Celaena returns to Elena’s tomb and wakes Mort to question him about the Eye of Elena. Mort confirms that the amulet truly has protective magic and explains that magical objects do not age normally, but he gives Celaena little practical help beyond saying it guards her from harm.

Believing the riddle may refer to the amulet as an actual eye, Celaena tries to fit the Eye of Elena into the hollow eye-shaped opening in the tomb wall. The amulet fits imperfectly, but nothing changes. Celaena turns it different ways, presses the stone, and even recites the words engraved near Elena’s sarcophagus, but the wall remains blank.

Frustrated, Celaena concludes that Nehemia may have been right about the amulet being a dead end. Mort tells Celaena that the riddle does refer to something in the tomb and behind the wall, but that Celaena has not asked the proper question. Celaena, angry at his evasiveness, leaves before he can postpone the matter again.

That night, Celaena dreams of a barren ravine separating her from a living forest and a white stag. The dream is familiar and tied to this exact night of the year. The stag silently invites her forward, but the ravine seems bottomless and alive with memory, so Celaena does not cross, and the stag disappears into the wood.

Celaena wakes in darkness, shaken by the anniversary of the day everything she loved was taken from her and she awoke covered in blood that was not her own. With Fleetfoot beside her, Celaena stares into the lingering darkness of the dream, then leaves the castle long before dawn.

When Celaena misses dawn training, Chaol goes to her rooms and finds Nehemia there instead. Nehemia shows him Celaena’s note saying she has taken the day off and explains that Celaena has likely ridden far from the city because it is the tenth anniversary of her parents’ death.