Emily and Wendell arrive late to a rented house on a Greek hillside above the sea. The place is far larger than they need, but it sits within a short walk of the nexus door Emily memorized from glimpses through the winter faerie’s entrance. Emily resumes journalling after a long pause, reflecting that her earlier drive to record everything about Faerie may have exhausted her.

Before Wendell wakes, Emily goes down to the shore and thinks through what lies ahead. Wendell has promised to shield Emily from the fog that previously stole her sense of time in Faerie, and he has also promised—casually—to keep time in his realm roughly synchronized with the mortal world. Emily and Wendell do not know what state Wendell’s kingdom is in, though they assume Wendell’s stepmother is dead or at least magically crippled from the poison Emily slipped her.

Emily notes the growing force around them. Razkarden patrols above under a local glamour, other guardians wait nearby, and fauns with horn shadows and dogs have somehow reached them through hidden paths. A family of trolls sent by Poe has also joined, having agreed to ally with Wendell in exchange for the freedom to roam his realm. Finally, Snowbell’s jealous kin—the fuchszwerge—are waiting in the Grünesauge and will be let through once Emily and Wendell reopen the sealed door to St. Liesl from inside the winter faerie’s house.

Back at the house, Wendell is cheerful, joking with the on-site cook as breakfast is served. Wendell and Emily banter about Wendell’s preference for comfort and leisure, and Emily observes that Wendell looks fully recovered, though he still sometimes gets headaches when using magic after the horn poison.

Emily wakes Shadow and packs lightly, bringing her journal and her nearly finished mapbook draft. She admits she is both excited and unnerved to return to Wendell’s realm despite what it did to her sanity before, and she plans a long sabbatical from Cambridge even as her career strengthens through an upcoming article co-authored with Rose. Wendell takes only Orga; then Emily takes Wendell’s hand, and they leave the house without even closing the door, setting out for the nexus.