Chapter 5 opens with excerpts from a history of the Teixcalaanli Empire and the origin of the ezuazuacatlim, confidants to the Emperor, and a governing document of the Lsel Council. Mahit journeys to the Palace to meet with Nineteen Adze. Upon arriving, she realizes she’s still stained with Fifteen Engine’s blood. Nineteen Adze greets her, and after they banter, she offers a shower. While cleaning herself, Mahit experiences another ghostly memory, one of Yskandr’s body in the shower. After she showers, Nineteen Adze greets her with tea, and they banter over differing cultural customs and their mutual distrust. Nineteen Adze remains convinced that Yskandr sits before her, and Mahit explains how the imago system works under optimal conditions: It doesn’t manifest a person within another, especially since she and Yskandr never fully integrated.

After Mahit satisfies Nineteen Adze’s curiosity about the imago system, she asks questions about terrorism in the City and why she or Fifteen Engine was a target. She learns Fifteen Engine had ties to an earlier rebellion and was unhappy with the direction of the Empire. Nineteen Adze mentions Thirty Larkspur, an ezuazuacat and one of Emperor Six Direction’s three heirs. Nineteen Adze’s servant Five Agate interrupts them to share footage of a demonstration for One Lightening, a military leader vying for the throne.