30. Nature Blushing

Shallan's caravan makes a detour to a hidden grove with rare, colorful plants, where she spends the afternoon sketching and receives more requests for portrait drawings from the caravan men. Tyn warns her that difficult trials await at the Shattered Plains and offers final advice, then presses Shallan for details about her plan, to which Shallan reveals her scheme to pose as Adolin Kholin's betrothed—though she knows this will require deception of both Tyn and the Kholin family.

The caravan approaches the Shattered Plains, a day away from their destination. Shallan notices vibrant plants growing in a sheltered lait and convinces Macob to detour toward them. At the small grove with its bone-white trees, red leaves, and pond, Shallan settles to sketch, finding joy in the variety of colors and life after weeks of dull landscape. Gaz approaches and asks her to sketch his portrait; she obliges, drawing him as others saw him—noble and heroic—and Pattern confirms this is both a lie and a truth. As Shallan continues drawing throughout the afternoon, she becomes troubled by unsettling sketches that emerge unbidden: one of sailors including Yalb (whom she fears dead) emerging from water, and another of a woman wielding a hammer over a stone body. Tyn arrives at sunset and warns Shallan that the work ahead will require doing difficult, soul-wrenching things, suggesting this is her last chance to back out before reaching the Shattered Plains. When pressed, Shallan reveals her plan: she intends to pose as Adolin Kholin's betrothed from Jah Keved. Tyn, impressed by the boldness of the scheme, advises against accepting Kholin's hospitality and instead recommends Shallan present herself as mysterious and self-sufficient from an inn in a different warcamp to maintain Adolin's interest. Shallan agrees outwardly while inwardly resolving to find a way to manage both Tyn's expectations and her actual intentions regarding the Kholin family.