79. Open Wound

Rlain navigates suspicion and prejudice as he moves through the tower doing laundry work while secretly helping Lirin and Hesina hide in the infirmary. He encounters Dabbid, who reveals that Kaladin is unconscious and may be dying.

The chapter opens with a brief observation that Jezrien has been killed and the Oathpact broken. Rlain enters the laundry room where workers regard him with fear and suspicion, viewing him as a traitor despite his Bridge Four service. A lighteyed foreman taunts him about his people being in charge, which Rlain denies—he identifies as a listener from a different country. Women working in the laundry spread rumors that Rlain poisoned the Windrunners and watches to kill any who wake. When Rlain addresses them directly, mentioning he likes cards and bluffing, they misinterpret this as evidence of foul Void powers. He leaves the laundry and notices a nondescript cremling watching him; Venli has warned him that Voidspren use animals as hosts since their invisibility fails in the tower. In the atrium and infirmary, Rlain observes humans treating the unconscious Radiants as a pilgrimage, wearing the shash glyph despite recent violence by Lezian the Pursuer. He passes stormform Regals stationed as guards. Behind hanging sheets, Rlain finds Lirin and Hesina living in a makeshift quarters with a surgery station. Lirin fears they've been discovered, but Hesina argues they must assume safety for now. They discuss maps—one of the tower's sixth floor they hope to get to Kaladin, proving he survived his recent public confrontation with the Fused. Rlain discovers a detailed map of the Shattered Plains showing a symmetrical pattern and notation of a camp in the eastern region. He ponders whether he and Venli should attempt to rebuild the listener people, but the idea disturbs him. When Lirin suddenly motions Rlain to look, they spot Dabbid, a Bridge Four bridgeman with the Bridge Four tattoo, working in the infirmary. Rlain leads Dabbid away from the Regals, relieved to see him alive. Dabbid, previously mute, suddenly speaks and urgently tells Rlain that Kaladin is asleep and won't wake—and that he thinks Kaladin is dying.