Chapter 13 opens with two epigraphs, one announcing the selection of Thirty Larkspur as one of Emperor Six Direction’s heirs and the other being a memo from Heritage—recommending the appointment of a new ambassador, as requested by Teixcalaanli authorities. Still at Twelve Azalea’s home, Mahit falls in and out of sleep. She and Three Seagrass lie on his couch, as he watches television on his holograph. Mahit fully wakes to talk of an important political announcement, and asks Twelve Azalea to change the channel. Three Seagrass wakes, and the trio watches broadcasts of peaceful protests across the City, while One Lightning’s speech plays. He accuses Thirty Larkspur of using non-imperial technology to augment abilities, calling it immoral. Mahit debates the value of imago technology with Three Seagrass and Twelve Azalea, noting the cultural differences between their perspectives.

As Three Seagrass observes the competing powers for the throne, she admits the Empire is on the edge of civil war; she and Twelve Azalea leave Mahit alone for a moment. Mahit takes out Yskandr’s imago device and the message she kept from her apartment. She decides to decode the message with Twelve Azalea’s dictionary of glyphs, managing to translate all but the ending.