The court calls it a rest day. Seventeen calls it an ambush disguised as leisure. With the arena silent and the remaining champions scattered, she begins to dig into the truth behind the disappearances. But curiosity in Elarion is a weapon with no handle. The harder she grips it, the more it cuts. Her questions draw the attention of Lady Dravenn, a powerful patron, and before the confrontation turns deadly, the Thornkeeper steps in, saving her, and raising new questions she's not ready to answer. Freedom, it seems, was never free. And the most dangerous blade in Elarion might not be the one drawn, but the one left idle.