Just after dawn, Cassian is summoned to the river house after a sleepless night spent thinking about having sex with Nesta again. In Rhys’s office, he joins Rhys, Amren, and Azriel and finds three sheathed weapons on the desk: a sword, a dagger, and a great sword. Rhys explains that the blacksmith Nesta visited brought them in a panic, calling them cursed. When Cassian says Nesta hammered all three blades in the forge, Amren realizes Nesta must have accidentally infused them with her Cauldron-born power while the metal was still hot.

Amren explains that no one has Made a magic sword in ten thousand years and compares the weapons to ancient artifacts such as Gwydion. She believes the great sword, which Nesta worked on longest, should be treated like a new piece of the Dread Trove. That conclusion immediately raises the stakes: if others learn Nesta can create such objects, they might kill or capture her. Cassian insists Nesta should be told, but Amren argues that Nesta must remain ignorant for now, fearing what she might create if she acts in anger or defiance. Azriel agrees with Cassian that hiding the truth is wrong, and Rhys compromises by saying Feyre will cast the deciding vote when she returns.

The conversation then turns to Feyre’s pregnancy. Rhys admits that Drakon, Miryam, Thesan, and their healers found no solution because Seraphim and Peregryn wings are flexible, while Illyrian wings are rigid enough to kill Feyre during labor. Rhys confesses that he still has not told Feyre how likely death is, because he cannot bear to take away her happiness during the pregnancy. He also reveals that he begged Helion to search his libraries for any historical answer. Cassian and Azriel try to support him, but the scene makes clear that hope is fading and that only a miracle seems capable of saving Feyre.

After Amren warns them not to unsheathe the weapons and leaves, Cassian’s curiosity wins out. He persuades Rhys to draw the blades using magic so no one touches them directly. The great sword resists Rhys’s power before revealing a glowing blade filled with moonlike light and crackling sparks, while the dagger radiates cold and the other sword feels hot and angry. The three males are awed and unnerved by the weapons’ distinct power. Amren returns, unsurprised that they ignored her, and shares a rumor that Amarantha once found the ancient magic sword Narben and cast it into the sea when it would not submit to her.

Seeing the blades’ power, Amren declares that Rhys could use them to make himself High King of Prythian. She argues that a united realm under one ruler would be stronger against Beron, Briallyn, and looming foreign threats, and Azriel and Cassian both acknowledge the strategic logic. Rhys refuses completely, insisting his power exists to defend his people, not to conquer others, and that he does not want the crown. Amren counters that the Cauldron may have guided Nesta into Making the weapons and placed all three Archeron sisters beside Rhys for a purpose. When Rhys still rejects the idea, Amren leaves him with a warning that the Cauldron’s favor may not remain his forever if he will not accept what it offers.