Vivienne wakes Jude after the river incident and insists that Jude and Taryn come with her to the mortal-world mall. Jude dresses in modern clothes and reflects on how unfamiliar and costume-like human life feels, even though she and her sisters once dreamed of escaping Faerie. Vivi creates ragwort ponies, and the sisters ride from Elfhame to Maine, landing near the mall.

At the mall, Vivi tries to cheer Jude and Taryn, but the trip exposes their different attachments to the mortal world and Faerie. Jude apologizes to Taryn for getting her thrown into the river, while Taryn apologizes for taking Cardan’s bargain not to help Jude. Vivi dismisses Jude’s lost hope of knighthood and reveals that she has a human girlfriend, Heather, who has asked Vivi to move in with her.

Jude and Taryn meet Heather, who knows Vivi as “Vee” and has no idea Faerie exists. The sisters lie awkwardly about their family, claiming their father is conservative, while Heather wonders why she has not met Vivi’s relatives. Vivi suggests that all three sisters move to the mortal world, but Jude and Taryn resist: Jude feels she does not belong there, and Taryn believes Faerie is the only world they truly know.

After saying goodbye to Heather, the sisters head back through the parking lot. A mortal boy, Milo, touches Jude’s arm while apparently trying to flirt, and Jude reacts without thinking, punching and kicking him so violently that she nearly crushes his throat. Taryn pulls Jude away, and Vivi uses magic to confuse Milo’s pursuing friend. Jude realizes that her training and rage make her dangerous in the mortal world and tells Vivi she cannot return there.

Back in Faerie, Jude remains fixated on the emptiness and relief she felt after attacking Milo. At school, despite missing rehearsal for the Summer Tournament, Jude confirms to Fand that she will still fight, motivated now less by ambition than by pride and refusal to yield to Cardan. When Jude later sees Taryn crying beside Cardan, she assumes he has hurt or threatened her and shoves him against a thorn tree, warning him never to go near Taryn again. Cardan tells Jude she will regret it, but Jude feels too angry to care.