The king offers a name

Edric invites Pyrrhus to a private audience under guarantees witnessed by neutral delegates. The king's position is weakening, but he still holds the capital, the treasury offices, and much of the standing army. He offers to acknowledge Pyrrhus as his son, restore Mara's status, and place the coalition under a royal charter. In exchange, Pyrrhus must return Xeno, surrender selected witnesses, and end independent negotiations with the marchlands.

The offer is designed around wounds the king understands. He praises Pyrrhus's endurance, calls his exile regrettable, and suggests that Mara's secrecy deprived them both of a relationship. Pyrrhus can challenge that evasion directly. The strongest version of the scene allows the king to feel sincere affection without letting affection rewrite what he did. Edric may want his son and still want obedience more.

Pyrrhus asks whether recognition includes the right to tell the truth publicly. Edric says a king must consider what truth will do once released. It becomes clear that the proposed reconciliation requires Pyrrhus to help maintain the story that made his exile possible. A player seeking reconciliation can negotiate limited concessions, but no dialogue choice should magically turn the king into a different man.

Outside the audience chamber, Mara waits as a witness rather than a petitioner. Edric attempts to speak to her privately. She refuses privacy and asks him to repeat his apology before the people who heard his original account. Whether he can do so becomes a small but revealing outcome. The chapter ends with Pyrrhus understanding that receiving his father's name will not necessarily give him the family he wanted.