Like all other People of the Starry Codex, Citlal and her husband Quineltoc are of a special faith. They bow down to the Living Lord, who bestowed them with the gift of magic in return for their love. However, their magic wasn't enough to protect them from the deadly Dawncomers, who seized their land three decades ago with the power of technology and disease. Now, the People of the Starry Codex struggle to survive in concentration camps and reservations. The Dawncomers watch over them carefully, killing anyone who doesn't please them— including those who actively practice their faith. Four months ago, the Dawncomers shot Citlal and Quineltoc's daughter in a random mass purge. Now, at the cusp of the Dead Days, Citlal is ready to get revenge and save her people in the process. However, her plan requires dark magic that would break their communion with their Lord. Quineltoc, a devout follower of the faith, desperately urges Citlal to wait for God to intervene. Their argument, though, has already run stale. Citlal and her fellow wisewives gather during the Dawncomer's last purge of the year. As their people are shot, the wisewives perform an intricate ritual, entering them into a pact with the Living Lord's divine sisters. In exchange for their blood and, ultimately, their lives, the divine sisters grant Citlal and her partners in crime the power to raise the dead. The thousands who've died in the massacre are temporarily revived into undead armies across the land. They slaughter the Dawncomers en masse and end their brutal reign. While the majority of the People of the Starry Codex rejoice at their freedom, Quineltoc privately mourns their broken promise to their Lord and their lost hope at an afterlife. After the empire is restored to their People, Quineltoc finds and divorces Citlal. She only laughs in response, and the intimate sound overwhelms him. After sitting with him for a while, Citlal joins her two fellow wisewives, who sign their contract and pass away, fulfilling their end of the pact with the goddesses. Citlal, however, holds off to rest in the garden of the now-dead Dawncomers. Here, she hears the Living Lord's voice for the first time. He blesses her and urges her to continue her faith. Citlal rejects the Living Lord's blessing, choosing independence over his hunger for adoration, and signs the contract. She dies instantly, weighed by her devotion to her community, only to rise in the stars as the newest goddess to dance across the stars.