Celaena Sardothien struggles in the heat of the Red Desert in summer. A nomad guide has brought her two miles away from the fortress of the sessiz suikast, or the Silent Assassins. He refuses to take her further because of his fear of the assassins. Celaena struggles through the heat, angry at Arobynn for punishing her this way for freeing the enslaved people in Skull’s Bay. She finally reaches the fortress, nestled in an oasis, after hours of walking through the sand dunes. She pushes away her intense thirst when she arrives and is escorted by a silent middle-aged male assassin to the Mute Master, the head of the Silent Assassins. She delivers a speech that Arobynn required her to give to the Mute Master asking him to train her. He approaches and looks at the bruises on her face disapprovingly, then sets four of the assassins on her.

Celaena fights off the four men to prove she is worthy of the Mute Master’s training. When she finishes fighting, she sees a girl her age with red hair clad in wolf-adorned armor watching her from the corner. She finds the girl intriguing. The Mute Master summons the girl forward, and she introduces herself as Ansel and says that she and Celaena will be sharing a room.