Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence.

Alizeh rounds up Hazan, Huda, and Kamran but does not disclose the purpose of their meeting. As the four head to the library, attendants gather in the palace’s corridors to stare at Alizeh. Loathe to invite gossip, Alizeh hurries everyone along.

Inside the library, Cyrus cuts a striking figure with his austere black robes and bright hair. As always, Alizeh finds his proximity dizzying but controls herself. Cyrus asks Alizeh if she has told the group the purpose of their meeting. Alizeh tells him she did not want the snodas to overhear. Cyrus informs the Ardunians that he is performing the blood oath tonight. Hazan erupts in anger, accusing Cyrus of forcing the oath on Alizeh when she has barely recovered. Though the oath is said to be infinitely more dangerous for the debtor, Cyrus, than the creditor, Alizeh, she may be harmed in the process.

Alizeh tells Hazan she has consented to the oath freely. Hazan beseeches her not to go through with it; the oath’s consequences are enormous. It will physically bind Cyrus to Alizeh so he cannot be apart from her until his death.