After Cardan is returned to his chambers to recover, Jude burns her bloodstained dress and tries to plan around two crises: concealing Balekin’s murder and responding to Madoc’s defection. With Madoc gone and half the army with him, Jude fears Orlagh could attack before Cardan can appoint a new Grand General and publicly sever Madoc’s authority.

A royal messenger brings Jude to Cardan at once. Cardan, still weakened by poison, asks Jude to release him from his vow of obedience. Jude refuses because that vow is the foundation of her power, but Cardan argues that their arrangement has failed: manipulation has damaged both their rule and Faerie, and Taryn and Madoc exploited Cardan’s trust because Cardan wanted to prove Jude did not need to command him.

Cardan proposes a bargain: Jude should marry him and become Queen of Elfhame, which would give Jude direct authority while freeing Cardan to rule by his own will. Jude is shocked and suspicious, but Cardan offers to marry her immediately. Tempted by real power and by the possibility of no longer being lesser in Faerie, Jude agrees.

Cardan and Jude exchange vows privately in Eldred’s chambers. Cardan places Jude’s ruby ring on Jude’s hand, and as the vows are spoken, the room’s branches bud and bloom, signaling the land’s response. Jude then formally forsakes all command over Cardan and releases him from the obedience vow forever, making Cardan free and Jude the Queen of Faerie.

Exhausted, Jude and Cardan lie together and sleep. They are awakened by Sir Rannoch, who reports that Balekin is dead, apparently in a duel, and that Orlagh, Queen of the Undersea, has arrived demanding justice for her ambassador. Cardan orders Sir Rannoch to assemble knights despite Madoc’s absence, then coldly addresses Jude as his wife and makes clear that Balekin’s death is a secret she kept from him. Jude hurries to dress for their first joint audience, uncertain what her new status means now that Cardan is no longer under her control.