The night before the results are announced, Tané lies awake in her quarters, unable to sleep due to her injured shoulder and anxiety about whether she will be chosen as a dragonrider. She reads Recollections of the Great Sorrow, studying its illustrations of the red sickness, fire-breathing demons, and the comet called Kwiriki's Lantern that ended the Great Sorrow. Her friend Onren visits with supper and wine, reporting on the banquet Tané missed.

Their conversation turns tense when Tané, overwhelmed by exhaustion and guilt, criticizes Onren for lacking discipline—arriving late to trials and spending nights in taverns. Onren fires back, pointing out that Tané stayed up all night practicing yet still lost the knife trial to her. She observes that Tané seems to be punishing herself for something. Tané nearly confesses the truth about the outsider but holds back, only admitting she has been afraid and tired. She apologizes, and Onren forgives her before departing.

The next day, Tané prays for forgiveness—both for her rudeness to Onren and for hiding the stranger on the night before the ceremony. When servants arrive with her new uniform, the dragon emblem on the surcoat is embroidered in gold thread, confirming she has been chosen as a dragonrider. That evening, the twelve new riders gather on Ginura Bay for the choosing ceremony. The Sea General bestows each rider with dancing pearls, a helm, a padded saddle, a mask, and a salt-quenched sword.

Kanperu is chosen first and mounts a blue-gray dragon. Onren, who earned a place in Clan Miduchi, is chosen next by the largest dragon present—a hulking silver-scaled Seiikinese dragon with a black mane. When Tané's name is called, she wades into the sea and extends her hand. The dragon that touches her is not Seiikinese but Lacustrine, staring back at her with eyes as bright as fireworks.