Antonetta recalls discovering a hidden tunnel beneath her family manor when she was fifteen, during a period of misery and isolation after her friends abandoned her. The tunnel begins behind a painted cellar panel and branches through old stone corridors, some sealed and one leading to an abandoned building in the Maze.

Over the years, Antonetta has kept the tunnel secret from her mother and the servants. Since being promised to Artal, Antonetta has repeatedly checked the tunnel entrance for reassurance, treating it as a possible escape route from a marriage and wedding night that repulse her.

Antonetta thinks bitterly of Artal's threat: he has offered to make their First Night private only if Antonetta arranges a meeting with Prosper Beck, the man who taught Antonetta sword-fighting as a teenager. Antonetta knows the demand is impossible, and she suspects Artal is being directed by someone more cunning, because Artal is too crude and simple to devise such a scheme himself.

Antonetta wonders who is using Artal and how that person learned Prosper Beck's name. Antonetta also remembers Kel's horror when Antonetta told him about Artal's First Night plan, but Antonetta cannot tell whether Kel's reaction came from personal care for Antonetta or from Kel's general empathy.

As Antonetta sits near the concealed tunnel, Antonetta reflects on how little others understand the depth of Antonetta's rage. Antonetta has trained herself to hide hatred behind a compliant smile, and Antonetta resolves that she will endure the wedding and First Night outwardly smiling before pursuing revenge.