In his antechamber, Anton demands to know why Vasalie was in his tunnels. She explains that she came to plead for the innocence of Laurent and Marian. Taking a great risk, she confesses that she was the one who poisoned Gustav, acting on Illian’s orders. Vasalie offers to testify before the Crowns to clear her friends’ names, fully aware it would likely cost her life. Anton, however, reveals that he has already arranged for mercenaries to free Laurent and Marian, who will now work for him in secret in East Miridran. He forbids Vasalie from testifying, stating that Illian would have her killed before she could speak. 

Instead, he asks her to inform him whenever Illian gives her a task, promising to help her in return. He then shares a recently acquired prophecy foretelling the rise of a destructive figure who tricks the Fate of Morta, the mysterious goddess known as the Reaper of Souls (in Miridran mythology, the Fate offers every recently departed soul the chance to return to the living world, but none can escape the lure of her beauty, choosing to remain in the underworld). The prophecy speaks of a figure who will appear through “one of three sons” (239). Vasalie immediately identifies Illian as the prophecy’s subject, connecting it to the line, “A jewel in His palm” (239), since Illian refers to her as his “Jewel.” Anton asks for her help to mitigate the damage that Illian will cause and promises to help her in return.

After two days of avoiding him, Vasalie meets Copelan in the palace’s Sky Garden to find inspiration for their next dance. He comforts her with a warm embrace, but they’re interrupted by Princess Aesir. She’s accompanied by Esmée Fontaine, an elegant dancer whom Vasalie recognizes. Aesir announces that she has arranged for Esmée to be an honored guest at the Gathering, a decision approved by the other courts. Vasalie realizes that Esmée is Copelan’s long-lost former partner, the one he had told her was taken by a Crown nine years prior. Vasalie infers that it was Illian who took Esmée, and not Anton, as she had first suspected. Vasalie also realizes that Illian orchestrated Esmée’s return through Aesir to drive a wedge between her and Copelan.

Vasalie excitedly shares a new performance idea with Copelan, but he informs her that she will not be dancing in the upcoming tribute to the kingdom of Serai. He reveals that, at Aesir’s request, he will be performing with Esmée instead. Upset and feeling replaced, Vasalie confronts him, accusing him of wanting to dance with his former partner and questioning Aesir’s motives. Their heated argument is cut short by the arrival of Anton, who dismisses a tense Copelan. Alone with Vasalie, Anton flirts with her, implying that he’s a better match for her than the “broody” Master of Revels. He then instructs her to meet him later via the secret tunnels to discuss an important matter concerning Illian.

A commotion erupts in the Dome Hall as guards drag in a thrashing Annais. Before the assembled courts, she desperately claims that King Estienne is her son from an affair she had with the former king. As proof, Annais pulls back her tunic and turns to reveal a unique, star-shaped birthmark at the base of her spine, a hereditary mark passed down in her clan. 

When Estienne is forced to turn around and drag his jacket and collar down, he has an identical mark. With his illegitimacy exposed, Illian seizes Estienne’s crown, officially dethroning him for violating the Miridranian law that requires a monarch to be of full royal blood. Queen Sadira of Razam accuses Illian of engineering a power grab, but he deflects by promising to govern Estienne’s former territory jointly with Anton. Vasalie understands that this was a long-planned coup and realizes that Illian’s next target will be his remaining brother, Anton.

Vasalie meets Anton as instructed. He takes her by rowboat to a brothel in the nearby city of Philam, where his spies have tracked Illian. Peering through a spy hole in a wall, Vasalie is shocked to see Illian meeting with her father. She reveals her identity to Anton: Her birth name is Vastianna Stova, and the general is her abusive father, whom she fled years ago. They overhear General Stova and Illian finalizing a treasonous plot. Stova has groomed Princess Aesir to seize power by arranging King Rurik’s demise; Aesir will then marry Stova, making him a king. 

Meanwhile, Anton makes an involuntary noise that alerts the men in the next room. To avoid being discovered, Anton and Vasalie quickly strip their outer garments and stage a sexual encounter on the bed, with Anton kissing Vasalie. The ruse works; Illian and Stova investigate, but upon seeing the couple, they assume that the noise was innocuous and leave. During the boat ride back, Anton reveals that Illian pushed him off Mount Carapet at age 16 and that he survived by landing on a jut of rocks and then faked his death to evade Illian’s men. He formally asks Vasalie to inform him of Illian’s tasks to help gather concrete evidence of the plot, promising to “arm” her for the fight to come.