Dorian appears to submit to Maeve after she traps his mind and demands Erawan’s Wyrdkey shard. Maeve plans to leave Morath with Dorian, gather the other keys, and use his power to secure her rule, but Dorian reveals that his apparent vulnerability was a deception.

Dorian had reshaped his own mind the way he shifts his body, showing Maeve only the jealousy, resentment, and desperation she expected to find. While Maeve repeatedly probed him, Dorian’s magic studied her power, learned how she seized minds, and waited for Maeve to bind herself to him. Once Maeve makes her move, Dorian traps the exposed part of Maeve’s mind instead.

Dorian confronts Maeve through their mental link, declaring that he had been enslaved once and would never allow it again. Dorian burns and restrains Maeve’s mind, rejects Maeve’s manipulation, and states that the only witch who will be his queen is someone else. At the same time, Morath begins to shake because Dorian has secretly spread ice magic through its foundations while searching the keep.

Dorian reveals that he intends to destroy the eastern half of Morath, especially the chamber of collars. As the keep crumbles, Dorian has ensured that the human servants’ escape routes remain stable until they can flee. Maeve begs Dorian not to leave her for Erawan or the collapsing fortress, and Dorian decides not to condemn Maeve to the sort of slavery Maeve intended for Dorian and Aelin.

Dorian shifts into a crow, escapes through the window, and retrieves the two hidden Wyrdkeys from the shale near Morath, giving him all three keys. Before severing the mental link, Dorian alters Maeve’s magic and removes her ability to open portals, leaving Maeve no longer a world-walker. Dorian then shifts into a wyvern, flies north, and looks back as Morath’s towers crash down behind him.