After leaving Ana’s quarters, Din and Malo linger uneasily over Ana’s conclusions about Sunus Pyktis. Malo is especially appalled by Ana’s order to prepare dress uniforms, because such formal attire is alien to the wardens, but she still sends her people off to carry out tasks. When the others leave, Sabudara approaches Din, offers him company, and Din accepts rather than spend the night alone with his thoughts.

During the night, Din dreams of a dark jungle pool and a strange pale figure emerging from a green column of water and beckoning him forward. He wakes abruptly to the sound of enormous bells tolling across Yarrow. Disoriented and still in bed with Sabudara, Din realizes the bells are real and not a dream.

Sabudara rushes to the window and, after some confusion caused by her broken standard speech, explains that the bells mean the king is dead. She indicates a crown on her head to make herself understood, then hurriedly dresses and runs out. Din is left stunned by the news and scrambles to dress himself.

Outside, Din finds the street full of people looking west toward the High City, where black smoke rises in a deliberate plume. The sight makes Din think of the oathcoin and the poison discovered in Pyktis’s quarters, and he begins to suspect that the death is tied directly to their investigation. Realizing the implications, he goes at once to Ana.

Din finds Ana already fully dressed in immaculate imperial formal wear, as if she had prepared for exactly this turn. She sharply rebukes Din for ignoring her order to rest, then explains that she had already inferred Pyktis would strike again: they had found poison, evidence that he had access to the High City, and reason to believe he knew they had uncovered his hidden work. Ana says she did not know the exact target, but she expected the next move would involve the court, which is why she ordered formal uniforms. With the king apparently dead, Ana concludes that Pyktis has escalated dramatically, and she orders Din to get properly dressed so they can move immediately to question the court.