Under a full moon, Violet and Xaden fly beyond Navarre’s wards on Tairn and Sgaeyl for a covert drop. Tairn, wary of nearby wyvern range, refuses to let Violet dismount, keeping her strapped and positioned to monitor the clearing. Seven Poromiel gryphons arrive; Syrena leads the drift, accompanied by a new male flier and a younger woman, Catriona.

Tension flares over the recent assault on Samara, where a gryphon nearly maimed Xaden. Syrena argues she cannot control every drift, while demanding more daggers. Violet intervenes to stress that Navarre’s wards protect Basgiath’s hatching grounds and must not be weakened. Catriona’s fixation on Violet and Xaden is sharpened by jealousy and veiled hostility.

Xaden adopts a hard calculus: he will prioritize his people and their wards, threatening to cut off supplies if Poromiel fliers steal from outposts. He reveals their forge is nearly ready but needs a luminary, flatly rejecting Viscount Tecarus’s terms. He turns over two bags with twenty-three daggers, keeping one, and sets the next delivery via Garrick near Athebyne. Syrena warns they have about a year before the venin reach their border; Xaden vows readiness and reiterates he will not sacrifice Navarre’s wards.

As they part, Syrena accepts the limited support and promises to try to curb outpost attacks. Violet trades brief courtesies with her, then watches the drift depart. Hearing Catriona’s full name triggers Violet’s realization that Catriona is the woman Bodhi once mentioned from Xaden’s past, and that Catriona’s longing looks came from memory, rattling Violet as they lift back into the night.