In the Court of Shadows beneath the palace, the Roach rebukes Jude for kidnapping Vulciber alone, warning that a spymaster should not rely only on herself. Jude, hungry, exhausted, and still stung from Vulciber’s slap, admits inwardly that her human body and overwork make her vulnerable, even as she resists showing weakness.

Vulciber wakes bound and blindfolded. Jude and the Roach frighten him with threats of mutilation and imply that his assault on Jude will have consequences. When Jude asks what Balekin wanted to bargain about with Cardan, Vulciber claims ignorance but offers a larger secret in exchange for leaving unharmed.

Vulciber reveals that Queen Orlagh’s Undersea people have been secretly entering the Tower of Forgetting to exchange messages with Balekin, leaving shells and shark teeth, and that there are rumors Orlagh means to break her treaty with the land and use Balekin’s information against Cardan. Jude turns Vulciber from prisoner into informant by promising rewards and a better post if he reports future exchanges, while the Roach guarantees the bargain.

After Vulciber is led away, the Ghost invites Jude to spar in the Milkwood to burn off her anger. During the fight, Jude reflects on her overwhelming work as Cardan’s seneschal and the hidden ruler of Elfhame. The Ghost questions whether Oak can rule Faerie if he grows up away from its dangers, and Jude is troubled by her own pleasure in power, cruelty, and victory.

Jude defeats the Ghost in their bout, though she recognizes that in a real fight her injury might have cost her. At dawn she returns to the palace exhausted and eager for sleep, only to find her twin sister Taryn waiting outside her rooms. Taryn’s first words to Jude in five months are to notice the bruise on Jude’s cheek.