Unable to sleep after Wendell Bambleby’s proposal, Emily Wilde admits that she does want to marry him, which makes the decision more dangerous rather than simpler. Emily Wilde is tempted to go to Wendell Bambleby at once, partly out of desire and partly because she wants to test whether physical intimacy would suit a marriage. Just as Emily Wilde opens her door to do so, an unnatural calm overtakes her and redirects her actions.

Emily Wilde notices that Wendell Bambleby’s shadow-ring has become a ring of ice, and she immediately understands that she is under a powerful faerie enchantment. The spell compels Emily Wilde to dress warmly and leave the cottage, leading her toward the king in the tree. Although Emily Wilde recognizes the magic, she cannot simply break it; instead, she begins looking for ways to influence it by appealing to the enchantment’s own logic, such as persuading it to let her put on gloves because her hands are cold.

Outside, Emily Wilde sees the axe she left in the chopping stump the previous day and realizes it may offer her only chance of escape. By imagining the danger of wolves in the forest, Emily Wilde convinces the enchantment that carrying a weapon is sensible. Once she has the axe in hand, Emily Wilde gradually maneuvers herself into position at the stump while hiding her true intention from the spell for as long as possible.

At the last possible moment, Emily Wilde throws all her will against the enchantment and gains a brief instant of freedom. Using the technique Lilja taught her for chopping wood, Emily Wilde brings the axe down on her own third finger, the one wearing the enchanted ring. The severed finger breaks the spell, but the shock and pain are overwhelming; Emily Wilde vomits, nearly blacks out, and eventually manages to press fabric against the wound.

After sobbing in the snow from pain and relief, Emily Wilde returns to the cottage and bandages her hand. The chapter ends with Emily Wilde making a deliberate choice: despite having freed herself from compulsion, she sets out again for the white tree on her own terms. The result is a major shift, because Emily Wilde changes from someone being dragged into the winter court’s design into someone consciously advancing toward its source.