At breakfast, the missing keys to the estate gates are briefly noted, but the bigger tension comes from the aftermath of Feyre’s staged late-night encounter with Lucien. Tamlin is brooding, Lucien pointedly keeps his distance to preserve appearances, and the Hybern royals are irritated at delays. Ianthe then arrives and claims that the land around her temple is dying and tainted by naga, clearly trying to recover influence after Feyre embarrassed her. Feyre calmly belittles the report as a groundskeeping problem and offers to inspect it only after returning from the Wall, which leaves Ianthe frustrated.

When Ianthe asks whether Tamlin will accompany the group to the Wall, Feyre cuts in and insists that he stay behind. Jurian needles Tamlin about distrusting Hybern, and Feyre reinforces that she can protect herself. Ianthe then tries a different tactic, warning that the Night Court might steal Feyre away; Feyre pretends to become frightened, and Jurian dismisses the threat. Ianthe presses further by suggesting Tamlin return Rhysand’s family wings to placate him, and Feyre is internally enraged. Tamlin quietly admits that he burned the wings long ago, seeming ashamed, and after Feyre soothes him, he permits the journey while making it clear to Lucien that “be careful” is also a threat.

The party reaches the second cleft in the Wall in a day by repeatedly winnowing, though the effort is draining because each person must carry another. Feyre and Lucien each transport a sentry, while Dagdan carries Brannagh and Jurian, leaving them with few supplies and not enough tents. That night, the camp is tense and mostly silent. Jurian questions the sentries, the Hybern twins withdraw early, and Feyre ends up sharing a cramped tent with Lucien.

In the tent, Feyre and Lucien discuss Tamlin’s possessiveness and the deeper reasons for the Spring Court’s bargain with Hybern. Lucien explains that the bargain is magically binding and that breaking it could strip Tamlin of power or kill him. He reveals that he previously went to Day Court scholars to try to find a way to sever Feyre’s bargain with Rhysand, but he and Tamlin kept it secret to avoid giving false hope or alerting Rhys. Lucien also confesses that after Feyre left, Tamlin destroyed parts of the manor and executed the sentries who had guarded her once he had extracted information from them, showing how far Tamlin had spiraled. When Lucien nearly hints that Spring might use the alliance with Hybern for some later advantage, he quickly pulls back, but Feyre recognizes that he is hiding more than he says.

In the morning, Jurian wakes them and catches Feyre and Lucien sleeping close together, which Feyre realizes he may later weaponize against them. Brannagh taunts Feyre at the stream, crudely suggesting Lucien would be an appealing choice because of his Autumn Court blood and bragging about her own sexual cruelty during the War. As the group hikes toward the breach, Jurian suddenly swears and draws his sword. Feyre and Lucien run to the Wall and find the source of the alarm: three Children of the Blessed are staring at them through the hole, creating a dangerous new complication at the border.