Arvelle realizes that Bran knew about her history with Tiernon and is using her as the Primus’s weakness. She angrily tells Tiernon that Kassia died in the arena six years ago. Tiernon was unaware of this and is grief-stricken. He insists that Arvelle continue training with the imperius so that he can keep her alive until he can extract her from her current situation.

One week later, on the day of the first challenge, Arvelle and Leon watch two gladians, Leira and Titus, fighting in the arena. Arvelle reveals that the Primus is Tiernon. She makes Leon promise not to tell Tiernon about her deal with Bran. Leon agrees and tells her that she will fight Maximus, a bulky, muscular gladian with significant training. Just then, Titus kills Leira after she pleads for mercy. Leon tells Arvelle that he will find a way to kill Bran in order to free her, but he must first research vampire bonds to ensure that killing Bran will not also kill her.

In the waiting area, the healer, Axia, conducts a cursory exam before the match and notes Arvelle’s old ankle injury. Leon reveals that Tiberius Cotta has sponsored her, gifting her with a reinforced shield and sword. In the arena, Arvelle finds herself overwhelmed by memories of Kassia’s death. Maximus taunts her about Kassia, attempting to distract her. When Arvelle freezes, lost in a traumatic memory, Maeva shouts a warning from the stands. Maximus wounds Arvelle’s back, and as she stumbles, she lands awkwardly and re-injures her ankle.

Arvelle uses her injured ankle as bait, luring Maximus into a trap and wounding his thigh. She holds her blade to his throat and addresses the emperor, reminding him of Maximus’s loyalty in an attempt to convince him to show mercy. Rorrik whispers something to his father, and the emperor spares Maximus’s life. Leon is furious with Arvelle for being distracted, but Maximus expresses grudging respect for her cleverness and says that he will try again next season. Arvelle notes that Maeva’s match has begun, but she is too overwhelmed to watch.

In the healers’ quarters, Tiernon arrives just as Axia is treating the wound on Arvelle’s back. Axia determines that Arvelle’s ankle bone healed improperly years ago and must be rebroken. Arvelle refuses, as the lengthy healing would weaken her for the next challenge. Tiernon tells Arvelle that she has become a “lonely, cold woman” and needs to learn to trust again (118). She retorts that he destroyed her trust.

The next morning, Rorrik ambushes Arvelle in a corridor, choking her and threatening to destroy everything she loves. He accuses her of spying and demands to know whom she told about the wyvern. She protests that she has told no one, and after he leaves, Tiernon appears and angrily asks if she slept with other men after he left. Arvelle claims to have slept with many men. Tiernon retorts that each of her lovers would have mattered to her, making it even worse. He cancels her training and announces that the emperor has summoned all gladians to the arena.

The gladians sit as spectators in the covered arena. Arvelle asks Maeva about “sun madness,” a condition that she overheard someone mentioning. Maeva explains that it is an incurable mental-health condition that makes vampires crave the sun and ultimately chase its rays to their deaths. She says that the condition is often brought on by stress. Arvelle watches Emperor Vallius Corvus and speculates that Bran may be using her to prove his loyalty. The emperor gives a speech, and the games begin.

Chained, injured prisoners are brought into the arena, and two men are forced to fight to the death. One man kills and then mercifully decapitates the other. Arvelle watches in silent rage as more prisoners fight and die. The final prisoner, a skilled woman with defensive wounds, kills her opponent but is devastated by the necessity. The crowd cheers for her. Sensing their support, the emperor spares her life. As the gladians prepare to leave, Maeva points back to the arena in shock.

A centaur, one of the “maginari,” or magical creatures, is brought into the arena to be slaughtered. Maeva explains that centaurs from Zevaris often fight against the empire. Four enforcers use their powers to overpower the unarmed centaur, who is then beheaded at the emperor’s command. Maeva begins to cry, drawing the attention of an enforcer. To protect her, Arvelle coldly forces her to stop crying, hurting Maeva’s feelings.

Arvelle suddenly flashes back to her childhood. Tiernon gifts her gold buttons on a regular basis until she finally refuses his gold, saying that she wants to be his friend and that friends don’t pay each other to spend time together. Even so, Tiernon finds other ways to secretly provide for her family.

The narrative returns to the present. On the morning of the second challenge, gladians Tolva and Sisenna speculate about the event. Arvelle trains with the members of the imperius, but Tiernon is absent. Lucius, an imperium with a silver sigil, leads her training, and Arvelle briefly gets the better of him in sparring.

Later, Bran confronts Arvelle in a corridor and informs her that in the next challenge, the sigilmarked humans’ powers will not be suppressed as they were last time. He asks if Tiernon has been meeting with Rorrik. When Arvelle insults him, he angrily reminds her that her brothers’ lives are at stake.

Leon informs Arvelle that another gladian, Sochal, was found murdered; this is the second such death since Arvelle’s arrival. In the holding room beneath the arena, the gladians hear roars and screams. Hester taunts Arvelle, but Maeva defends her. Tolva sits withdrawn while Gradon, another gladian, murmurs to her. Hester and a vampire gladian named Turran are then called to fight. Maeva secretly tells Arvelle that she knows where the emperor’s captive maginari are being imprisoned; she asks for help freeing them, but Arvelle cruelly dismisses her. When Maeva is called to fight Cassius Ruso, Arvelle wishes her luck. Arvelle and Baldric are then called to fight together.

