Everlayne escorts Saeris through the opulent Winter Palace, explaining its rare stone and the Fae practice of revering the Corcoran gods. Saeris contrasts this with Zilvaren’s lost gods and Madra’s cultlike rule, then notices a troubling link between the twin sky goddesses Bal and Mithin and the “Twins” of her homeland. Everlayne warns Saeris not to look upon Zareth, god of chaos, and Saeris touches his boot anyway.

They enter the Grand Hall, where Saeris is dwarfed by the court’s scale and unnerved by a dragon skull displayed above the dais. King Belikon De Barra presides, and Saeris recognizes the sword she drew in Zilvaren. When Orious demands she bow, Saeris refuses, and Belikon declares that while she is briefly a “guest,” she will soon be a subject bound to Yvelian law. Saeris challenges him about her purpose and insists she must return for Hayden, but Belikon claims Madra has already destroyed Zilvaren and that Hayden is dead.

Belikon states Saeris’s “task”: she must awaken the quicksilver and reopen the portals between worlds, because someone reported she reopened a portal and “woke” the quicksilver. He threatens harsher treatment if she resists, then dismisses her. Everlayne pulls Saeris to a bench as Belikon calls for “the dog,” escalating the court’s tension.

Armored guards drag in the feral Fae male who previously seized Saeris: the feared exile known as Kingfisher. Belikon publicly whips the court into a frenzy over Kingfisher’s past atrocities and prepares to kill him, while Everlayne panics and begs the aged oracle Malwae to intervene. Malwae seizes the sword, bleeds blue onto its edge, and proclaims prophecy: Kingfisher will not die by Belikon’s hand, and Belikon must return a stolen pendant to him or House De Barra and the Winter Palace will fall.

General Renfis steps forward and argues that the war is going badly and that Kingfisher is the only “tool” that can shift it; Belikon agrees to send Kingfisher back to the front in a week but keeps him temporarily to help Rusarius “deal with the girl.” Belikon tosses the pendant to Renfis, who fastens it on Kingfisher, restoring his sanity enough for him to be removed. Outside the hall, Everlayne and Renfis argue about the delay and the danger of Kingfisher’s return; Kingfisher, sick and exhausted, demands whiskey and a bed. Everlayne then escorts Saeris away, finally admitting Yvelia has been at war for generations and warning Saeris that even friendly Fae may hide knives behind their smiles.