Matthias is overwhelmed by returning to Fjerda after so long away, burdened by the mission and by his feelings about betraying his homeland. Before the crew leaves the Ferolind, Nina removes Matthias’s shackles and begins tailoring his appearance so Matthias will be harder to recognize at the Ice Court. Their tense exchange briefly turns playful, but when Matthias asks what Nina intends to do about Bo Yul-Bayur, Nina shuts down and leaves.

The crew lands, says goodbye to Specht and the ship, and begins the cold march inland. Matthias notices the others struggling with the northern terrain and briefly takes comfort in the ice, which reminds Matthias of Djel, childhood, and hunting with Matthias’s father. Once the group is away from the ship, Kaz explains more of the plan: they will enter the prison, escape the holding cells, use the incinerator shaft to reach the roof, cross to the embassy sector, disguise themselves, find Bo Yul-Bayur, and walk out through the embassy gate. Wylan and Jesper will prepare explosives as a fallback, including a plan to blow the bridge on the road to the harbor if pursuit begins.

As the group continues south, everyone drills the Ice Court’s protocols, checkpoints, bells, and architecture. Matthias feels the repeated questions as accusations of treason, but Matthias also recognizes the crew’s adaptability and survival instincts. Watching Nina teach Inej Fjerdan, Matthias is pulled back into memories of the earlier shipwreck that first stranded Matthias and Nina together on this same coast.

In the flashback, Nina saves Matthias from drowning after their ship goes down in a storm, using Nina’s Grisha power to keep both their hearts beating while Matthias swims them toward land. Though Matthias still sees Nina as a witch and enemy, both rely on each other to survive. After reaching shore, Matthias nearly leaves Nina behind but returns because Nina has saved Matthias’s life, and the two find shelter in an abandoned whaling lodge. There, hostility, embarrassment, attraction, and dependence mingle as Nina and Matthias share warmth and Nina helps keep Matthias alive.

Back in the present, Matthias realizes he still likes Nina’s voice and manner despite himself. Then Matthias reaches a bluff and tries too late to stop the others from seeing three Grisha burned at stakes. One victim is still alive, and when Nina is too shaken to end the suffering, Jesper shoots the victim dead as an act of mercy, angering Kaz because the gunshots could reveal the crew’s presence.

Nina, devastated and furious, confronts Matthias about Fjerdan violence against Grisha and the hypocrisy of calling their trials fair. Matthias tries to defend his country but finally repeats the belief that Grisha may not have been meant to exist. Nina responds with rage, wishing Ravka’s Second Army would destroy the drüskelle, and Matthias reveals that Inferni burned Matthias’s village and killed Matthias’s parents and baby sister. The confrontation leaves their hatred and grief exposed, with Nina warning that Matthias still has more to lose.