Feyre, Rhysand, Cassian, Azriel, Mor, Nesta, and Elain arrive at an Illyrian mountain war-camp, where the damp cold and hostile greeting immediately show how unwelcome the Archeron sisters are. Rhys deliberately presents himself as High Lord rather than as an Illyrian warrior, then gives firm orders about the army’s coming move south after the Wall’s fall. Cassian supports the briefing, while Azriel’s cold silence and the other warlords’ unease reveal old resentments inside the Night Court’s own forces.

The tension worsens when Devlon notices Nesta and demands to know what she is. Nesta answers that she is a witch, and the assembled Illyrian lords visibly recoil, confirming that they sense something unnatural and dangerous in her. Cassian cuts off further questioning, but Devlon still warns that Nesta should be kept away from females and children, so Rhys quietly tells Feyre to take the sisters into the war tent before the confrontation escalates.

Inside the tent, Mor explains that witches gather power beyond what the Cauldron naturally gave them, which helps frame why Nesta disturbs others so deeply. Elain, focused on the coming war, asks whether many soldiers will die, and Nesta answers honestly that they will. Because the group is about to enter the human lands and ask Graysen’s household for refuge, Mor glamours Elain to look fully human again; the transformation strips away her Fae radiance, and Elain reflects on how ordinary she now appears.

Rhys then winnows the group to Graysen’s estate in the human lands, where they find a massive walled stronghold guarded by heavily armed men. Feyre immediately sees that the place could serve as a defensible shelter for human refugees if its lord agrees. Standing before guards who train arrows on her throat, Elain masters her fear and announces herself as Graysen’s betrothed, begging for sanctuary and opening the Night Court’s attempt to secure human aid.