At Castle Black, Morrolan tells Vlad that the riot turned into a revolt, including a short siege on the Imperial Palace. Cawti has been arrested again, this time for treason. While angered by the Empire's brutal suppression of the revolt, Vlad is agonized by the inevitable execution Cawti faces. He visits the Empress again and strikes a deal: he will testify to Boralinoi's framing of Cawti before the Orb and single-handedly end the war with Greenaere in exchange for the pardon of Cawti and her the revolutionists. By testifying, Vlad commits the ultimate sin in the Organization, ending his career and branding him for death. Testifying in public, "under the orb," (which can detect falsehoods) is what ultimately sets the Jhereg Council against him. His previous acts of threatening the lives of his immediate superior in the Jhereg, Toronnan, and his boss' boss, Lord Boralinoi, as well as the Jhereg representative at court, Count Soffta, got the Jhereg to put out a (non-Morganti) contract on him but, given the nature of the organization, Vlad would have been "forgiven" had he "won" his war. But nobody gives open evidence about the Jhereg in public, much less in testimony before the Empress, and lives (except, it seems, Vlad). After his testimony, the contract is revised to be executed with a Morganti weapon, which would destroy Vlad's soul forever.