Seraphina is accused by her three mates of harming another woman, Lilith. They demand an apology, threatening to withdraw their support for her claim to the Dragon Clan throne. She refuses, insisting on her innocence. For the first time in fifteen years, they physically strike her. Deciding to prove her innocence, she declares she will take the matter to the Council of Elders and request a Memory-Trace spell. Her mates, dismissing her, instead rush to comfort Lilith, leaving Seraphina alone and betrayed, resolved to reclaim everything that is hers.