Ravyn wakes at dawn with a severe headache, bound to a post inside a rough fort after losing half a day and a night to drugging smoke. Jespyr, Petyr, and the Nightmare are tied nearby; Petyr confirms Wik is dead, and Ravyn learns their weapons and Providence Cards have been taken. The Nightmare says their captors are human women, not the Spirit of the Wood.

The captors reveal themselves as Otho and Hesis, infected sisters who lead a hidden hold of outcasts. Hesis can see through crows, while Otho uses alchemical smoke made with magic. The sisters distrust Ravyn’s claim that he is infected, beat him and Jespyr, and accuse Destriers of murdering infected people, despite Ravyn and Petyr explaining that they helped smuggle infected children to safety and now seek the Twin Alders Card to heal the infection.

Otho declares that the fort’s people are owed payment for losses caused by Destriers and Rowans. Ravyn, Jespyr, and Gorse are released into the courtyard with crude weapons for a public blood sport while Petyr and the Nightmare remain tied. Otho blows a second smoke into their faces, made from rage and hate, and the magic strips away restraint, driving Ravyn, Jespyr, and Gorse into vicious accusations and violence.

Under the smoke’s influence, Ravyn lashes out at the Nightmare about Elspeth and the Shepherd King’s children, while Jespyr attacks Gorse after Gorse exposes Ravyn’s betrayal of the King and relationship with an infected woman. Ravyn then wounds Gorse with a rusted scythe and crushes Gorse’s windpipe. When the smoke’s effect fades, Ravyn is horrified by what he has done.

The violence stops when Opal Hawthorn enters with her two sons and recognizes Elspeth’s body, only to realize the Nightmare is not truly her niece. Jespyr explains what happened at Spindle House and why the group is traveling through the wood. While Otho and Hesis listen, Petyr tells Ravyn about a hidden boot knife, and Ravyn uses it to cut the Nightmare free.

After a tense exchange, the Nightmare apologizes awkwardly at Elspeth’s urging but also demands the knife. When Hesis moves to prevent the party from leaving, the Nightmare attacks and badly injures her, while Ravyn and Jespyr subdue Otho and recover their Cards and weapons. Ravyn tells Opal to seek protection at Castle Yew if the fort becomes unsafe and promises to get Elspeth back, before the group escapes toward the Twin Alders.