In the aftermath of the battle, Feyre meets Miryam and Drakon and quickly likes them. She learns that Jurian survived their confrontation because Mor persuaded them not to kill him, and Rhys reveals that Jurian is helping Lord Graysen's men tend the wounded. Seeing that the war may now shift into a struggle over dangerous power, Feyre asks whether Cretea can still serve as a secret hiding place. When Miryam and Drakon realize she means the Cauldron, they agree to take it away quietly on one of their ships so no court can claim it.

A day later, Feyre and Rhys turn to the harder work of peace. They arrange a meeting at the Archerons' ruined estate because it is one of the few places large enough to hold rulers, generals, humans, and Fae together. Feyre, still shaken but steadier after finally sleeping through the night beside Rhys, prepares to host a gathering meant to address what comes after Hybern's defeat.

The arrivals expose how fragile any peace will be. Beron ignores Lucien, Eris offers only a restrained acknowledgment that suggests future political debts, and Tamlin silently rejects Lucien after seeing him in Illyrian leathers, leaving Lucien visibly wounded but unwilling to ask for forgiveness. The other High Lords, Miryam and Drakon's people, and eventually Jurian and a reluctant Graysen all enter the damaged house, forcing old enemies and uneasy allies into the same room.

Vassa arrives last and immediately changes the stakes of the meeting. She offers condolences for Feyre's father, tells Nesta that he had been kinder to her than her own father, asks Feyre to break her curse, and warns that the remaining human queens may still intervene in any peace negotiations even though they avoided this battle. When Nesta hesitates outside the meeting, clutching one of their father's old carvings, Feyre asks her to stand with her anyway. Together they enter before the assembled leaders, and Feyre opens the summit by declaring that she belongs to both the human and Fae worlds and wants to renegotiate the Treaty.