50. Uncut Gems

Adolin encounters Sadeas in a highstorm bunker and learns that the highprince has renounced his title of Highprince of Information, undermining the king's authority. Later, Adolin discovers mysterious scratched glyphs in his father's quarters reading "Thirty-two days" and "Seek the center," which Dalinar admits he wrote while in one of his visions.

During a highstorm, Adolin waits in a bunker beneath the Outer Market, anticipating his upcoming duel with Elit in two days and a meeting with a Parshendi Shardbearer tomorrow. Elit warns that his cousin plans to kill them both, but Elit remains eager for the confrontation. Sadeas unexpectedly joins Adolin, displaying uncut emerald gemstones recently acquired from a plateau run he wasn't authorized to join. The encounter grows tense as Sadeas reveals he has renounced his title as Highprince of Information, claiming the other highprinces have agreed none of them suit such appointments. This represents a rejection of the king's authority that deeply troubles Adolin. Despite his rage, Adolin restrains himself from summoning his Blade, recognizing that killing Sadeas would undermine the legal codes his father is establishing. Sadeas departs with cryptic predictions about future civil war and eventual alliance. After the storm passes, Adolin walks through the market with his bridgeman guards, reflecting on his relationship with Shallan before reaching his father's complex. There, he discovers bridgemen gathered around mysterious scratched glyphs on the floor reading "Thirty-two days" and "Seek the center." Adolin's aunt Navani arrives, and Dalinar admits he carved the glyphs himself with his own knife while consumed by one of his visions, unable to recall doing so. When questioned about the significance, Navani suggests the date falls in the middle of the Weeping and cannot determine its meaning. Dalinar also reveals he deliberately permitted a parshman to be armed among the bridgemen out of curiosity. The glyphs are ordered filled with crem and covered with a rug to prevent panic.