Kim finds Aaron's food is poisoned and goes hunting. Melna tries her hand at spying on the Chins and fails miserably. She is almost raped and killed, saved only by Samual Aybarra, a character from book one. Melna exacts revenge on Bill Clack, breaking his nose, and then learns everything she had been seeking by simply asking Aybarra. Things do not go well when she tells the tale to Aaron and Kim. They both figure out she was, at first, a willing participant.