24. Tyn

Shallan hosts dinner with Tyn, a lighteyed caravan guard who reveals she has discovered Shallan's true identity through a spanreed contact and deduces that Shallan is running an elaborate con. Tyn offers her expertise and connections at the Shattered Plains in exchange for partnership in Shallan's schemes. Meanwhile, earlier in the chapter, Shallan converses with deserter soldiers and questions Pattern about the nature of truth, learning that Voidbringers have their own spren, including one called Odium.

The chapter opens with Shallan's group of former deserter soldiers—Gaz, Red, and others—working on her wagon near the camp. Gaz and Red discuss why they abandoned the war: the lighteyed highprinces had ceased fighting for victory and instead pursued gemhearts for personal wealth, leaving common soldiers to die in servitude. Gaz reveals he owes significant debts (eighty ruby broams) to dangerous creditors. Vathah, the deserters' leader, dismisses them as worthless despite Shallan's promise to give them a second chance as heroes. Shallan deflects his cynicism with sharp wit and asserts that words create change. That evening, Shallan studies Jasnah's political notes on the Alethi highprinces, seeking potential allies for her mysterious goals. Pattern emerges and they discuss the nature of truth; Pattern argues that truth depends on perspective and perception, revealing that spren are fragments of power given thought by human perception. When pressed about Voidbringers, Pattern reluctantly reveals they possess their own spren, including one named Odium, which causes him evident distress. Later, Shallan is summoned to Tyn's tent for dinner. Tyn, a lighteyed woman who leads the remaining caravan guards, confronts Shallan directly: she has used a spanreed connection to Tashikk to investigate House Davar and discovered that Shallan is an obscure minor noble running an elaborate con. Rather than threaten exposure, Tyn expresses admiration for Shallan's deception and audacity, recognizes Shallan is uncertain about her next steps, and offers her expertise and connections at the Shattered Plains in exchange for partnership. When Shallan hints that her plans involve Dalinar Kholin and something he needs to know, Tyn suspects blackmail and presses for details. Shallan cautiously agrees to accept Tyn's partnership without yet revealing her full intentions.