Isla wakes from an intense dream about Grim in armor and realizes she is in her Mainland castle bedroom. Grim has not sought her out since the matching ceremony, and Isla worries that Grim may have taken what he needed from Isla and moved on. Isla tries to dismiss the thought and refocuses on the search with Oro, but fear of dreaming about Grim again drives Isla out of bed.

Seeking ingredients for a Wildling sleeping elixir, Isla moves through abandoned castle halls and overhears a hidden conversation between Oro and Azul. Oro angrily calls Azul's plan madness and says Azul will sentence thousands to death. Azul answers that a realm has to die, but Isla accidentally makes a small noise before hearing more, and the conversation ends behind a slammed door.

That night, Isla and Oro remain on the Mainland and enter the vast forest beside the castle to search the second possible location for Lightlark's heart. The forest feels watchful and dangerous to Isla, with branches and vines seeming to react to her presence. Isla questions Oro about his lack of sleep and then confronts Oro about Azul, but Oro refuses to explain the plan and insists Azul is harmless to Isla.

Isla presses for Azul's history, and Oro reveals that Azul lost his husband when the curses were spun. Their conversation leads Isla to ask about inter-realm marriages and children, and Oro explains that children of different realms are born with only one realm's power. As they approach the entrance to Wild Isle, Oro tells Isla that all nature on Wild Isle is dead, so Lightlark's heart could not survive there.

Isla asks what Oro thought of Wildlings before the curses. Oro unexpectedly says Wildlings were once his favorite realm besides Sunling, remembering them as loyal advisers who trained him and taught him practical skills, though Oro now believes Wildlings have become what others say they are. Isla and Oro spend the night searching hundreds of coffiner trees; no tree attacks Isla, and Oro does not demand that Isla use her supposed powers because doing so could draw ancient creatures that even Oro fears.