Manon has been denied access to the Yellowlegs coven Duke Perrington has been experimenting on. When she storms into his tent to confront him, she witnesses Kaltain wielding shadowfire—a dark magic that “summoned only pain, as if it tricked the body into thinking it was being incinerated” (265)—to torture a soldier. Perrington reveals that Manon’s grandmother, the Blackbeak Matron, has been working alongside the Yellowlegs and Blueblood Matrons to forge a weapon for Perrington’s armies.

Elide notices someone waiting inside her room. Fearing that Vernon has finally decided to breed her with the Valg, she sleeps in the aerie, underneath the wing of Manon’s wyvern Abraxos.

When Manon catches Elide trying to sneak out of the aerie, Manon orders Elide to sneak into the chambers where the Yellowlegs coven is being kept and find out what’s being done to them. In return, Elide is allowed to sleep in Manon’s quarters for her protection. Elide finds her uncle sexually assaulting Kaltain in private. Elide rescues the woman, earning Vernon’s ire, and returns to Manon’s rooms to request poison.

Aedion begins training with Rowan, intent on learning the warrior’s fighting style. As Lysandra brings clothes for Rowan to the apartment, she mentions that the missing magic-wielders from the city have been spotted in prison wagons headed for Morath.