Late after a day of punishing Class Three training, Vis heads for his quarters planning to scout the senators’ meetings. He meets Indol, who mentions Emissa’s plan for a private evening swim at the lagoon. Realizing the ebbing tide means a lethal riptide, Vis sprints to Aznaro’s Bluff and dives from the fifty-foot drop, reaching Emissa as she flails. He calms her, avoids fighting the current, and angles along the shore.

After a grueling hour in the dark swells, Vis steers them to a narrow sea cave and hauls Emissa to safety as the tide recedes. In the quiet, Emissa breaks down, then falls asleep against him. By morning, Vis crafts a cover story for his local knowledge, claiming he’d heard warnings about the rip. Emissa notices the scars on his back, learns they came from the orphanage, and responds with sadness rather than pity.

As they talk, Emissa reveals that Indol hates his father and intends to shift from Military to Religion after graduation, a secret Vis must keep. Their mutual attraction surfaces and they kiss. With the low tide, they wade around the cliffs to Solencio Beach, where locals feed and clothe them and a fisherman ferries them back to the harbor. At the palace, Vis explains the near-drowning in broad strokes, feigns hoarseness and fatigue, and prudently skips scouting the tunnels.

That night, Ulciscor and Lanistia visit. Ulciscor chides Vis about Emissa and then presses for an account of the ruins after the Festival: the red dome, the dangers there, and Artemius and Elia’s eyes like Lanistia’s. Vis reports everything; Ulciscor listens intently, absorbing the implications.

Ulciscor then insists Vis must run the Labyrinth at the Iudicium if he cannot produce proof of Caeror’s fate beforehand, threatening to use his paternal rights to consign Vis to the Sappers if he refuses. Lanistia argues Vis has already delivered actionable information but ultimately encourages him to train hard and survive. Ulciscor’s obsession is laid bare, and Vis is left shaken by the ultimatum and the perilous path now set before him.