At Stone, Elm spends the afternoon in the library with Filick Willow, irritated, listless, and unable to stop thinking about Ione Hawthorn after their encounter in the cellar. Filick gently challenges Elm about Ione, reminds him that she is betrothed to Hauth, and urges Elm to visit his unconscious brother at least for appearances.

The conversation turns to Ravyn, Jespyr, the King, Emory, and the Shepherd King’s bargain. Filick points out that the blood needed to unite the Deck is not truly the Shepherd King’s to give but Elspeth Spindle’s, forcing Elm to acknowledge the terrible cost Ravyn may face if saving Emory requires Elspeth’s death.

After Filick leaves, Elm considers his own trap: if Ione used the Maiden Card to heal Hauth, Elm could avoid becoming heir and being forced into marriage. But Elm rejects that path because waking Hauth would endanger Ione and others, leaving Elm with the bitter conclusion that he must accept becoming Blunder’s next king.

Maribeth Larch then finds Elm in the library and tries to attract his interest, likely as part of the King’s effort to present Elm with eligible women. Elm recognizes the proposition but refuses, realizing that empty courtly seductions only deepen his loneliness and that what he truly wants is to be seen honestly, as Ione saw him the previous night.

As Maribeth leaves, she remarks that the King must have chosen Ione for Hauth, just as he is now choosing prospects for Elm. Elm realizes this is wrong: Ione’s betrothal came from Tyrn Hawthorn’s bargain involving a Nightmare Card. Suspicious, Elm confronts Baldwyn Viburnum, seizes the record-room keys, searches the King’s marriage contracts, finds Ione Hawthorn’s contract, and steals it after reading enough to smile at what it reveals.