voice, and passion for art and history. Niclays believed there was no hope for their relationship given the vast difference in rank, yet Jannart saw him and did not look away. In the present, Niclays consoles himself that the next Mentish shipment will take Sulyard home, freeing him from reminders of Truyde, Jannart, and the Inysh court.

Niclays eventually dozes off, but is awakened in the dark. Sentinels, led by the Chief Officer, have invaded his home. They drag Niclays from his bed, and when he resists with his cane, they beat him brutally with an iron truncheon, splitting his lip, injuring his knee, and raining blows on his back and face. In his workroom, they destroy his valuable alchemical apparatus. The sentinels haul Niclays out into the storm in only his nightshirt, and he can hear Sulyard crying out somewhere in the darkness—both have been discovered.

Panaya, a fellow Mentish resident, rushes out and confronts the Chief Officer, invoking the Warlord's protection over Mentish citizens and demanding a warrant. The Chief Officer reveals that Niclays has been hiding a trespasser, violating the Great Edict. Panaya is stunned but warns Niclays that the Seiikiese will suspect him of carrying the "red sickness" and urges him to swear he never touched Sulyard's bare skin. As Niclays is carried away toward the Governor of Cape Hisan, he shouts desperately for Panaya to protect his books and have Muste repair his apparatus, but no one can help him.