The Lezak District, years ago — eighteen year old Guard recruit Eagle falls in love with Yuma, a beautiful baker from the slums whose eyesight is failing. On the advice of his supervisor Randy he confesses his feelings to Yuma, but he ends up proposing in the same sentence. Yuma is charmed by his straightforward manner, and the two are soon married. Their marriage is a happy one, though Yuma expresses disappointment that she can't clearly see the face of her handsome husband.
Eagle is promoted to Captain and leaves for the Imperial Capital to accept the honor, cautioning Yuma about dangerous medicines being distributed by the Garicalege before he goes. Upon returning, he finds Yuma administering medical eye drops that finally allow her to see her beloved husband, before she collapses in his arms.
Rowan appears at Eagle and Yuma's window, taunting the couple and revealing that he added a fast-acting poison to the eye drops. Eagle moves to pursue Rowan, but Yuma begs him not to leave her. She knew the risks of taking the medicine, and she's happy to have finally seen her husband's face. She apologizes, and dies in his arms.
In the present, Jessie decides to shelve her pursuit of Dr. Zai's research after hearing Eagle's story, even if it means she won't be able to perfect the Sand Sickness medication. She's readied herself to attend the ritual that will release Natasha from her suffering when a masked figure claiming to be Dr. Zai Gristen appears, telling her to follow him.
Elsewhere, Eagle has dressed himself as a Seldian noble to attend Natasha's ritual. Idee the Dragon Tamer arrives with the research Ray had gathered on Natasha's first love, but their conversation is interrupted when Guard Crea announces there has been a mysterious incident at Natasha's residence — Natasha has disappeared, and all the other tenants have been drugged into a stupor. Eagle sets out to find the missing woman before it's too late.
In the ruins outside town Dr. Zai pulls Jessie towards an unknown destination, disclosing that he took the unfinished Sand Sickness medicine she had put aside. He tells her that in order to complete it, she'll need the blood of a Seldian and the heart of a Blue Person. Then he reveals that he has kidnapped both Yuan and Natasha, the former unconscious and the later at death's door. Jessie asks him if it's true that he was her father's best friend before his research was outlawed, and he affirms this fact. Eagle arrives on horseback, poised to defend Jessie and recover Natasha.
Chapter 9 Provides Examples of:
- The Annotated Edition: The Author's Notes describes Eagle's younger brother Ray as having blond hair, not silver like his brother. They also provide the only information in the series about Eagle and Ray's parents (that one was a blond like Ray and the other had silver hair like Eagle).
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Yuma collapses after using the eyedrops poisoned by Rowan. She begs Eagle not to leave her, and he holds her as she dies.
- Distracted by the Sexy: Distracted by the Handsome, more like it — Crea and several of Eagle's other subordinates see him dressed in Seldian formalwear and they're so overcome with admiration for his good looks they forget they're meant to be giving him a report. (These are guards who regularly train with Eagle, so they've seen him shirtless and sweaty before — it's the formalwear that's throwing them off guard.)
- Flashback: The first half of the chapter is a flashback to Eagle's courtship and marriage with Yuma, his first love.
- Fourth-Date Marriage: Exaggerated — Eagle confesses his love to Yuma and proposes to her in the same speech, though Yuma does force him to wait until he turns nineteen before she'll agree to marry him.
- Go Out with a Smile: Downplayed — Yuma tries to tell Eagle not to be upset, that she knew the risks of using the medication and that she's glad to have finally seen his face clearly, but the poison has put her in too much pain to keep smiling.
- Kidnapped Doctor: Played Straight, Inverted, Downplayed, and Zig-Zagged all over the place. Doctor Zai kidnapped both Natasha, a terminally ill patient; and Yuan, a trained Blue Doctor. But Yuan wasn't kidnapped in order to treat a patient with his medical knowledge — Dr. Zai captured him to use the curative powers innate to Yuan's blood and organs as a component in a experimental medication. After leading Jessie to the spot where Natasha and Yuan had been stashed, Dr. Zai intended to push Jessie into cutting out Yuan's heart and using it as an ingredient in the untested Sand Sickness cure Dr. Zai and Jessie had both researched. So to recap:
- Played Straight: Yuan (a practicing Blue Doctor) gets kidnapped.
- Inverted: Dr. Zai (a disgraced Blue Doctor) kidnaps Yuan and Natasha by knocking them out and dragging them from their homes to a remote location.
- Downplayed:
- Yuan isn't kidnapped for his medical acumen. He's kidnapped to have his magically curative blood and organs used as ingredients in an experimental medication for Natasha's illness.
- Jessie (also a practicing Blue Doctor) isn't exactly kidnapped by Dr. Zai, but she is led away from Lezak under false pretense to treat Natasha.
- Zig-Zagged: A doctor whose license was revoked (Dr. Zai) kidnaps another doctor (Yuan) to steal that doctor's (Yuan's) magically curative blood and organs to treat a terminally ill patient (Natasha). This procedure will certainly kill the kidnapped doctor (Yuan), which is deemed an acceptable loss by the kidnapper (Dr. Zai). The kidnapping doctor (Dr. Zai) then lures a third doctor (Jessie) away from her practice under false pretense, planning to have her (Jessie) kill the kidnapped doctor (Yuan), harvest his heart for an experimental treatment, and administer the experimental treatment to the terminally ill patient (Natasha).
- Knockout Gas: Someone used the powerfully hypnotic "saiminka" flower to sedate the residents at the home where Natasha stays and kidnap her.
- The Lost Lenore: The story of how Eagle's first love died is finally revealed.
- Love Confession: In their first proper conversation, Eagle confesses his love to Yuma (and proposes!) before he even has the chance to introduce himself.
- Mercy Kill Arrangement: With Natasha's Sand Sickness in its final phase, Jessie has agreed to help the elderly woman perform the ritual that will instantly turn the remainder of her body to sand and release her from suffering. The ritual involves a kiss from a loved one, and Eagle has agreed to help by taking the place of the Seldian nobleman who was Natasha's first love.
- Series Continuity Error: In the first volume, Randy told Jessie that the earring Eagle wears belonged to his wife — it's the tradition of the Silkdeep Empire to exchange matching earrings instead of wedding rings, and to wear a deceased partner's earring while in mourning. The matching earrings that Eagle and Yuma wear in the flashback to their life as a married couple look nothing like the earring Eagle wears as a sign of mourning.
- Sweet Baker: Yuma was a poor girl who worked as a baker. Her personality was exceptionally sweet and loving.
