The chapter follows two storylines in Seiiki. In the first, Tané endures the grueling water trials alongside her fellow apprentices. Despite heavy rain, the apprentices are tested in archery, firearms, and mounted archery. Tané excels at firearms and performs well in archery, coming second to Dumusa. However, during the mounted archery trial, her horse stumbles on the wet ground, causing her to miss her final shot and allowing Turosa to claim first place. Turosa taunts her about her peasant origins, insisting that dragonriders are born, not made, while Dumusa reassures Tané.

After the trials, Dumusa and Onren invite Tané to join them at a tavern where the apprentice Kanperu has been spending his evenings, hoping to socialize and build camaraderie. Tané declines, insisting she must continue practicing. She spends the evening alone, training obsessively with throwing knives, then writes a vulnerable letter to her old friend Susa confessing her fear that fourteen years of preparation may not be enough, since the apprentices are judged on present performance rather than past effort. Even after sending the letter, Tané cannot sleep and slips out to practice more.

In the second storyline, Niclays Roos is brought before the Governor of Cape Hisan to answer for harboring the outsider Sulyard. Niclays lies about the circumstances, claiming the woman who brought Sulyard to him held a knife to his throat. The woman—a young musician who works in a theater—is brought in battered and defiant. She curses Niclays, but he confirms her identity. When the Governor presses Niclays for information about how Sulyard entered Seiiki, Niclays refuses to implicate Truyde, even though his silence means the woman will be tortured for answers.

The Governor explains that because executing a Mentish settler would damage diplomatic relations with the House of Lievelyn, Niclays will instead be placed under house arrest in the capital city of Ginura while the investigation proceeds. Niclays is also promised the alchemical ingredients he has long lacked. Before departing, Niclays offers to visit Sulyard in the jailhouse to persuade him to confess who helped him enter Seiiki, and the Governor tentatively agrees. Throughout, Niclays is wracked with guilt over the woman's fate but cannot bring himself to reveal the truth about Truyde's involvement.