Ayan sits in her office, eyeing Dihya, the woman who had just been found trying to sabotage their colony’s water supply. She tries to get Dihya to confess to why she did it. Dihya has a stubborn smile as she explains she was trying to “save” the colony by destroying their water (183). Ayan can tell Dihya is still upset over the cremation of her son, Aytarel, who had been the “first of the children to die” in the colony of Illiyin (184). He had been found covered in worms and gnawed apart. Dihya tells Ayan she won’t be able to comprehend why she did it because Ayan has “never been a mother” (185). This upsets Ayan, who wishes she could be a mother.

Dihya explains her plans started years ago, right after Aytarel and the only other males in the colony died, making it clear that all “hope” for the colony was over (186). The ship of men that were supposed to have started the colony with Dihya and the other women never made it, and thus Aytarel and the other small boys were the colony’s only chance of procreation. Most of the boys, like Dihya’s son, were killed by the elements, but one committed suicide after finding his life, so marred by overprotection, was pointless.