Emily, exhausted and already losing memories to Faerie, leaves Ariadne and Snowbell hidden in a gully camp and orders Ariadne to forage faerie foods to try to help Wendell. Emily refuses Ariadne’s scarf to avoid being identified by Wendell’s tailoring, accepts the last of Poe’s bread, and goes alone toward the lakeside castle, forcing herself to act like a harmless, dazzled tourist while noting her route.

On the castle grounds, Emily is rattled by thundering courtly riders and the disorienting enchantment of the labyrinthine architecture, struggling even to find an entrance. A comfortable mortal man with an Irish accent warns her away, but Emily maintains her “enchanted scholar” act. A suspicious faerie guard confronts her at a balcony; Emily improvises the identity “Professor Eustacia Walters” and flatters him into telling a tedious hunting tale, then is left behind—only to find the balcony has become a locked casement. The same mortal returns, reveals Emily is not enchanted, introduces himself as Callum Thomas, and, after hearing Emily seeks the former king’s chambers, brings her to Callum’s faerie husband (a queen’s brother) whose attention feels dangerously enchanting.

Emily’s next moments are a blank, and then she is inside a magnificent but abandoned, damp bedchamber—Wendell’s old rooms—dusty and invaded by a black-berried tree through a shattered window. A spotless dining table has been set for two with wine and food, suggesting someone still visits. Emily searches for Orga and evidence of Wendell, finds a silver sewing needle tucked under a table, and tries to use her jar of glimmering lint as bait, only to discover the faun horn is missing from her pack, likely lost earlier. After repeated, muddled searching, Emily finally spots Orga—a shadowy, indistinct cat—who leads Emily through a new door into a closet where Wendell’s fine garments lie piled, tooth-marked and fur-lined.

Orga insists on going toward distant voices; Emily checks Lilja’s compass and is alarmed when it points directly at Orga. When Orga begins loudly clawing at the door, Emily panics, grabs Orga, and stuffs her into a wire-reinforced sack, earning bloody scratches while running back to the bedchamber. There, Wendell’s stepmother—the queen—waits with guards and calmly identifies Emily as Wendell’s betrothed. The queen, visibly part mortal and self-consciously “singular,” uses compelling speech to extract answers, explains she has long watched Wendell, and reveals she planned to kill him because Emily’s cleverness and loyalty made Emily the true threat. She offers Emily a place in her “collection” of mortals and asks Emily to help bring about Wendell’s death.

Forced to admit she wants to remain in Faerie, Emily nevertheless refuses the queen’s offer and reveals her own trap: Emily has put faun-horn poison into the queen’s wine. As the queen begins to tremble and weaken, Emily intensifies the dose by splashing the remaining wine into the queen’s face, then bolts and clambers out the shattered window via the writhing tree. Emily races through the gardens singing badly to seem mad and avoid interference, then releases Orga, choosing to trust the compass; Orga slips through a gap between rosebushes that becomes a shortcut back to the lakeside path. The queen’s scream rings out, the owl-spider guardians mobilize, and Orga kills at least one guardian while leading Emily toward safety. Emily reunites with Ariadne and Snowbell, dons Wendell’s cloak to momentarily deter a guardian, and the three flee through short roads and barrows toward the nexus as Orga harasses and repels the pursuing guardians.