Feyre begins the morning with Rhysand before he drops her at the House of Wind for training with Cassian. Cassian is in a foul mood, and after warm-ups he admits why: he is angry that Feyre and Rhysand hid the fact that Feyre is High Lady before the trip to Hybern. Cassian explains that as Rhysand’s mate, Feyre was someone they would protect for Rhysand’s sake, but as High Lady she belongs to the entire Inner Circle and they belong to her, so the secret changed how exposed and unprotected she was in their eyes.

As they spar, Cassian pushes Feyre to confront how little value she places on her own importance. Feyre insists she only did what was necessary in Hybern and at the Spring Court because she could not bear for others to suffer in her place. Cassian counters that the Inner Circle was terrified for her, and he reveals that Rhysand was panicked throughout her absence even if he appeared calm. He compares Feyre’s self-sacrificing choices to Rhysand’s habit of carrying everything alone, then warns that in the coming war Rhysand will take the worst of any fight with Hybern himself if the other High Lords and Keir fail to help.

That warning unsettles Feyre because she recognizes it as true. Their conversation is interrupted when Nesta arrives, stiff and sharp-tongued, and she immediately begins trading insults with Cassian. Unwilling to be caught between them, Feyre silently reaches through the mating bond to ask Rhysand for help. Rhysand, occupied with a meeting, sends Azriel instead.

Azriel arrives and claims he needs to start Feyre’s lesson early, giving her an excuse to escape. He flies her to a mountain lake bordered by pines and granite, explaining that water is safer than rock if she falls. On the shore, Feyre admits she has not summoned Illyrian wings in a long time, and touching the magic Tamlin gave her stirs both pain and a fierce sense of triumph. Azriel calmly coaches her through shaping the wings, correcting the structure and muscle placement until they match true Illyrian wings.

Once the wings are formed, Azriel carefully examines them with Feyre’s permission and praises the precision of her magic and artistic attention to detail. He then begins the practical lesson: Feyre must learn to keep the wings off the ground, lift them, spread them, fold them, and maintain her balance. The effort is immediately painful and awkward, and Azriel bluntly tells her she needs far more strength in her back, core, arms, and thighs. By the end of the lesson, Feyre is exhausted and doubtful that flying lessons are worth the effort, but she has taken the first real step toward mastering the new body and power she can create.