Chapter 51

Raeve tours Dhomm with Pyrok, appreciating the city's peaceful prosperity before visiting The Curly Quill, a shop run by the Mindweft Vruhn. Vruhn uses his mental abilities to discern Raeve's intentions and needs, then makes unsettling observations about hidden depths in her mind and something she is missing, forcing Raeve to abruptly end the conversation.

Raeve and Pyrok walk through Dhomm's bustling marketplace, where Raeve observes the city's contentment and well-being. She notes the absence of starving or enslaved people, though she resists becoming too attached to the place, mindful of the heat and her past trauma. When Pyrok pauses to purchase Molten Mead using gold tokens, he mentions that The Burn does not support mining fossilized dragon blood, as it promotes spilling it. After Pyrok directs her to The Curly Quill, a shop owned by a Mindweft named Vruhn, Raeve enters to sell a stolen candlestick from the Imperial Stronghold. Vruhn immediately reads her mind, identifying herself as a Mindweft and revealing that he knows her intentions: she wants dragonscale and iron blades, a bandolier, garments, and supplies to hunt the bounty hunter Rekk Zharos in The Fade. He expresses sorrow for Essi's death and Nee's sacrifice, and offers her a metal tool to remove her iron shackle. As Raeve prepares to leave, Vruhn becomes emotionally disturbed, sensing that she is missing something important—something special hidden within her. He begins to probe deeper, suggesting the answer lies in the place where she hides everything. Raeve sharply orders him to stop. Vruhn provides her purchases—a leather-bound diary, ink, coal sticks, and coins—and warns that rain is coming. He also notes that she listens to Clode rather than acknowledging Rayne, her own power, which she suppresses by hiding her sadness in an icy lake within her mind. Unsettled by his intrusions, Raeve leaves the shop disturbed.