Violet heads to the Archives with Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Sawyer, who is on crutches. Sawyer mentions that he is working on a contraption to attach to his leg, allowing him to walk without them. While discussing Andarna’s breed, they conclude that irids is likely short for iridescent.

At the Archives, Jesinia greets them and reveals that she was kicked out of the scribe’s adept program. The program administrators deliberately created tests designed to ensure her failure as punishment for deserting the quadrant. Jesinia is finding it difficult to locate relevant information on irids for Violet. They may need Dain’s help to retrieve Violet’s father’s research.

Three days later, in Battle Brief class, it is confirmed that Sages and Mavens—older, more powerful venin—possess signets. To prepare for this new threat, the Eastern Wing has sent their strongest rider, Xaden, to train them. Violet is initially excited, but according to Basgiath’s Code of Conduct, relationships between students and professors are strictly forbidden. Now that Xaden is a professor, their relationship is in violation of the rules.

Violet asks for Dain’s help in retrieving her father’s research from her mother’s former rooms, which are now occupied by General Aetos since becoming Basgiath’s commanding general. Before Dain can respond, Xaden interrupts. Violet informs him about the Basgiath Code of Conduct rule, but he intends to ask Colonel Panchek for an exemption. However, General Aetos arrives and immediately shuts it down. Afterward, Dain offers to walk Violet to class. He agrees to help her steal her father’s research.

The following Monday, Violet meets with Captain Grady and the squad he has selected for her mission. The team consists of Captain Anna Winshire (infantry liaison), Aura Beinhaven (rider cadet and fire wielder), Lieutenants Pugh (farsight) and Foley (agrarian), and Captain Hensen (air wielder). Xaden arrives late and is unimpressed by the squad. When Captain Grady mentions that they still need a shield wielder, Xaden suggests Mira Sorrengail.

They discuss potential search locations for the irids. Most of the squad wants to explore the northern coastline near the Emerald Sea, as it remains largely uncharted. However, Violet believes they should head south, specifically to Deverelli. The squad strongly opposes this idea, arguing that Deverelli despises dragons and would attack. Despite their objections, Violet suspects she is onto something. Telepathically, she shares her reasoning with Xaden. Jesinia recently discovered that records of the second Krovlan uprising were removed from General Cadao’s journal, and an officer hinted that an isle kingdom may have been involved, despite having severed contact with the Continent centuries earlier. Captain Grady proceeds with the original plan to go northward.

Four days later, Violet and her squad arrive at an outdoor arena for their first training session with Xaden. One of the students, Loran, questions Xaden’s ability to teach, noting that he only recently graduated. In response, Xaden challenges him to try and take him down. Loran accepts but is easily defeated. Xaden spars with the rest of the group, winning each match. He saves Violet for last.

Violet and Xaden spar. Xaden immediately uses his shadows to plunge her into darkness. As they fight, he teaches her how to sense the differences within his shadows, helping her pinpoint his location—something he has never taught anyone before. She tracks him and releases a lightning strike where he stood moments earlier, proving that she has learned to locate him within the shadows. Afterward, Violet asks why she is the only one who needs to know how to do this. Xaden responds that it is because she is the only one who can kill him when the time comes.

Later, Violet goes to the local tavern to drink with her friends. Their conversation shifts to Lynx and Aaric, two riders who have not yet received their signets. Dain arrives, wanting to speak with Violet privately. He tells her that he cannot sneak anyone into his father’s rooms without getting caught. Violet decides to trust Dain not to betray her and gives him the location.

Sloane visits Violet, claiming she has Archives duty, and delivers books from Jesinia. One book supposedly passed down from leadership. Violet immediately knows that this book is from Dain—it is her father’s research. When she examines the book, she realizes it is locked with a six-letter code. If she enters the wrong answer, the book will be destroyed. Her father left a hint: “First love is irreplaceable” (213).

At their next training session, Xaden brings Garrick so the squad can practice fighting against a wind wielder. Violet and the others decide to fight as a squad. When Garrick retaliates with ice, nearly hitting Violet, Xaden momentarily loses control over his anger. Violet quickly regains focus and uses her lightning to melt Garrick’s dagger. Their training is interrupted by the arrival of Prince Halden, Aaric’s brother. Violet’s reaction suggests their complicated history—she once dated him but ended things after catching him sleeping with another woman.

Halden delivers a letter from Viscount Tecarus, informing Violet that the books she requested were sent. Additionally, a meeting has been arranged between her and King Courtlyn of Deverelli. However, the king has a condition she must meet before securing the meeting—he wants the Amelian Citrine, a gem that amplifies lesser magic, which Violet must retrieve and deliver. Halden offers an incentive: If she agrees to retrieve the gem, he will order Captain Grady to adjust their mission route to align with her preferred search location. Halden asks if she is with Xaden. Violet insists that they are following the Code of Conduct but also makes it clear that she loves Xaden. Halden expresses interest in her, but when he reaches out to touch her hair, Xaden’s shadows lash out, throwing Halden across the room.

