After the Yellowlegs attack, Manon helps the Thirteen move the dead Ironteeth and wyverns under snow because frozen ground and visible pyres make burial impossible. Manon privately acknowledges that she deliberately lured the Ironteeth patrol to the Crochan camp by using her scent, choosing battle as the fastest way to force a chance at acceptance. Eight Crochans died, and Manon resolves to remember their names.

At dawn, Glennis offers Manon and Dorian food, and Manon accepts to demonstrate trust. Glennis explains Manon’s Crochan ancestry: Glennis is Manon’s great-grandmother through Manon’s father, Tristan, and Rhiannon is Manon’s half sister from Tristan’s later union. Glennis also recounts how the Crochan royal line survived the fall of the Witch-City when Rhiannon Crochan’s infant descendant was secretly smuggled away.

Manon asks the Crochans to join the war in Terrasen, but Bronwen and others reject Manon as their queen despite her bloodline and the recent battle. Manon warns that Morath will find the Crochans again, but Bronwen insists they will never fly with Manon. Glennis remains more measured, though she notes that the Crochan host has not rallied in centuries.

Dorian leaves to question Cyrene about shapeshifting. Cyrene explains that the change begins from a seed of power near her navel and requires a clear image and will. When Dorian probes her magic, he discovers Cyrene is Valg-born and that her shapeshifting power is stolen. Dorian kills Cyrene with his magic, studies the power as it fades, incinerates the body, and decides he will master shifting another way.

Later, Dorian and Manon share a tent. Dorian reveals he knows Manon staged the attack and says he will not condemn the ruthless choice because war leaves them little time. Manon asks for his political advice, and Dorian tells her to discover what the Crochans need in order to accept her, then use that knowledge. Their conversation turns to Dorian’s father and the Valg, exposing Dorian’s unresolved hatred and Manon’s own wounds, before they stop talking and sleep together.

The next morning, Manon goes alone to Glennis and asks what it would take to win the Crochans. Glennis explains that only an accepted Crochan Queen may ignite the Flame of War, a sacred flame descended from Brannon’s gift to Rhiannon Crochan, to summon all Crochan hearths. When Manon asks why Glennis’s camp is there, Glennis reveals they are traveling to Eyllwe to answer a southern threat from Morath, and she refuses Manon’s plea to abandon that vow and go north to Terrasen.