Tané is brought from a jailhouse to White River Castle to face the Governor of Ginura. She reflects on her past—how she was the only apprentice from the South House to summit Mount Tego, and how that spiritual triumph now feels impossibly distant. She has been imprisoned for an indeterminate time, lost in despair.

The Governor confronts Tané with the evidence against her: the Mentish prisoner (Sulyard) described the woman who found him on the beach, including the scar beneath her eye. Tané confesses, explaining that she feared reporting the outsider would halt the choosing ceremony, close the port, and end her chance to ride a dragon. She describes how superstitious dread—a sense that her lifelong fortune was about to run out—drove her to hide the outsider rather than turn him in. The Governor makes clear that Tané's selfishness squandered the favor of the great Kwiriki.

Tané attempts to exonerate Susa, claiming she forced her friend to help, but the Governor reveals that Susa was a willing participant and has already been executed—Nayimathun's plea for clemency arrived too late. The Governor then delivers even worse news: the Fleet of the Tiger Eye, a group of dragon hunters, landed in Ginura Bay and captured Nayimathun. The High Sea Guard will try to retrieve her, but the Governor admits the dragon is most likely beyond rescue.

Devastated and with nothing left to lose, Tané reveals Niclays Roos's role—his blackmail attempt and his demand for dragon scales and blood—and urges the Governor to bring him to justice. However, the Governor informs her that Roos has gone missing, likely having escaped the island, possibly with the pirates. Tané realizes Roos is probably already dead or will be soon, but this gives her no comfort.

The Governor sentences Tané: though execution would be warranted, out of respect for Nayimathun and what Tané could have been, she will instead be exiled to Feather Island for the rest of her life. Tané accepts her sentence numbly, feeling nothing as soldiers escort her away.