Violet rushes to Halden’s side, along with his guard, Captain Anna Winshire. Anna’s concern for him suggests their relationship may be more than professional. Xaden pretends the attack was an accident but pointedly tells Halden that Violet hasn’t thought about him once since she met Xaden.

Later, Violet uncovers the answer to the lock on her father’s research—it is Aimsir, the name of her mother’s dragon. When she unlocks the book, she finds a note from her father. His research focuses on the second Krovlan uprising, which was written with the intent that Violet would truly understand it. In a letter, he advises Violet to travel to Cordyn and book passage to Deverelli. Once there, she must find a merchant named Narelle Anselm. He instructs her to give Narelle the rarest thing she owns in exchange for something she will need. He warns that the only person she can fully trust is Mira.

Later, Xaden visits Violet and asks if she ever loved Halden. She realizes he is jealous. She tells him that she dated Halden for seven months when she was 18 and thought it was love—but it was nothing compared to what she feels for Xaden. Xaden kisses her but immediately pulls away the moment he starts to feel like he is losing control. Violet tells him about her father’s letter. Despite the risks, Xaden agrees to go, even though retrieving the Amelian Citrine means entering enemy territory.

Four days later, Violet and Grady’s team arrive in Anca, the town where the Amelian Citrine is supposed to be. They find it desiccated and empty. Mira locates the gem, but as they search, Aura panics when a door opens unexpectedly. Believing it to be a venin, she instinctively unleashes her fire wielding but sets Captain Grady on fire, killing him. The fire ignites the surrounding houses, triggering a deadly chain reaction. As the fire spreads, the squad rushes to the town center to be picked up by their dragons, but an incoming wyvern kills Aura. The rest of the group manages to escape.

Mira reveals the gem, which appears partially drained. Alongside it, she finds a note addressed to Violet from Theophanie. The message is a warning, reminding Violet that Theophanie can reach her at any time and questioning why she continues searching elsewhere when Theophanie could give her the answers she seeks. The squad is unsettled by the realization that Theophanie knew they would be there.

Violet reads her father’s book three times and begins to form an idea of what he discovered, but she keeps her conclusions to herself. Ridoc asks to be added to the search team, arguing that things tend to go wrong when Violet goes off on missions without anyone from their squad. He has worked to refine his signet and discovered that he can freeze the water inside of fruit—an ability he believes could extend to freezing the water inside a person’s body.

Violet meets with the Senarium and immediately rejects all of their proposed plans for her mission, including the appointment of Captain Henson as the new leader of her team. Instead, she declares that she will take the artifact to Deverelli with a team of her choosing: Mira, Dain, Ridoc, Xaden, Cat, Cat’s cousin Drake, Prince Halden, and Halden’s guard, Anna.

Violet and her team fly straight to Cordyn, but the gryphons struggle to keep up while carrying Halden and his guard. Upon arrival, Viscount Tecarus greets them, informing them that they will need to share rooms. After Halden confirms that Xaden is present as a Duke rather than a teacher, Xaden lifts an exhausted Violet and carries her to his room.

Before they settle in, Viscount Tecarus speaks with them. He insists that Halden cannot arrive at the isles in a basket carried by a gryphon, as it would create a poor impression. Instead, Viscount Tecarus will take Halden by his fastest boat while the rest of the group flies. He also cautions them against making deals with King Courtlyn and advises them to keep Violet’s abilities a secret.

The next day, they set out for the isles. As they travel farther from the mainland, their magic begins to fade. They lose access to their powers, and the dragons can no longer communicate with each other. Violet also loses her mental connection with Xaden.

Violet and her team land at Tecarus’s manor house on the isle of Deverelli. She soon realizes that she is the only one who can still communicate with her dragons; even the gryphon riders have lost their connections. Mira brought runes to test whether they function on the isles, hoping to determine if magic can still be accessed in any way. Meanwhile, Xaden appears more relaxed than he has been in a while. With no magic present to tempt him to channel, he seems happier than ever.

The chapter’s epigraph includes a passage from Violet’s father’s book on the second Krovlan uprising. It reveals that the Krovlan rebels failed to uphold their side of a deal with Deverelli and were subsequently murdered in their beds.

Violet’s squad rides horses to the market so she can find the merchant her father instructed her to seek out. Meanwhile, Halden goes alone to meet with King Courtlyn, as the king supposedly only allows aristocrats into his home. As they enter the market, the locals seem to fear and hate them, calling them “fire-bringers.” Xaden learns that the woman they are looking for owns a rare bookshop. Upon entering the shop and asking for Narelle, they are attacked by two people. However, the squad easily overpowers them. Narelle appears—an older woman who reveals that the attackers are her grandchildren. She immediately recognizes Violet and assumes that she has come to retrieve the books her father left for her.