Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie continue Cassian's harsh Valkyrie training by attempting punishing holds from Gwyn's research into ancient techniques. They complain, joke, and recover together, and Nesta uses the Mind-Stilling exercises to endure the pain. During the banter, Cassian oddly presses Nesta to say what she would name a sword, which makes her suspicious that he is asking for a reason.

After training ends and Gwyn and Emerie drift toward the water station, Nesta confronts Cassian about the question. Cassian finally admits that the blacksmith did not simply make blades for her: when Nesta touched and hammered the metal, she unknowingly imbued two swords and a dagger with her power. He explains that she has Made three magical weapons with ancient power, something so rare that it is comparable to creating a new Dread Trove.

Nesta is less shaken by the magical revelation than by Cassian's wording when he says, "we don't know" what the weapons can do. She forces him to admit that Rhys, Feyre, and the others already knew, and that the Inner Circle actually debated whether she should be told. When Nesta demands names, Cassian confesses that Rhys and Amren voted against telling her, which devastates Nesta because Amren's distrust feels like a personal rejection.

Nesta immediately walls herself off behind the calm discipline she has been practicing, tells Cassian she does not care, and leaves despite Gwyn and Emerie's concern. Back in her room, she anticipates Cassian will come after her, waits until he is gone, and then asks the House if the hall is clear. Once she slips into the long stairwell, she finally releases her fury and heartbreak, descending without counting until the stairs end at a sunlit door.

The door opens before Nesta can touch it, and she steps out of the House into Velaris. Her arrival in the city marks both a physical breakthrough and an emotional rupture: the revelation about the blades has turned her anger away from herself and toward the people who judged her unworthy of the truth.