Before entering the arena, Leon gives Arvelle a harsh speech, reminding her to fight for her brothers’ sake and warning her that Elva will kill them if Arvelle dies. Arvelle wonders why he thinks she needs extra encouragement but then she is horrified to realize that she and Baldric must kill a griffon whose wings are chained. Baldric toys with it and wounds it, eagerly entertaining the crowd, but Arvelle cannot bring herself to harm the creature. An enforcer whips her repeatedly to force her to fight.

The griffon speaks to Arvelle telepathically, introducing himself as Antigrus and asking her to give him a merciful death. An anguished Arvelle agrees, pushes past Baldric, and kills Antigrus with a single stab to the heart, ending the bloodthirsty gladians’ cruel showmanship. Before dying, Antigrus looks at her sigil and tells her to use it well. Enraged, Baldric attacks Arvelle and shatters her ankle. An enforcer restrains Baldric. The emperor prepares to give a thumbs down, but when Rorrik whispers to him, the emperor spares Arvelle’s life.

Arvelle passes out and wakes to find herself in Tiernon’s arms as he carries her to the healers’ quarters, where Axia waits. Tiernon wants to use his vampiric powers to put Arvelle to sleep, but Axia says that his power would interfere with her own. Arvelle endures the procedure, and Rorrik briefly appears in the doorway, observing them. After Axia sets the bone, Arvelle drinks Tiernon’s blood, which heals her ankle instantly and painlessly. She recalls past moments of drinking his blood and reflects that she always fully accepted his vampire nature.

It is late when Arvelle is cleared to leave. Tiernon tells her that he knew how hard it was to kill the griffon. Arvelle confesses that Antigrus spoke mind-to-mind with her. Tiernon kisses her, and they share a moment of comfort and grief before Arvelle pulls away, remembering his abandonment. Back in her barracks, she looks in a mirror and sees that for the first time, her sigil has grown.

The morning after the second challenge, Tolva informs Arvelle that a guardant named Kassandra has been found murdered. At training, Lucius tells Arvelle that Tiernon is away, dealing with vampire rebels. A female imperium named Orna taunts Arvelle and challenges her to spar. Another imperium, Deitra, smirks in support. Arvelle accepts. Orna, who is a vampire, brutally attacks her and loses control, baring her fangs. Arvelle stabs her with a silver throwing knife, and Lucius intervenes and stops the fight.

Rorrik corners Arvelle in a corridor, and she hatefully thinks, “Die, die, die” (159). Rorrik reveals that he can hear her thoughts because she was shouting them at him. He explains that her ability is called “mindpathing”; Arvelle realizes that Antigrus gave her this power. Tiernon returns and confronts Rorrik, who leaves. Tiernon takes Arvelle to his private quarters to talk.

Arvelle tells Tiernon that she can mindpath and believes that the power came from Antigrus. Tiernon asks her to tell him what happened six years ago, so Arvelle recounts the full story.

She relates that on the day she and Kassia were due to fight in the Sands, she took her brothers home to keep them away from the dangerous mine they wanted to see, entrusting them to her intoxicated mother despite her misgivings. She then returned to the Sands to find Ti gone. In the arena, Kassia was matched against Galia Volker (who was angry that her ex-lover Fynton had dated Kassia). Galia killed Kassia and suffered a mortal wound in the process. Arvelle became the champion of the Sands. After the event, Arvelle learned that her brothers had slipped out and gone to the mine, where Evren was injured in a mine explosion that damaged his lungs. Later, Arvelle’s uncle stole her winnings, and her guilt-ridden mother died by suicide.

In the present, Tiernon sees the vampire bond mark on Arvelle’s neck, and although she is magically prevented from naming Bran, she reveals that her brothers are being held hostage in Nesonias. Tiernon vows to get her and her brothers out that night. He warns her that Rorrik is now a threat because of her mindpathing ability. As they leave through a secret passage, Tiernon mentions that Tiberius Cotta is trying to restore voting rights to “mundanes” (nonmagical humans). He bribes a guard to let them pass through the city wall, but as Arvelle steps outside, the vampire bond causes her to collapse in agony.

Tiernon pulls Arvelle back inside the city walls, and the pain stops. He carries the semiconscious Arvelle back to the ludus. She dreams of the first time she and Tiernon confessed their feelings for one another; he had promised never to lose her. She wakes in the imperius common room with Tiernon and Neris. Tiernon explains that the bond prevents her from leaving the city, and Arvelle realizes that she must win her final challenge to be freed. Tiernon declares that she will continue to train with the imperius until then. Nyrant returns to the common room with blood on his armor, exchanges a silent nod with Tiernon, and leaves.

Arvelle finds a note from Bran stating that she should be prepared to swim for the next challenge. When she speaks to her brothers via the mirror, Evren tells her that Elva has been taunting him about his lack of magic and calling him a “voidborn,” someone whose sigil will never awaken. Arvelle reassures him, showing him that her own sigil has grown and explaining that power does not define one’s worth. Evren reveals that Elva has taken Gerith away for personal training. Arvelle realizes that Elva intends to keep Gerith as her personal tool. She says goodbye, determined to win the challenge for her brothers’ sake.