Leaving Allocation, Master Yute shades himself with a parasol and leads Livira across the plaza and up the cliff steps. Along the climb, Yute probes her past; Livira clarifies that sabbers took her from Lakehome but the Dust killed her parents. Yute defines the library as a place where books are kept and made available, hinting at the vastness of the one above.

They reach a precarious tower house on the mountain road where Salamonda, exasperated yet kind, drags Livira inside. Passing rooms crowded with books and curiosities, Salamonda delivers Livira to a top chamber with narrow turret views. Livira senses recent abandonment, climbs a pole to a slit, and spies faded red writing on the cliff and carved letters in the wood. She selects plain smocks and unfamiliar leather shoes.

Downstairs, Livira encounters Wentworth, a large, unfriendly Cornelian Mountain Cat. Asking about the cliff writing, she learns it is a name; Yute muses on human need to be seen, which Livira compares to a vast hidden Dust picture revealed only by rare winds. Yute accepts uncertainty, revealing a thoughtful humility that surprises Livira.

Salamonda feeds Livira rich stew and gives her a warm bath, stripping away dust and exhaustion. Outfitted and steadier, Livira departs with Yute. He reveals the tower is his house and that Salamonda is his housekeeper, though he seems oddly out of place in his own home. Their uneasy trust deepens as they continue toward the library.