Before dawn in the castle dungeon, Ravyn and Elm wait for King Rowan, both exhausted after three sleepless days. Ravyn remembers the night at Spindle House, when he, Elm, and Jespyr broke into the locked room and found Orithe dead, Hauth barely alive with ruined legs, and Elspeth beaten, bloodied, and slumped near the wall.

Ravyn’s relief at finding Elspeth alive turns to horror when Elspeth opens yellow eyes and speaks with a strange, detached calm. The Shepherd King reveals that Elspeth has set him free and that Elspeth is now quiet within her own mind. Using Elspeth’s body, the Shepherd King refuses Ravyn’s touch, claims responsibility for killing Orithe and maiming Hauth, and surrenders to the Destriers for an inquest before the King.

In the present, Ravyn tells Elm that the Shepherd King may be dangerous but has also kept them from being the ones imprisoned. King Rowan arrives with the Destriers, and they enter the emptied dungeon block where Elspeth lies unchained because previous attempts to restrain her wounded several guards. Ravyn hides his grief and fear, resolving to find the last Card, lift the mist, save Emory, and free Elspeth from the darkness possessing her.

King Rowan confronts the Shepherd King inside Elspeth’s cell, furious over Orithe’s death, Hauth’s maiming, and Elspeth’s infection. The Shepherd King taunts Rowan as a usurper and warns that if Rowan kills Elspeth, he will never complete the Deck, heal the infection, or stop the mist from consuming Blunder. The threat shifts Rowan from rage to reluctant curiosity.

The Shepherd King offers Rowan a bargain: release Emory Yew to his parents and use Elspeth’s blood instead. In return, the Shepherd King promises to help collect the Deck by finding the long-lost Twin Alders, the final Card. When Rowan doubts him, the Shepherd King reveals that only he can locate it because he was the one who hid it in the first place.