Chapter 114

Lift, disguised as Queen Navani, becomes restless with confinement and sneaks away to rescue her captured chicken from a hidden chamber in the tower. She discovers Zahel, the sword ardent, imprisoned there and defeats three attackers in an impressive display of raw Radiant power, earning Zahel's recognition as a talented student in need of training.

Lift has been confined to Navani's office while impersonating the queen with an illusion created by Wit, kept occupied with food and games while the tower leadership manages the crisis of Navani's disappearance into the past. Frustrated by her isolation and guilt over Gav's fate, Lift learns from the Sibling that her chicken—left behind by the scarred man who kidnapped her—may still be alive somewhere in the tower. She convinces the Sibling to break her illusion and enlists Wyndle's help to find the chicken's location in a hidden aluminum-lined chamber. Using Wyndle as both crowbar and sword, she cuts through the ceiling from below. She discovers not only her chicken but also Zahel, the sword ardent from the training grounds, hanging naked and chained from the ceiling, apparently tortured. When three attackers—associates of the man who sold Lift into slavery—arrive to retrieve the prisoner, Lift fights them with desperate intensity, discovering she can manipulate the ground's traction and speed with her Radiant powers. She accidentally defeats all three, including a Feruchemist woman, through raw instinctive talent despite her awkwardness. Zahel, amazed by her performance, tells her she needs a teacher. Lift, realizing she cannot remain childish and must grow to become useful, approaches Zahel that night in the medical rooms to ask how they can begin her training.