Mor admits privately that she misled Feyre: she is going to the Winter Court, but not immediately. Viviane knows the real timing, yet even Viviane does not know that Mor has gone first to Athelwood, the secret estate Mor bought three hundred years earlier for quiet, solitude, and horses.

Riding her mare Ellia across the snowy hills, Mor reflects on why Athelwood matters to her. Unlike winnowing, riding lets Mor feel distance, land, wind, and motion, making Mor feel alive. Though Mor dislikes being alone for too long, short retreats at Athelwood restore her.

As Mor surveys the estate, Mor thinks about Rhys’s request for Mor to travel to the continent as spy, courtier, and ambassador. Part of Mor longs to go far and wide, but Mor also resents the idea that Keir might believe his bargain with Eris forced Mor away. Mor has not told the others because Mor wants to choose for herself and does not want to darken the Solstice celebration.

Mor anticipates how the Inner Circle would react: Azriel would object out of concern for Mor’s safety, Cassian and Amren would approve, and Feyre would worry but support Mor. Mor especially fears hurting Azriel or deepening his withdrawal, though Mor knows the truth must eventually be shared.

Ellia suddenly senses something in the nearby woods. Mor searches with her senses and power, finding ordinary wildlife but also a patch of darkness tangled among thorns. The darkness feels familiar yet foreign, unlike Azriel’s shadows, and Mor’s power warns Mor not to touch or approach it.

Mor chooses caution and turns Ellia back toward Athelwood. As they ride away, Mor wonders what other unknown things might exist in lands the Night Court has not visited for millennia, and the thought seems to answer Rhys’s request: go.