KateR. answers ““You told me once that there was something...”

Rhinnan asked this question about The Mask Falling (The Bone Season, #4):

“You told me once that there was something that proved that you were always on my side. Something that would betray you...if anyone but me could see...The red drapes in his mind that only a dreamwalker could see...” and this led to her revelation that Arcturus did not betray her and Cade is another dreamwalker. Am I forgetting something?? How did she make the connection from this??

KateR.

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[I'm not sure I completely understand your question but here's my attempt at an answer, lol:

In The Bone Season when Paige asks and Warden lets her enter his dreamscape for the first time, she's quite taken by the vast emptiness of his mind. His dreamscape has the form of a barren landscape, with nothing really distinctive about it, which is a big deal to Paige because it makes her think of him as just an empty vessel of sorts. In re-reading the series I realized she harps on this idea quite a bit (whereas the first time around I hardly noticed).

Next, in The Mime Order, she enters his Dreamscape on a two occasions and from the very first, she notices a difference. But the author does not dwell much on this, she only vaguely touches on the concept with this one sentence, "Where there had once been an expanse of ash, a glimmer of bright color shone at the very center."

It's more of the same when Paige later enters his Hadel Zone to attempt possession, she describes "red velvet drapes" and echoing footfalls "as if [she were] walking though a cathedral." However there is still one more clue (which interestingly is not mentioned in The Mask Falling at all), "But something had changed in this part of his mind. A flower had grown from the dust, with petals of a warm unnamable color, sealed under the bell jar like a preserved specimen." 0.0

Anyway TLDR, don't be too hard on yourself if you missed this detail. We're never overtly told that Warden's dreamscape has morphed into the chamber from the Guildhall because I don't believe even Paige fully connects the dots here until the revelation at the end of TMF. As a side note, this is what made me want to go back a re-read the entire series, paying particular attention to all of Paige and Warden's "training sessions."

LATER:
Okay so last night I got to the exact part in the Song Rising that's referenced in your original question. Here it is in full ~~

"There is one way that you might see proof that I am on your side. Something that would betray me," he said, his voice a rumble in his throat, "if anyone but you could see."

I was so fire-warmed and drowsy, I couldn't think of what he might be talking about.

"What can I see?"

~~
And there you have it, confirmation that even Paige did not fully grasp this concept until her moment of clarity at the end of the Mask Falling. (hide spoiler)]

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The Mask Falling

by Samantha Shannon (Goodreads Author)

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