The chapter opens with a soliloquy by Dr. Bledsoe in which he tells the audience that he is not a vampire, but merely a "mlite" . He says that he does not want to be a vampire because he is afraid of death. He also says that if he were to die, no one would know that he was a vampire. He adds that the water dungeon is the prison of a "commander of the north" , and that he wants to be close to her. He tells her that if she were to get a cold, the commander would wear her clothes and change them. If she got bored, he would just change her clothes. He wants more from her, she tells him. She tells him that she has been loyal to him since she was a child, even though she did not make any contribution to the army. She says that she cannot be abandoned like this, because she is loyal to her master.