Elm is imprisoned in Stone’s freezing dungeon with Erik Spindle and Tyrn Hawthorn. Elm expects Hauth to confront him directly, but days pass with only rotten food, water, cold, and occasional aid from Filick Willow, who urges Elm to believe Ravyn will come. Elm is weakened by frostbite and guilt, believing pride and his desire to kill Hauth have trapped him.

Linden and the Destriers torture Elm with beatings, wine, and the Chalice, trying to learn where Ravyn and Jespyr went for the Twin Alders and where Ione is hiding. Hauth later uses the Scythe and confronts Elm, admitting he never cared for Ione and promising to hunt her for the Scythe. Elm reveals he was one of the highwaymen who helped steal Wayland Pine’s Iron Gate and collect the Deck, but Hauth coldly insists that nothing can kill him.

In the darkness afterward, Erik and Tyrn confess their buried guilt. Erik admits that Elspeth’s mother, Iris, hid her infection because Erik was Captain of the Destriers, and that her death made Erik hate the laws he enforced. Tyrn admits he murdered a highwayman to steal the Nightmare Card and betrayed Elspeth because he feared that, if Ione did not become Queen, his crime would have been meaningless.

On Solstice, Hauth’s Destriers drag Elm, Erik, and Tyrn from Stone to Castle Yew. Elm finds the estate abandoned and learns Hauth plans to burn it at midnight. In the meadow by the ruins, Hauth has gathered Morette, Fenir, Jon Thistle, and Emory as prisoners. Emory’s bleeding palm reveals that Hauth forced the family to open the hidden chamber, allowing Hauth to seize several Providence Cards; Hauth also reveals he does not want to unite the Deck, because fear of mist and infection helps him control Blunder.

Hauth waits in the meadow, using the prisoners as bait for Ravyn and the Twin Alders. Emory suddenly prophesies Hauth’s defeat and says, “Death to the Rowans. Long live the King,” provoking Hauth to strike him down. Then Ione emerges from the wood carrying the Maiden, the Scythe, and the Twin Alders. Rather than flee, Ione uses the Maiden and challenges Hauth to kill her.

A knife strikes Hauth’s hand before Hauth can use his Scythe, and Ravyn appears from invisibility in front of Ione. Ravyn warns the Destriers to leave and privately tells Elm to follow Ione into the wood and meet him at the stone chamber. When Hauth orders the prisoners killed and the Twin Alders taken, the forest itself begins to move: yew trees tear free from the earth, attack the Destriers, and throw the meadow into chaos as some soldiers run after Ione.