At Bitteryne’s B and B, Iris begins a letter to Roman while trying to pretend, for a moment, that there is no war or burden between them. As she writes, she feels vibrations and faint clinking beneath the floor, like picks striking stone. The sensation reminds Iris of the old story about Dacre’s underground realm, making her suspect something is wrong beneath the town, but she finally dismisses it as exhaustion and sends Roman a more vulnerable letter signed simply as “E.”

In Merrow, Roman longs to be alone and read Elizabeth’s letters, but Dacre summons him to the parlor and uses him as a secretary. Roman types a letter ordering Captain Hoffman to bring forces to Hawk Shire in six days and to prepare for an assault aided by Dacre’s doorways. While working, Roman notices maps spread across the table, including what appears to be a map of the underworld, and then hears Dacre dictate a second letter to Ronald Kitt, revealing that Roman’s father is actively serving Dacre and supplying him.

The meeting is interrupted when Captain Landis arrives wearing one of Dacre’s five keys. Landis reports that Dacre’s starving hounds have mauled handlers and that the workers below are being slowed by the chaos. Dacre refuses to release the hounds because his messengers are out, and instead coldly orders Landis to feed the weakest workers to them. As this happens, Roman notices Elizabeth’s latest letter lying on the bloodstained floor near the doorway to the underground and realizes Dacre could discover it at any moment.

When Landis adds that the sniper Dacre healed has awakened and is trying to harm himself, Dacre leaves to deal with the problem. Roman uses the distraction to cover the letter with his boot and save it from discovery. Alone, Roman finally retrieves it and writes back, admitting that Elizabeth is his secret and warning that they must be more careful. Their exchange grows more intimate, and when Elizabeth replies that she is heading west and signs off with love, Roman understands that she is traveling toward Enva’s side, into danger, and nearer to him.