Héloïse meets a marriage candidate. Coffin works against Baru's reform of the city guard. Jan tells the Embo family that Emiel is dead, but withholds his deed.

Jan de Lichte is literally dragged towards home as an accused murderer/deserter. When he arrives in his hometown, he finds change everywhere. The poorest citizens tend to end up branded, beat and banished from town, but they have joined together in the forest and that's where Jan discovers family and friends.