Aelin arrives at the brightly lit Assassins’ Keep with Rowan and Aedion, while Nesryn drives and Chaol waits on a nearby roof with rebels as backup. Aelin warns Rowan and Aedion to stay controlled, especially around the captured Valg commander, Stevan. Arobynn personally welcomes them, notes Aelin’s use of his scented oil, and shows immediate interest in her companions while Aedion hauls the chained prisoner inside.

Arobynn studies Aedion and Rowan for weaknesses, needling Aedion about his royal blood and Rowan about being Fae. Rowan undercuts Arobynn’s attempt at intimacy by revealing he also wore the oil, which briefly surprises Arobynn and reassures Aelin. Arobynn then directs Aedion to take Stevan to a dungeon cell, making clear through the empty house and lack of witnesses that he has his own plans.

As Arobynn leads them into the dungeons, Rowan recognizes the place as a torture chamber and understands that Aelin was trained there as a girl. Aelin is nearly overwhelmed because the room is where she last saw Sam’s mutilated body, and she knows Arobynn had ordered the worst of Sam’s torture as punishment. Arobynn orders Rowan and Aedion upstairs, and Aelin silently confirms to Rowan that Arobynn should not be killed yet.

Arobynn interrogates Stevan for information about the Valg and the king. Under torture, Stevan reveals that the king controls his commanders through black rings and a blood link: the king makes cuts on their arms, drinks their blood, and uses his own ring to command them. Stevan also admits the Valg are searching for Aedion and know Aelin is in the city, so Aelin declares him a liability and tells Arobynn to kill him.

Arobynn brutally cuts off Stevan’s finger with the ring still on it, then slits Stevan’s throat. Aelin advises Arobynn to throw the ring into the Avery, but Arobynn keeps it to study, showing his dangerous interest in the king’s methods of control. Afterward, Arobynn takes Aelin to dinner, where she sits at his right as she once did and secretly passes a hidden note to Lysandra.

At dinner, Arobynn has arranged the seating to isolate Aelin from Rowan and Aedion, while using Lysandra’s presence to unsettle her. Arobynn claims he tried for months to free Aelin from Endovier and lost men in the attempt, and Lysandra convincingly supports the lie or half-truth without revealing her alliance with Aelin. Aelin and Rowan share silent, teasing exchanges that momentarily lighten the tension, but Arobynn notices their connection and turns cold, finally asking whether Aelin enjoyed ruining his properties and frightening away his clients.