King Benedict greets Evie by name and orders his knights to chain The Villain with special cuffs. Evie throws herself in front of Trystan to protect him, but a knight hoists her away and backhands her when she struggles, drawing blood from her lip. Trystan roars at the knight to stop, pulling against his chains. The king reprimands the knight for excessive force but proceeds with his plans. Benedict reveals he needs the guvres back—specifically their venom, which the female guvre could not produce without her mate—and tells Trystan he has interfered too much with the king's plans for Rennedawn's future.

Evie defiantly calls the king a coward. Benedict declares Trystan will be taken prisoner but that Evie is expendable. Otto Warsen, the blacksmith and confirmed traitor, seizes Evie from behind. Trystan, in desperation, begs King Benedict on his knees—offering to do anything if the king will spare Evie's life. Moved by surprise at the depth of Trystan's attachment, Benedict decides not to make Trystan watch Evie's death. Instead, a knight injects Trystan with a sedative, and he collapses unconscious. The king orders Trystan loaded into a cart bound for the Gleaming Palace and instructs Warsen to kill Evie, with two knights staying behind to ensure her body is returned.

Left alone with Warsen and two knights, Evie initially despairs, believing she will die. But Warsen's taunting laugh ignites her rage. She elbows him and stomps on his shin, breaking free momentarily, though the knights block her escape. Warsen tackles her, pins her arms with his knees, and begins strangling her. As her air runs out, Evie spots the enchanted dagger—the one that inexplicably never harmed her—lying on the ground where her satchel spilled open.

Warsen loosens his grip to taunt her, calling her "The Villain's whore." Evie slips her right hand free, grasps the dagger, declares herself Trystan's "fucking assistant," and slits Otto Warsen's throat.