Aelin wakes after three days of restorative sleep in Anielle, with Rowan beside her and Gavriel guarding outside in mountain lion form. Clear-headed for the first time in days, Aelin reflects that she escaped Maeve and Cairn, though the damage they left inside her remains unresolved. Rowan wakes, and Aelin reveals one final hidden gambit: while in Wendlyn, she sent letters to Aedion, Rowan’s uncle, and Essar, claiming Maeve’s dangerous ambitions and possible Valg nature in hopes of sparking revolt in Doranelle.

Rowan doubts the letters will be enough to topple Maeve, but recognizes that if Maeve’s army does not come, it would greatly help the war. Aelin swears she has no more secrets left. When Rowan asks whether she can summon the same overwhelming power again, Aelin says she likely cannot because it required containment in iron. Their conversation turns to the trauma Aelin still carries, the broken connection of pain through the mating bond, and Aelin’s exhausted desire for the war, the gods, the Lock, and everything else to be over.

Rowan promises that they will first secure the khagan’s host, return to Terrasen, and crush Erawan’s armies before dealing with the Lock. Aelin briefly summons a tiny amount of water magic from her mother’s bloodline, wondering whether the Lock will take even that from her. The couple shares a rare moment of levity and intimacy before leaving their room, passing gossiping soldiers, eating together, and eventually going to join the war council.

In an ancient study, Aelin and Rowan meet Prince Kashin, whose arrival completes the khagan’s forces. Sartaq confirms that the southern army will march north to Terrasen, partly in gratitude for Aelin saving them and partly because scouts report Morath’s hordes are concentrating there. The group debates the route, concluding that they must face the Ferian Gap and likely use secret mountain paths known by the wild men of the Fangs. When Chaol explains that the wild men demand territory in exchange, Aelin pushes Chaol to use his authority as Dorian’s Hand to bargain land from Adarlan despite his father’s objections.

The council then turns to the Valg survivors on the battlefield. Aelin, Rowan, Fenrys, Gavriel, and the others visit Yrene in a tent, where Yrene demonstrates how she expels a Valg demon from a restrained human host. The process is brutal and exhausting, but Yrene succeeds: black vomit and smoke leave the man, and his eyes return to human brown. Aelin sees firsthand that Yrene can free some victims of Valg possession, though the army interrogates the cured survivors and only accepts a few into its ranks.