Ansel of Briarcliff presents the ships behind her as the fleet Aelin requested, shocking Aelin’s companions. Manon objects because Melisande’s fleet is supposedly allied with Morath, but Aelin clarifies that Ansel is not acting for Melisande. Aelin then forces a volatile introduction: Manon Blackbeak is now the last Crochan Queen, and Ansel is the assassin-queen of the Western Wastes.

As the group rows back to the ship, Manon seethes and searches for Abraxos, who is nowhere in sight. Aelin blocks Manon long enough to provoke the issue of authority over the Wastes, and Manon, despite suspecting Aelin has maneuvered her, declares that she does speak for them. Rowan recognizes the royal weight in Manon’s voice and assesses the dangerous tension between Manon and Ansel.

Ansel explains that Aelin sent her a message from Rifthold through the pit-fighting signal, then later ordered her to the Gulf of Oro with specific instructions. Half of Ansel’s army is already moving toward the Anascaul Mountains to aid Terrasen, while Ansel brought the rest south through Melisande. Because Melisande’s forces were spread thin for Morath, Ansel entered under false assumptions, seized the capital, claimed the Asterion horse Kasida, and raised Terrasen’s flag beside her own.

The revelation makes clear that Melisande’s fleet now belongs to Aelin’s side, not Morath’s. Aelin explains that she did not take Melisande for glory, but to stop a Morath ally from splitting the North and South. Aedion, furious at Aelin’s secrecy and at his own lack of trust, quickly turns to strategy: Ansel must withdraw her remaining soldiers back across the Fangs, reunite her army, and march north to Terrasen through the Anascaul passes.

After the others disperse, Aedion stands alone at the rail until Lysandra joins him. Aedion worries they should not linger while carrying two Wyrdkeys and the witch mirror, but Lysandra’s deeper concern is emotional: since Skull’s Bay, the war has stopped feeling like adventure and has become survival, and Lysandra fears losing the friends she has finally found. Aedion tells Lysandra that warriors must learn to face that fear because fear of loss can destroy as much as loss itself.

The conversation turns intimate when Lysandra admits she enjoys whatever is growing between herself and Aedion. Lysandra worries her past makes her unappealing, but Aedion firmly rejects that, says attraction is attraction, and asks for honesty without demands. Lysandra agrees, and Aedion privately imagines showing Lysandra Terrasen and surviving future battlefields to protect that possibility.