While Francisco performs rituals in the cemetary to detect for the presence of magic, Envoy searches a nearby mausoleum, and finds a letter meant for Brishen – which evidently was never delivered.

She takes it to the embassy guards, but finds one of them to be terribly aggressive, eager to blame Envoy for interfering with the mail, and daring her to "resist capture". The second guard goes off to take the letter to Brishen, leaving Envoy alone with the first guard. The first guard takes a swing at Envoy, but he is distracted by a Vykarin that bites him in the posterior. Francisco and Brishen arrive, and the Vykarin makes a hasty exit.

Envoy shows Brishen the place where she found the letter, and they are both accosted by a shambling apparition … which turns out to be Bem, the Zelak assigned to Envoy by the Hive Queen. Bem seeks to kill Envoy, and Brishen's guards rush to the defense of the Ambassador. Envoy retreats, climbing on top of a statue, and tries to reason with the Zelak, at last convincing him that she is no longer a scout for the Hive Queen and that he should return to his hive. The Zelak departs … and Envoy notices something odd about some painting on the broken mausoleum walls from her perch. She tries to point this out to Brishen but the bat, being colorblind, can't see things quite the same way.