As a symbollic gesture of trust to Lucien, Insa reveals her true purposes in Shaldani. She allowed herself to be
captured and sold as a slave in the hopes of arriving in the beseiged country to locate nineteen missing hoplites from Risa.
She also reveals that the leader of the party that went missing years ago was her lover T'kar, formerly called Donalbain,
who changed his identity after escaping their mutual mortal enemies, the Grania clan of inland Risa.
Meanwhile, Philip agonizes over what school to send Damon away to, eventually settling on Adriana's alma mater, Shiz,
a school renoun for its teaching of magic. Damon and Ariadne grow closer, but she observes him both lying and stealing
when she takes him for an evaluation with Valero. She expresses concern to Philip who finds it ironic that she is accusing
him of the very same crimes she often commits herself. When Casey's royal crest necklace turns up missing, Ariadne immediately
suspects Damon.
Insa decides to run off to an Ebene stronghold in the hopes of finding her friends. She is unable to gain access
to the dungeons and returns to find a very disgruntled Tristan who urges her not to do something so dangerous again.
When she asks why he is so protective of her, he admits that although he loves Mia, he desires Insa in a purely sexual way.
When he opens up and looks inside of her mind, he realizes that although she loves T'kar, she too desires Tristan and is harboring
a very old jealousy against T'kar who married another woman. The two of them find solace in each other.
Ariadne interrupts Philip and Valero as they are discussing Damon's mental health to reveal that he did not meet her
at an appointed time. Concerned, they search the House, only to discover that he has left. With Ariadne following
the scent, the three of them travel through Shaldani. Along the side fo the road, they find a dead body, savagely slaughtered
by Milady. Valero recognizes the body as that of Princess Jacqui, third in line for the Shaldanite throne and Casey's
cousin.
Picking up Damon's scent again, they discover the boy sitting in the ruins of what was Jacqui's shelter, munching on
some candy which he reveals a "nice lady" gave to him. Ariadne identifies Milady's smell. When asked why he was
given the candy, Damon explains that Milady asked him to help her find a friend and gave him Casey's necklace. With
that small token alone, Damon was able to track down Jacqui, apparently leading to her demise at Milady's hands.
Philip and Ariadne realize that Damon must have some kind of innate locating magic that he can activate through symbols,
as demonstrated when he easily locates Tranns after being shown a Triforce. They agree that there is a danger of Milady
exploiting this power again in the future and that Damon must be sent away to safety. He is sent off to Shiz, right
before Insa can ask him to help her locate T'kar and her friends.
