Back in Jude’s rooms, Jude reflects on the discipline of waiting and taking the right shot. Jude tries to focus on the practical problems ahead: retrieving Vivi and Oak from the mortal world the next day, and finding either a better plan than Madoc’s or a safer version of Madoc’s scheme for Oak.

Jude cannot stop thinking about the intimacy with Cardan, but the memory makes Jude feel exposed and vulnerable. Since Jude cannot act directly against the Undersea problem or untangle feelings about Cardan, Jude chooses a more physical and immediate target: Locke.

Jude dresses for stealth, arms herself, and breaks into Locke’s poorly guarded house. When Locke enters, Jude puts a knife to Locke’s throat; Locke initially mistakes Jude for Taryn, which pleases Jude bitterly. Jude forces Locke into a chair, kicks it over, and makes clear that Jude is finished being polite.

Jude tells Locke that humiliating the High King, humiliating Jude, and betraying Taryn are all unacceptable. Locke tries to treat the confrontation as another game, but Jude’s threat frightens him. Jude explains that Locke’s public mockery of Cardan weakens royal authority, which could embolden courtiers and lesser Courts against the High King.

Jude then lays out demands: Locke must stop making Jude part of his dramas, stop provoking Cardan, and keep faith with Taryn after their marriage. Jude warns that if Locke is merely playing with Taryn, Madoc will kill him before Jude gets the chance. Locke mocks Jude’s family for solving everything through murder, and Jude leaves after dryly agreeing that the family would indeed be surprised by any other solution.