Oak finds Wren waking in her chambers, and for a brief moment her expression softens with what he reads as longing as she touches the nape of his neck. Before he can speak his feelings, Wren invokes the power of Grimsen's bridle—which she now controls through him—and commands him onto his knees and into silence. Oak experiences firsthand the helplessness Wren endured under Lord Jarel and Lady Nore, realizing too late he should have left when he had the chance.

Wren rings for guards and questions Oak coldly. He tries to repent for hiding the truth about Mellith from her and pleads not to be returned to the dungeons, offering to remain at her feet. Fernwaif arrives with the falcon Bran, who is humiliated to find the prince in Wren's room. Wren orders Fernwaif to summon the prison guards while Bran kicks Oak and accuses him of plotting assassination.

To demonstrate the true horror of compelled obedience, Wren forces Oak to crawl across the floor to her, leaving him flushed with shame and fury. She threatens worse degradations—being used as a bench, eating filth, kissing her hem—drawing on cruelties she witnessed under Lord Jarel. Oak realizes the bridle's straps will tighten and eventually become permanent if worn long enough, the very fate Wren once suffered.

Straun arrives with a scarred guard. Wren orders Oak's wrists bound and announces he may receive ten strikes of an ice whip in the Great Hall tomorrow, letting dread serve as part of his punishment. When Oak asks whether he is a hostage, lover, or possession, Wren admits she does not yet know. She commands him via touch to obey Straun without trickery and return to his cell, then sends the guards to answer to Hyacinthe—Oak's particular enemy. As Oak is led away, a charged look passes between them.