Kingfisher leads Saeris, an unconscious Carrion, and Onyx away from the Winter Palace without passing through the nearby town, taking treacherous, snow-buried forest paths to avoid being spotted. As eerie screams echo in the darkness, Kingfisher explains they are “shades,” non-corporeal echoes of criminals who died in distress, trapped in the Wicker Wood.

During the long, miserable ride Saeris argues with Kingfisher, who taunts her about stealing his ring and makes crude flirtations. Eventually they reach a muddy road and a lit, run-down riverside tavern. Outside, a horned stable hand tries to buy Onyx and then Carrion; Saeris refuses, while Kingfisher threatens the stable hand into keeping Carrion safe.

Inside the crowded tavern, Saeris is overwhelmed by the mix of Fae and other beings. Drunk, biting faeries draw blood from Saeris’s hand, and Kingfisher orders beer and a harsh green spirit. He forcibly disinfects Saeris’s cuts with the liquor, admitting he “cares” only because Saeris is crucial to his larger goal of ending the war and protecting his people.

As Saeris drinks and worries about Hayden, Kingfisher reveals their destination: his home, Cahlish, a borderland fiefdom warded by his father so Belikon cannot enter. The refuge is also a battlefront, and Kingfisher insists Saeris survives by staying close to him.

Renfis arrives with grim news: Everlayne is furious, and Kingfisher has worsened matters by taking Belikon’s Alchemist and stealing the sword Solace. Their tense argument draws attention; patrons recognize Renfis and then Kingfisher, spreading the name “Kingfisher” through the room. Instead of attacking, warriors and townsfolk kneel and recount how Kingfisher and Ren saved them in past battles, raising a toast of “Sarrush.” Overwhelmed and denying he is still that hero, Kingfisher bursts out into the night, leaving Saeris stunned that the male she knows as a brutal captor is revered as a living legend.