Feyre explores the manor gardens while memorizing paths and hiding spots, calculating how to find or steal a weapon since Tamlin took hers. She notes her window lacks a lock and that she could descend via wisteria vines—no immediate escape planned, but she wants options if desperation comes.

In a meadow and alcove, Feyre hears two sets of quick steps, sniffing, and giggling, then glimpses two small shimmering figures at the edge of her vision. Before she can confront them, Alis calls her to lunch; the figures vanish, leaving her rattled and with the unnerving sense of being watched by curious, playful fae.

That night, invited only to dinner, Feyre covertly steals a table knife, hiding it in her sleeve as Lucien talks about his magical carved eye. She gauges the house’s safety against unknown beings beyond it and considers Tamlin’s authority and the reach of his order that she not be harmed.

When Lucien needles her, Tamlin observes that Feyre “likes to hunt.” Feyre clarifies she hunted from necessity, and Tamlin explains how he deduced it from her home and her father’s hands. Lucien learns she is nineteen and calls her a skilled killer; Feyre reflects on her modest hopes for her family. Testing them, she asks what they do; Lucien jokes about human myths, and Tamlin gently asks about her mother. Feyre says her mother died of typhus when she was eight, and Tamlin offers, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Deciding to win Lucien’s favor to persuade Tamlin to send her home—before other fae arrive or the blight worsens—Feyre returns to her room. She packs a small satchel with clothes and the stolen knife, ready to leave at a moment’s notice.