Prince Camak secretly leads Din, Ana, and Malo into the royal chamber where the dead king lies on a bed of pale flowers. Before speaking freely, Camak tests whether they truly came at his request, and Din gives him the message he sent. Relieved, Camak drops his formal mask and begs Ana to identify the murderer at once, because Pavitar and his allies are pressing him to execute Kardas before the day ends. Ana explains that she cannot produce a culprit instantly, then asks permission to inspect the king’s body.

Din studies the corpse and confirms the visible signs of kerel poisoning: swollen red lips and a mottled throat, suggesting a strong and fast-acting dose. Malo smells nothing useful. While Ana considers this, Camak admits that he watches his father’s body not from affection but from fear, because if the king somehow lived, Camak would be spared the crisis now crushing him. Ana then asks Camak to recount exactly what happened at the fatal meeting.

Camak explains that the poisoning occurred during a private diplomatic tea in the eastern hall attended only by the king, Camak, Darhi, Pavitar, Prificto Kardas, and Kardas’s engraver. No servants were present, so everyone poured saca tea for themselves from a cauldron. Camak brought the king two cups, and later Kardas refilled the same cup for him. Ana isolates an important opportunity: after Camak returned the empty cup to the cauldron, it sat unattended long enough that someone else may have tampered with it before Kardas filled it again.

When the king collapsed and died, Pavitar immediately accused Kardas of murdering him for the Empire and demanded execution. Darhi also shouted during the uproar, though later his faction warned that killing Kardas in custody could trigger grave consequences with the Empire. The situation changed again when guards reported that Kardas had collapsed as well with the same swollen lips and red throat. Because Kardas showed signs of the same poison, Camak began doubting that Kardas was the true killer, and the court’s certainty weakened even though no clear decision followed.

Camak says he later found Ana’s warning message on the hawk at Kardas’s window and realized she had predicted the attack, but he did not trust the court to believe him and lacked the influence to act openly. Ana then broadens the inquiry, asking about jungle smugglers and the oathcoin found on their suspect. Camak says such a favor-token is valuable and that Darhi controls many of them, distributing them to build influence. When Din describes Sunus Pyktis as a Rathras man, Camak unexpectedly reveals that many in the High City, including himself and Darhi, are partly Rathras because Yarrow’s rulers long ago took imperial brides. That revelation means Pyktis’s appearance would not stand out there, making disguise easier. Ana decides the next steps are to question Kardas, then Pavitar and Darhi, and Camak warns that access to the royal servants will likely require Darhi’s cooperation.