I-6. Zahel

Kaladin arrives at Zahel's quarters in the middle of the night, bloodied and injured from an assassination attempt on the king, requesting to learn how to fight a Shardblade. Zahel initially refuses but then offers a cryptic explanation about his two personas—a sympathetic teacher by day and a contemptuous curmudgeon by night—before agreeing to train him.

Zahel wakes sensing someone approaching his room during a highstorm and finds Kaladin at his door, visibly wounded with torn and bloodied clothing and a missing sleeve. Kaladin reports that an attempt was made on the king's life two hours prior and asks if Zahel's earlier offer to teach him to fight a Shardblade remains valid. Zahel initially refuses and shuts the door, but Kaladin pushes it back open. Zahel then explains to the boy that two different men inhabit his room: a sympathetic swordsman who emerges during the day and takes interest in youths in over their heads, and a deeply disagreeable swordsman who emerges at night and despises everyone. He advises Kaladin to seek training from the first man, not the second, and tells him not to come with a bad attitude. Zahel adds that he dislikes beating younger people as it makes him feel like a bully. Kaladin accepts this and leaves to return later. As Zahel settles back into his cot, he reflects that he expected a voice to speak in his mind as he drifted off—a voice that has been absent for years.