As Ravyn and Jespyr fall asleep in the alderwood, Elspeth asks the Nightmare whether they will be safe. The Nightmare answers no, and when Elspeth urges him to protect them, he admits he has failed to guard those he cherishes. Once the Nightmare sleeps, Elspeth moves through the darkness of his mind and enters his memories.

In the first memory, Taxus sits in the stone chamber he built after creating the Nightmare Card and losing his soul to it. Taxus refuses his daughter Tilly’s request to swing in the yew tree, and Ayris, his sister, tells him that his work has made him a stranger. The yew trees then speak to Taxus, who demands a Card to lift the mist or heal the fever it brings. When the trees say the Spirit will not undo the mist and the promised day of healing has not come, Taxus asks for a way to speak to the Spirit herself and agrees to pay any price.

Taxus collapses, and when Taxus wakes, the twelfth Providence Card, the Twin Alders, lies before him. However, the barter has stripped Taxus of the ability to wield every Card he owns: the Maiden cannot heal him, the Mirror cannot hide him, and the Well and Iron Gate do nothing. Taxus realizes he has gained the means to approach the Spirit but lost the magic he had bled and bartered for.

The memories jump ahead to Blunder under threat from the mist. A crier warns people away from it, and an infected woman reaches Taxus’s throne room before Brutus Rowan uses the Scythe to expel her. In Taxus’s library, Brutus argues that the mist is spreading, disrupting trade, infecting children, and creating dangerous magic. Taxus refuses to let the King’s Guard arrest or harm fevered people, then reveals he knows Brutus has been abusing the Scythe against criminals and even sending people into the mist. Taxus threatens to kill Brutus if Brutus kills again with the Scythe.

After Brutus leaves, Taxus detects Bennett hiding with the Mirror Card. Bennett agrees the mist is dangerous, admits he can no longer use a Black Horse Card and fears losing other Cards, and asks Taxus to come to dinner because the children, especially Tilly, miss him. Taxus dismisses Bennett and remains absorbed in his work, showing how distant Taxus has become from his family.

In the final memory, Taxus prepares to enter the woods with provisions so he can use the Twin Alders to speak to the Spirit about the mist. Ayris follows him and insists on accompanying him, recalling their childhood closeness, and Taxus allows it because his sister’s presence still warms him despite his emotional numbness. At the alderwood, voices recite a warning about a place of no time and new barters. Taxus and Ayris step into the mist, which immediately targets Ayris, floods into her, and snuffs out her warmth.