A few days after the slave massacre, Sorscha is writing a letter in her workroom when Dorian visits her. Their intimacy and ease together show how deeply their relationship has grown, but the moment is interrupted when Chaol arrives, grave and secretive, and tells Dorian that Dorian was right.

Chaol explains the truth to both Dorian and Sorscha because Dorian insists that Sorscha deserves to know what she is risking. Chaol tells them about magic, the Wyrdkeys, and the three towers. Sorscha remains composed despite the revelations. After Dorian leaves, Chaol observes the warmth between Dorian and Sorscha and suggests that the kingdom could use a healer as queen, but Sorscha responds with sadness rather than hope.

Later, Chaol and Dorian meet in a secret tunnel for an experiment. Using three crystals arranged like the marked towers on Murtaugh’s map, red sand between them, and a bowl of water at the center, Chaol asks Dorian to channel his raw magic through the crystals and try to freeze the water. Dorian struggles but succeeds: the crystals glow, lines of power connect them, and the water freezes.

The experiment convinces Chaol that the king used the three towers in a similar pattern ten years earlier to freeze magic across the land. Dorian asks to see the tower locations, and Chaol shows him Rifthold, Amaroth, and Noll. Dorian recognizes that the lines between the towers run through the Ferian Gap and Morath, both places connected to the king’s strange activities, while Chaol adds that something bred in the Dead Islands has been sent to Wendlyn.

Dorian realizes that Celaena may be in danger in Wendlyn and presses Chaol about his cooperation with Aedion and the rebels. Chaol admits he does not know what to do about the clock tower in Rifthold because destroying it would be an act of war with unknown consequences. As Dorian leaves, Dorian tells Chaol that he does not want to return to who he was before and that Chaol should not fear this change. Chaol sees in Dorian not merely a prince, but a king.