Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of sexual content.

The morning of the wedding is sunny and warm, but Talasyn feels nauseous as Jie helps dress her for the ceremony. Jie tries to calm her, but Talasyn still feels that the marriage is a mistake, a trap, a binding she can never escape. She wants to see Alaric, but Jie tells her that it’s bad luck to see him before the ceremony. Elagbi arrives and tears up at the sight of Talasyn in her wedding gown; she looks like her mother Hanan, and Elagbi wishes Hanan were here to see her, even though the wedding is not to a man Talasyn loves.

Alaric thinks there are too many aethergraphs at the wedding. He distrusts the media because his father believes they often slander the Night Empire, but Alaric wonders if photos of the wedding will reach his mother, if she’s still alive. The Starlight Tower is decorated ornately, and Alaric readies himself for Talasyn’s arrival. As she walks down the aisle, all he can think of is her, as he finds her so beautiful in her elaborately adorned gown that he nearly ceases to breathe.