After Celaena’s near-burnout on Beltane, Rowan confines Celaena to bed and feeds her while monitoring her recovery. Emrys and Luca briefly visit but leave when Rowan’s protective aggression makes clear that Celaena is under his care. Rowan explains that Fae become intensely protective when someone is drained and defenseless, and Celaena realizes his fussing comes from instinct as much as concern.

While Celaena recovers, Rowan teaches Celaena about carranam: rare compatible partners who can share power through a blood connection. Rowan warns that such bonds are dangerous, can be abused, and have been used to enslave Fae. The conversation turns darker as Rowan describes hunting corrupt Fae, and Celaena shifts the mood with teasing questions about Rowan’s companions.

Rowan then raises the possibility of healing Celaena’s scars, and Celaena explains why Celaena keeps them. Celaena describes the darkness and psychological torture of Endovier’s punishment cells, where repeating the name Celaena Sardothien helped Celaena survive. Celaena says the scars remind Celaena of the thousands still enslaved in Endovier and Calaculla, and Celaena vows to free them someday.

When Rowan asks what happened ten years earlier and suggests Aelin could use Aelin’s crown to free the camps, Celaena refuses to discuss it. Celaena explains that the memories surrounding those days contain a rage and despair so dangerous that acknowledging Aelin fully might unleash a destructive “monster.” Rowan challenges Celaena’s attachment to suffering and recognizes the same self-punishment in himself, but then lies beside Celaena in comfort and tells Celaena that if Celaena is going to hell, Rowan will be there too.

Over the following days, Rowan continues keeping Celaena in his room. On Celaena’s nineteenth birthday, Rowan returns from investigating another demi-Fae corpse found near the coast; the body shows the same pattern of nosebleed, draining, and careless disposal. Rowan brings Celaena chocolates, and Celaena later sneaks a kiss onto Rowan’s cheek despite Rowan’s gruff refusal of affection.

Once Celaena returns outdoors, Rowan changes the focus of training. Rowan explains that Celaena’s magic lacks shape and must be wielded like a weapon, using Celaena’s combat training as a foundation. Rowan attacks Celaena with ice daggers until Celaena stops fearing the power, rejects being ruled by it, and forms a compact fire shield around Celaena’s arm. After a week, Celaena can create multiple shields and protect the glen, and before dawn Celaena goes alone to the ward-stones to practice.