Lysander prepares to act as Glirastes reports that Darrow’s departure and Atalantia’s attack are imminent. Over a tense dinner, Glirastes masks his worries and then departs for the spaceport, hinting at a gift. Lysander steels himself to move before the external assault begins.

At seven, Exeter departs with most servants to join allied loyalists in the city, leaving a skeleton crew to maintain appearances. At eight, a clone program from Glirastes’s Greens hijacks the data from Lysander’s security spike; Lysander cuts the spike from his shoulder to break surveillance. He opens Glirastes’s gift, the Horn of Helios, and reveals hidden military gear, planning to reach the Hippodrome within minutes.

A knock interrupts as a servant announces unexpected visitors: Alexandar au Arcos and Rhonna. Because the falsified feed shows Lysander reading in the library, refusing them would raise suspicion and jeopardize the operation’s secrecy and timing. Lysander hides a loyalist razor in his boot and hurries to receive them.

Alexandar breezes in with Rhonna, jovial and insistent on a tour of the Lady Beatrice before their imminent departure, even bringing Venusian brandy. Rhonna surveys the library; Lysander regards her as a zealous risk. Though Lysander tries to demur, he entertains them to avoid suspicion, acutely aware their intrusion threatens his carefully timed move.