Manon walks away from Maeve without looking back, hiding the fact that Aelin no longer has the Wyrdkeys. Aelin had slipped both keys into Manon’s pocket, and Manon understands Aelin’s command: keep the keys from Maeve and get Elide away, even if Elide hates Manon for abandoning Aelin.

When Elide wakes and struggles, Manon forces Elide into silence behind a dune so they can watch just long enough to learn where Maeve is taking Aelin. They see Lorcan frozen by Maeve’s command, Gavriel wounded by the breaking of his blood oath, and Fenrys trapped in helpless fury as Maeve’s soldiers finish fastening the iron mask and chains on Aelin.

The soldiers place Aelin, with her back still brutally torn open, into an iron box and make Aelin lie on the wounds before locking the lid. Elide vomits as the box is carried toward the boat and the ship beyond. Maeve orders Fenrys to the ship, and Fenrys is compelled to obey.

Maeve then turns on Lorcan, who admits that everything he did was for Maeve. Rather than reward him, Maeve strips Lorcan of the blood oath, titles, wealth, and place in Doranelle, exiling him in disgrace while rescinding the order to kill him so he must live with the shame. Lorcan collapses and crawls after Maeve as she leaves him behind.

Manon knows they must flee before Maeve discovers the missing Wyrdkeys. Abraxos roars on the horizon, giving Manon hope, but Elide remains fixed on Lorcan and the ship carrying Aelin’s iron coffin away. Manon silently prays that Aelin survives the imprisonment long enough to fulfill the sacrifice the world still needs from her.