I-11. Her Reward

Venli endures her sequestration at a hermitage outside Kholinar, giving daily presentations to singers while forbidden entry to the city itself. During the Everstorm, she receives a terrifying vision from Odium himself, who threatens her with destruction if she does not tell the story of the singers' return more convincingly, leaving her traumatized and doubting her ability to resist his control.

Venli remains confined to a hermitage outside Kholimar where she presents daily to groups of singers brought from the city. She is not permitted inside the walls herself, though the structure was eventually fitted with a window at her request. Her spren Timbre, whom she keeps hidden, occasionally emerges despite the danger of discovery, as descriptions of such spren have been circulated throughout the city. Venli reflects on her position with growing ambition, wondering if she might eventually rise to join the Fused as a new leader under Odium, and questioning why she feels so little anger about the deaths of Eshonai, Demid, and others. She wrestles with guilt over her role in causing these events and her people's apparent destruction, recognizing that her current form influences her thinking toward darker impulses. When the Everstorm arrives—the second since her arrival—Venli deliberately leaves the window open despite knowing Odium dislikes it. During the storm, she enters a vision where she stands on a platform above Roshar confronted by Odium himself as a consuming flame. The god demands she tell the story of the singers' return more compellingly, threatening destruction if she fails. The vision leaves her experiencing excruciating pain as her body burns away, her tongue and eyes consumed by fire. She wakes on the hermitage floor with bleeding fingers, having clawed at the stone, traumatized by the experience. Timbre's presence helps bring her some measure of calm, but she remains overwhelmed by Odium's dominance and her own helplessness, recognizing that her scheming to return the gods has resulted in this torment as her reward.