As rain pounds the carriage, Elspeth, Ravyn, Elm, and the Yews return to Castle Yew and rush to the library, where Emory has been brought after escaping Stone and walking through the night. Morette frets over Emory’s cold body while Elm uses the Scythe Card to warm him. Ravyn is furious and frightened because Emory’s escape could endanger Emory and expose Ravyn to the King’s wrath.

Emory wakes and insists he only wanted to come home because he is already dying and wants some control over what remains of his life. Emory does not recognize Elspeth at first, revealing the progression of his degeneration, but fragments of memory return when he connects her name to Spindle House and her father. Emory then discusses the Shepherd King, arguing that the Yews may descend from him because Castle Yew’s ancient ruins and yew trees suggest the Shepherd King once lived there.

Emory’s theory unsettles Elspeth because the Nightmare confirms nothing but reacts sharply when Elspeth asks for the Shepherd King’s true name. When Emory rises to eat, everyone sees how thin and frail he has become, and the Nightmare tells Elspeth that Emory’s degeneration is consuming both mind and body faster than expected. Ravyn says Emory may stay one night, but he must return Emory to Stone the next day.

At dinner, Elm confronts Ravyn for prioritizing Market Day instead of using the chance to search Spindle House for the Well Card. Ravyn reveals that the Ivys were sent to Spindle House that morning so the others could be publicly accounted for if the Well was stolen. The plan failed because the Ivys did not find the Card, and Morette explains that Card theft brings severe consequences: the wronged owner may demand an inquest using a Chalice Card, which is extremely difficult to deceive.

After nightfall, Jespyr returns with bad news: the infected boy and his parents have not been found, though Linden is barely alive. Once Emory sleeps under Morette’s watch, Elm and Fenir deliberately leave Elspeth and Ravyn alone. Their guarded distance after Market Day breaks when Elspeth asks whether Ravyn truly trusts her, and she confesses that she is degenerating and running out of time.

Ravyn responds with concern rather than fear, insisting Elspeth is safe with him and that only two more Cards are needed before she can be free. Elspeth cannot explain the Nightmare, but Ravyn’s trust and tenderness lead them into a more intimate relationship. In Ravyn’s room, Elspeth briefly escapes fear of her fate through physical closeness, though the chapter ends with her awareness that his comfort cannot truly stop what is happening to her.