Freya wakes as Bjorn lowers her from his horse at Halsar, the sedative salve wearing off and pain flooding back into her burned hand. Bjorn calls for the healer Liv and specifies the burn is from Tyr's fire. They are met by Ylva, Jarl Snorri's wife and lady of Halsar, who is sharp-tongued and immediately critical—questioning why Bjorn injured Freya and worrying about the usefulness of a shield maiden with a maimed hand. Freya, disoriented and nauseous, vomits bile and nearly collapses before Bjorn carries her inside the great hall.

Inside, Freya takes in the impressive hall—massive carved walls, a long stone hearth, antler chandeliers decorated with silver, and a second-level balcony. Bjorn settles her on a cot behind thick hangings at the rear of the hall, covers her in furs, and gives her water. As they wait for Liv, Freya notices the severity of her injury and fears losing her dominant hand. Bjorn asks if killing Vragi was worth it; Freya thinks of her brother Geir and his wife Ingrid and firmly answers yes. When Freya presses Bjorn on why he let her break free to kill Vragi, he admits he believed Vragi deserved it, though he expected her to use fists rather than grab a flaming axe.

Liv, a small red-haired healer blessed by the goddess Eir, arrives and examines Freya's devastated hand. Ylva hovers anxiously, focused entirely on Freya's strategic value as the prophesied shield maiden who will make Snorri king. Liv sends Ylva away to make a personal offering to Eir. Liv then burns a yellow substance and has Freya inhale the smoke, which acts as a powerful narcotic, relieving her pain and inducing euphoria. Under its influence, Freya blurts out that Bjorn has an unnaturally beautiful face and compares him to the god Baldur, embarrassing him visibly.

Liv cleans the wound—removing charred skin with tweezers, applying honey and moss—and prays to Eir for healing. At first nothing happens, and Freya fears she has been judged unworthy by the gods for hiding her gift and murdering Vragi. Bjorn, visibly panicked, challenges Eir aloud not to punish Freya. The moss then begins to grow miraculously, covering all of Freya's burns. Liv warns that the outcome is uncertain: when the moss withers, the flesh beneath could be perfectly healed or permanently scarred.

As the narcotic pulls Freya toward sleep, she overhears Liv and Bjorn speaking. Liv confirms Freya's shield magic threw Bjorn across a clearing, and she warns that Freya's arrival means war. Bjorn replies that war is inevitable. When Freya rouses briefly and asks Bjorn about Liv's anger, he explains that the seer's prophecy foretells Freya uniting Skaland under one king—an outcome likely achieved through violence—and that Hlin is a goddess of both war and protection. He tells Freya she is "unfated" and that nothing the seer foretold is set in stone, then walks away.