After Filick leaves with the Well Card hidden in his Physician robes, Elspeth remains weak from the poison and rests in the parlor. Balian brings broth while guests begin waking, and Elspeth hopes to see Ione. The Nightmare warns that someone is coming, and Tyrn appears, claiming Opal is waiting in Elspeth’s room.

Elspeth follows Tyrn upstairs despite her weakness, noticing his pallor, silence, and evasiveness. The Nightmare senses that Tyrn is hiding something. When Elspeth reaches her bedroom, Opal is not there; instead, Hauth Rowan waits in the shadows, and Tyrn forces Elspeth inside.

Hauth reveals that Tyrn has betrayed Elspeth, apparently not through Scythe compulsion but out of fear of exposure. Tyrn leaves and locks Elspeth in with Hauth. When Elspeth screams for help, Hauth silences her, and after Elspeth strikes him, he uses the Scythe to command her to hold still. Elspeth resists the Card’s control with the Nightmare’s strength, injures Hauth’s damaged hand, and knocks the Scythe away.

Hauth then uses the Black Horse Card for speed, overpowers Elspeth, and ties her to a chair, worsening her broken wrist. He confirms that he knows Elspeth was in the wood and that she is infected, information Tyrn gave up after being threatened with treason and death. Hauth explains that he plans to use Elspeth as leverage against Ravyn, Elm, and Jespyr, forcing Ravyn to reveal their secret activities and step down as Captain in exchange for keeping Elspeth’s infection from the King.

Elspeth refuses to submit and spits in Hauth’s face, prompting him to strike her. Cornered and realizing the price, Elspeth asks the Nightmare—the Shepherd King—for help as her degeneration nears its end. Under the Nightmare’s guidance, Elspeth tears her wrist free from the bindings just as the door opens, and Orithe Willow enters wearing a brutal metal claw, greeting Elspeth coldly.