Helen is seized on her wedding night and dragged into interrogation after a captor accuses her of Northsand’s scheme that cost 80,000 Redwater lives at Fivepeak. He threatens execution and demands she confess; Helen stays silent and decides to play along to survive. Elsewhere armory staff examine heavy triply-interleaved chains and an 'unlockable' lock while a medic inspects Helen’s spear wound, faults the suturing, and notes the spear was held left-handed. Those concrete clues surface as the captor snaps, "this is far from over," leaving Helen still trapped.