Saeris drifts in and out of a freezing, painful darkness, hearing a soft-voiced woman speak and sing to her as her sensation slowly returns. When Saeris finally wakes, she finds herself in an opulent blue room with paintings, books, and clean linens, and she realizes she is not in the Third.

A young woman introduces herself as Everlayne and gives Saeris shockingly abundant clean water. As Saeris studies Everlayne, she notices Everlayne’s pointed ears and confronts the impossible: the Fae are real. Saeris recounts her last memory—Madra’s palace, stopping Harron’s dagger, drawing a sword, molten silver, and a male emerging—while Everlayne confirms the sword “called” a Fae male and reveals Saeris has been unconscious for ten days and healed by a renowned healer, Master Eskin.

Everlayne says they are in Yvelia, at the Winter Palace, but their conversation is interrupted when a tattooed warrior, Renfis, storms in demanding “his chain” back. Saeris realizes the dark-haired male who took her from the palace put the chain around her neck; the necklace feels unnaturally cold and thrumming. Everlayne reluctantly helps Saeris remove it, and Renfis carefully seals it in a velvet pouch, warning that the male is struggling without it and must leave soon to avoid discovery.

After Renfis departs, Everlayne pushes Saeris to bathe, but Saeris insists she must return home to protect Hayden and the Third from Madra’s vengeance. Everlayne bluntly tells Saeris she will not be allowed to leave: Saeris and the retrieved sword are too important, and Everlayne’s father intends to keep her. Everlayne identifies her father as Belikon De Barra, King of the Yvelian Fae, and says Saeris must meet him shortly.

Saeris sobs through a lavish bath, sickened by the waste of water while her loved ones may be dying of thirst. Everlayne then forces Saeris into a restrictive royal-blue gown and styles her hair into an elaborate braid, explaining that appearing improperly dressed could land Saeris in the cells. With Saeris cleaned, dressed, and made presentable, Everlayne tells her to brace herself: it is time to meet the king.