The Attor drags Feyre into a vast throne room crowded with faeries. On the dais, Amarantha lounges beside Tamlin, who sits masked and emotionless. Pressed to explain herself, Feyre declares she has come to claim the one she loves—Tamlin—hoping to break the curse.

Amarantha mocks Feyre and points to a mangled corpse nailed high on the wall: Clare Beddor, the human girl whose name Feyre had given Rhysand. The revelation and Clare’s torture devastate Feyre, yet she still insists on claiming Tamlin. Amarantha prods Tamlin, who denies knowing Feyre, a transparent lie meant to protect her.

Amarantha flaunts her cruelty by showing a ring containing Jurian’s living eye and a necklace with his finger bone, taunting both Feyre and the trapped soul. Tamlin remains silent and impassive, offering only a subtle widening of his eyes that warns Feyre against rash choices.

Bored and intrigued, Amarantha proposes a bargain: Feyre must complete three tasks, one each full moon, or solve a riddle at any time to win Tamlin’s freedom and break the curse. If she fails a task or answers incorrectly, she dies. Feyre demands the curse be fully broken and Tamlin’s court freed if she succeeds; Amarantha agrees, adding that Feyre will do basic work between tasks.

Despite Tamlin’s near-imperceptible plea not to agree, Feyre accepts, choosing this chance over immediate death. Amarantha seals the bargain and orders a “greeting.” The Attor and other faeries brutally beat Feyre until she loses consciousness, cementing the stakes of the deadly game she has entered.