Synopsis

The chapter opens with a character lamenting the loss of the Deputy Consul and then shifts to a community grappling with a sick child, Aheul, and blaming her condition on the influence of an "Imperial spy". A young man, Vikir, proposes a dangerous plan to secretly seek a cure, and a mysterious character reveals that he knew about a power within Vikir from the beginning and appears to be coercing him to follow his wishes.