In the predawn corridors of Stone, Elm and Ione sneak toward the dungeon. Elm is exhausted, while Ione’s Maiden Card continues to heal her wounds and blunt her feelings. During their guarded banter, Elm deduces that Ione does not know where her Maiden Card is; because she still has its magic, no one else has touched it, meaning she likely lost or misplaced it herself.

As they descend the icy dungeon stairs, Ione presses Elm about his reputation as a wayward prince and poor Destrier. Elm avoids telling her the truth about stealing Providence Cards, using the Scythe, worrying over Emory, and working against his father. Their conversation reveals Elm’s distaste for using the Scythe violently and his desire to disappoint the Rowans’ expectations of cruelty.

At the dungeon’s bottom, Elm realizes he forgot the keys, but the door is already open. He leads Ione toward the cell that once held Elspeth and warns that her cousin is no longer herself. Ione finds the Shepherd King occupying Elspeth’s body, recognizes that he is not Elspeth, and learns he had long been the hidden presence inside her cousin.

Ione demands to speak to Elspeth, but the Shepherd King says Elspeth is resting with him and will be free only after his work is finished and old debts are settled. When Elm asks whether the Shepherd King can locate Ione’s missing Maiden Card, the Shepherd King reveals there are three Maiden Cards in Stone. However, he refuses to say where they are, forcing Elm and Ione to search the castle themselves.

After Ione leaves the cell in frustration, Elm asks whether recovering the Card matters to her. Ione explains that she is not rejecting beauty, healing, or comfort; she wants her choice back because she feels she has disappeared into the Maiden as Elspeth has disappeared into the Shepherd King. Elm offers to help, admitting his guilt over failing to notice Elspeth’s decline and declaring that he wants to become better—above all, to prove he is nothing like Hauth.