The sheath functions as a symbol of containment, control, and the terms under which freedom is granted or withheld. The inscription on the blade promises that Sarkis will be “faithful in death, until steel crumbles” (345), framing the scabbard as both cage and covenant, its significance determined entirely by the character of the one who holds it. Sheathing the blade imprisons Sarkis, while drawing it summons him. Thus, every act of sheathing or unsheathing constitutes an exercise of authority over his body and consciousness, a fact that the characters can never ignore. When Zale’s repeated experiments of sheathing and unsheathing the blade leave Sarkis dizzy, he pleads for them to stop, and the scene makes it clear that he is at the mercy of those who hold or manipulate the objects to which he is bound. The scabbard’s symbolic weight deepens when Halla slams the sword home in anger after learning of Sarkis’s betrayal. Her words, “[Y]ou’re free,” are ironically delivered through the very mechanism that denies freedom, and because Sarkis cannot draw himself, her act of releasing the sword to his custody becomes meaningless. Only when Halla reclaims the sword from Nolan, choosing to wield it with full knowledge of its history, does the scabbard come to represent her and Sarkis’s mutual commitment.