Ana publicly declares that the man on the throne is not Prince Camak but Sunus Pyktis. To prove it, Ana plays the strange music that previously affected Pyktis, and the seated "prince" loses control, screaming and begging for it to stop. Ana then presses the point that Pyktis and Camak were perfect twins, and when Pavitar demands that the prince bare his arm to disprove Ana's theory about blotley welts, the prince refuses. As Pavitar begins to understand, the false prince drops his performance entirely, revealing Pyktis's cold intelligence beneath the disguise.

Pyktis whistles, and hidden traitors among the royal guard attack. Din, the wardens, Pavitar, Malo, and the loyal guards respond immediately, because Ana had anticipated that Pyktis would call on planted allies only when cornered. Malo shoots one attacker, Din kills another, and Pavitar strikes down a third as the ambush is quickly crushed. When the fighting ends, Pyktis remains seated and silent while Ana begins to explain exactly how he replaced the prince.

Ana reconstructs the deception step by step. She argues that Pyktis switched places with Prince Camak during Pavitar's hunting trip in the west, first killing Pavitar's dogs so they would not recognize the different scent, then ambushing and altering himself to resemble the prince completely. Afterward, Pyktis murdered Camak with a stab to the heart, altered Camak's corpse to resemble Sunus Pyktis instead, and preserved the body with ossuary moss so he could later fake his own death again. Ana further explains that Pyktis set up Darhi as a future patsy, planted clues to point the investigation toward him, poisoned the king while disguised as the prince, and slipped away during the funeral vigil in another disguise to silence Gorthaus before she could expose too much.

Ana then reveals the larger objective behind the murders and misdirection. Pyktis did not merely want the throne; he wanted to destroy the marrow shipment without destroying the whole Shroud, forcing the Empire to remain dependent on Yarrow and to keep paying its rulers. According to Ana, Pyktis's campaign of terror was meant to panic Thelenai into moving the marrow by ship, while the true titan's-blood weapon was hidden in the ordinary docks where the hydricyst would first anchor. Ana says Thelenai has already found the weapon, which means Pyktis's final move has failed. Pyktis finally speaks and admits that seeing his father as a frail, ordinary man shattered his belief in kingship; he came to believe that every system is only masters using slaves, so he chose power for himself.

Ana rejects Pyktis's demand for imperial justice and says that Yarrow will deal with a man who committed apavitari by murdering king and prince of his own blood. Pavitar, devastated by the truth and standing beside Camak's real corpse, accepts that judgment. As Pyktis tries to lash out at Ana with a final accusation, Pavitar steps forward and cuts Pyktis's throat in a single practical stroke. After the execution, Pavitar orders everyone out, then lifts Prince Camak's body from the chest and mourns over it while Ana, Din, Kardas, and the others withdraw from the shattered throne room.