Ravyn Yew notices Elspeth Spindle’s thorn-cut hands and asks to examine them. The encounter turns dangerous when Ravyn asks why Elspeth was alone on the forest road fifteen days earlier. Elspeth recognizes Ravyn’s ivory-hilted dagger and realizes he was one of the masked highwaymen she fought, meaning she assaulted the Captain of the Destriers.

Terrified that Ravyn will arrest or kill her, Elspeth denies being on the road and flees into the mist with the Nightmare’s help. Ravyn pursues her through a harvested field, insisting he will not hurt her. When Elspeth nearly runs toward the returning King, his hounds, and his men, Ravyn uses his Nightmare Card to speak directly into Elspeth’s mind and command her to wait.

Elspeth falls in panic, and Ravyn catches up, warning her to stay quiet or both of them will be found. Elspeth fights him, injuring his face, but the approaching royal hunting party forces both of them into silence. During the struggle, Elspeth’s sleeve tears, exposing the black, twisted veins caused by her childhood infection.

Ravyn sees the veins but reacts with concern and curiosity rather than fear or hatred. Elspeth expects imprisonment or execution, but Ravyn says he will neither arrest nor kill her. He insists they must get inside because he wants to understand the gift she possesses and will not discuss it in an open field.

Elspeth questions what Ravyn heard while using the Nightmare Card and is relieved when he says he heard only a faint clicking, not the creature in her mind. Though Elspeth claims she has no magic, Ravyn calls her a decent liar and says she will fit in. Elspeth agrees to follow him into the castle through an eastern entrance, but Ravyn grows suspicious when she reveals she knows the women in the garden carry Providence Cards.