Jude wakes in a coral chamber at the bottom of the sea and discovers that she can breathe water, though painfully. She is shackled to a coral bed, and Nicasia, transformed in her native element with a tail, strikes Jude and says the punishment is for Cardan. Jude realizes the Undersea does not know she controls Cardan through the oath; they assume she has some ordinary hold over him or is vulnerable as a mortal.

Jude tries to provoke Nicasia into revealing why she has been taken. Nicasia implies that Cardan will regret trusting Jude and threatens to hurt her, while Jude taunts Nicasia about shooting Cardan and about betraying him now. When Jude insults Nicasia as irrelevant, Nicasia uses magic to make Jude unable to breathe, and Jude loses consciousness under the pain.

Jude wakes later alone, cold, hungry, chained, and despairing over the time she is losing while Madoc, Cardan, Locke, the Council, and the Ghost may act unchecked. Merfolk eventually arrive to prepare her for dinner with Queen Orlagh. They dress Jude in a revealing gown and ornaments, then escort her through the coral palace to a banquet hall where Orlagh, Nicasia, and Balekin wait.

At dinner, Orlagh glamours Jude, not realizing that Dain's geas makes Jude immune. Jude pretends to be enchanted and loyal, carefully acting as though Orlagh, Nicasia, and Balekin are her trusted friends. Under questioning, Jude gives partial truths and strategic lies: she confirms that she kissed Cardan but says he does not love her, claims she knows little of Madoc's reasons, and agrees that she would help them find Oak in the mortal world.

While listening, Jude learns the Undersea's broader strategy. Orlagh and Balekin are considering using Oak as a Greenbriar heir under their control, but they also discuss Grimsen forging a new crown, which would remove their need for the Blood Crown and make Oak less necessary. Jude recognizes that Grimsen's work is a dangerous key to their plan and decides that, if she escapes, stopping or killing Grimsen may be necessary.

Orlagh then deduces that Cardan may have won Jude's help by offering her status, rather than Jude controlling Cardan. Jude supports this false theory by saying Cardan promised to make her seneschal and give her respect and fear. After the meal, Nicasia has Jude placed in a dry sea cave where Jude can breathe air again only after vomiting seawater, then glamours the bare cell to appear like a luxurious room with tea; Jude pretends to believe the illusion while enduring the hard floor and avoiding the dangerous seawater.