New clothes arrive for Jude, chosen with fierce precision by Taryn. As Tatterfell arranges Jude’s hair, Jude reflects on the complicated intimacy of being known by her twin: Taryn has not been told all Jude has done, but the garments make Jude look like the dangerous person she has become.

At a hastily called Council meeting, the Living Council debates the Undersea’s threat after Cardan refuses to marry Nicasia. Madoc argues that Orlagh will target Cardan’s blood and proposes bringing Oak to Elfhame so the Undersea can be caught in the act. Jude objects to using Oak as bait, but Madoc has already written to Vivi, and soon afterward Jude receives Vivi’s message saying she, Oak, and Heather are coming for Taryn’s wedding even sooner than expected. As the meeting ends, Randalin privately advises Jude that, as seneschal, she could replace Madoc as Grand General.

Cardan summons Jude to the throne room, where revelers still linger and Locke presides obnoxiously nearby. Cardan hears a dispute between two musicians over stolen lyres, one of which had been strung with the hair and trapped voices of dead mortals. Cardan resolves the matter by awarding the remaining lyre to the better player, then dismisses Locke when Jude demands privacy.

Cardan takes Jude into a hidden moss-lit chamber behind the throne and shows her a message from Balekin demanding a visit and warning Cardan to control his seneschal. Jude realizes Lady Asha has already passed on the baited information Jude gave her. Cardan confronts Jude about intercepting his messages and keeping secrets about Balekin, Orlagh, and Nicasia; Jude admits she gave Balekin a source she can compromise but withholds that the source is Cardan’s mother.

Jude proposes having Balekin brought to Cardan in chains, then suggests Cardan extract more information from Nicasia by charming her. To persuade Cardan that Nicasia still wants him, Jude reveals that Nicasia was the one who shot the mortal girl in Cardan’s bed out of jealousy. Cardan becomes angry at Jude’s secrecy and at the suggestion that he use seduction as a tool, then turns the suggestion back on Jude by demonstrating how he might charm Nicasia.

The confrontation becomes intensely intimate. Cardan touches and kisses Jude, and Jude responds despite knowing it is a terrible idea. Jude repeats that she hates Cardan as if to protect herself from what she actually feels, but the encounter strips away her control; by the end, Jude recognizes that liking Cardan so much feels like the worst thing he has ever done to her.