In his concealed chamber, Kaladin cleans and dresses the unconscious Teft, carefully giving him water by syringe. Syl grows uncharacteristically solemn, fearing loss and recalling the death of her former knight, Relador. Kaladin frames grief as part of being alive and emphasizes choice and personhood, which heartens Syl as she experiments with richer colors and talks of changing form.

A scraping at the door sends Kaladin to investigate, but the intruder is Dabbid, who arrives with broth and quietly signals Bridge Four. Kaladin shows Dabbid how to feed Teft and asks the tower spren via the wall gemstone about securing doors; the Sibling explains doors can be left open to all or locked to all, but not keyed to individuals. Leaving Dabbid with light and instructions, Kaladin departs on his mission.

Unable to move freely inside, Kaladin chooses the tower’s exterior. He fashions Stormlight-sticking brush handholds and adheres the toes of his boots, then descends from a tenth-floor balcony, resting briefly on the fifth. Windspren flit around him as he carefully avoids detection, while Syl scouts nearby balconies for patrols.

Near the fourth floor, Syl warns that singers with spyglasses are watching a third-floor balcony for Windrunners during night transfers. Kaladin shifts laterally to avoid them, then sees the Oathgate flare with dark, violet-tinged light before the scouts pack up, implying the night’s use is over. Climbing back, he realizes the watchers must be coordinating with operators via a spanreed that functions inside the suppressed tower. Syl confirms they were writing. Kaladin sends Syl to tail them and decides to steal the spanreed to give Navani a crucial clue about the enemy’s working fabrials.