Excitedly, Jake opens the package, Lex, Lucien, and Kazuo standing aroud curiously.  Much to everyone's surprise, inside is an unconscious Risan girl with a pin stuck in her neck.  Jake removes the pin and at once the girl comes alive, violently throwing him into the wall and trying to escape the House.  Though they all try to calm her, Lucien is the only one who thinks to speak to her in Risan instead of Common, a language she clearly does not have a firm grasp on.  Through Lucien, the Phoenix Fighters learn that the girl's name is Insa Nessarose.  She was a hoplite in the Risan army until the slavers captured and drugged her, sending her to Shaldani as a gift for Jake.

 

Despite a clear attraction to Insa, Jake readily gives her permission to return home.  Insa, however, explains that she cannot leave because the pin Jake pulled from her neck somehow binds her to him.  Despite her clear impatience with mainland norms, Insa admits that she must remain in the House.  She is given quarters until the cause of the bond can be determined and broken by the kitchen staff.  Meanwhile, Lucien pays her a visit and it is revealed that the two of them are second cousins.  She tells him that her family was slaughtered when she was nine.  He feels a kindred connection to her, also being the lone survivor of his nuclear family.

 

Things take a dramatic turn when Tranns is discovered, unconscious, beaten up, and robbed in her own room.  The word "bloodtraitor" is written, in Risan, on the wall, leading immediate suspicion to Insa.  She denies having harmed Tranns, but continually berates and abuses all the Risans in the House who have adopted mainland traditions, turning their backs on their roots.

 

The next night, things get worse when Mia is found unconscious and robbed with a second "bloodtraitor" note, supposedly meant for Kazuo.  Orders are given for Greil to search Insa's room for the missing articles, but none are found.  Once again, Insa cries innocence, despite all the evidence pointing at her.  Before the search ends, however, screams are heard from the attic.  Greil and Insa rush to the scene, along with several other Phoenix Fighters, to find Lex fending off the attacks of a stranger in a red hood.

 

The stranger is overpowered.  Insa removes the hood to reveal William Number Three (Percival).  He is angered over the fact that for several years, he has been risking his life to bring supplies to the Phoenix Fighters without once ever being tipped.  The stolen goods from Mia and Tranns are found on his person and Insa is quickly absolved of all accusations.  She agrees to remain in the Phoenix House peacefully while the kitchen staff attempt to free her from Jake, but will not join the Phoenix Fighters.  Instead, she offers her services as a skilled craftsman to pay for her keep.