All around Shaldani, the ghosts of those killed by the Ebene have begun to appear.  The heavy concentration of them concerns Adriana, so she is quite pleased when Warren pays a call on her.  Although Warren is a bit disgruntled that now everyone can see him, he readily explains to Adriana that there are more ghosts around because the Ebene barrier prevented the ghost collector, called Sphota in the Risan religion, from escorting the ghosts to the Lake of the Dead where they're meant to dwell.  He recommends that she find a ritual to summon Sphota before things start to get out of hand.

 

Philip travels to Risa to collect information.  Meanwhile, Tristan and Insa travel through Shaldani until they find an abandoned cottage a mile from the House.  Insa deems it suitable.  She spends some time alone there and is surprised when the ghost of T'kar pays her a visit.  Their conversation quickly turns sour when T'kar scolds Insa for repeatedly pushing Tristan away.  They argue the point until Insa finally admits, tearfully, that she wishes Tristan were Risan again.  As she weighs the gravity of such a cruel proclamation, T'kar points out all of the mistakes she's made since Nessa's birth, leaving Insa in tears.

 

Back in the Phoenix House, Tristan is visited by the ghost of Mia.  She is sweet to him, unable to understand why he doesn't want to see her.  They get into a conversation, during which Tristan reveals all of his grievance against Insa.  Mia advises Tristan to forget about her and begins to highlight all of her negative qualities.  This infuriates Tristan, who finds himself yelling at Mia, telling her to shut up.  In the course of his anger, he realizes how deeply he loves Insa and he leaves the House to go find her.  He discovers her in tears, in the middle of her new cottage and holds her.  Insa tells him that she wants to fix all the mistakes she's made, but doesn't know how.  Tristan asks her to marry him again.  She says yes.

 

Philip returns from Risa with instructions for a ritual to summon Sphota.  In order to call him forth, they require the blood of those who have died and returned.  Fortunately, Adriana, Tranns, and Ariadne are all willing volunteers.  Under Aden's direction--with help from the others--a ritual is performed.  Sphota appears and, in his own wacky way, offers to help with the ghost problem.  He vanishes and quite soon, the ghost population of Shaldani goes down.  Warren remains however, explaining that members of his race are exempt from most ghostly laws.