Atop Ramiel, Briallyn halts the storm with the Crown and reveals that she arranged the Blood Rite to exhaust Nesta before forcing her to surrender the Trove. She explains that Bellius told her about Nesta’s bond with Emerie, so Briallyn used Emerie as bait, expected Nesta to come after her, and allowed Gwyn to be taken as well. Briallyn also says she delayed confronting Nesta until Cassian arrived, using Eris as bait to draw him close enough for the Crown to enslave him.

Briallyn boasts that Bellius was another pawn and admits she armed the Rite for her own amusement. When Nesta asks why she wants this, Briallyn answers that she seeks retribution, power, and the Trove, and that she made Nesta unknowingly gather the objects for her. Briallyn insists that Nesta can summon the Trove despite its wards and declares that Cassian, as Nesta’s mate, is the leverage that will force her compliance.

Nesta refuses. In response, Briallyn orders the Crown-bound Cassian to attack her. Cassian tackles Nesta, pins her down, and draws the knife that killed Bellius, but his face shows horror and resistance as he fights Briallyn’s control. Briallyn threatens that if Nesta dies, the Night Court will still be coerced into giving up the Trove, and she orders Cassian to hold the blade at Nesta’s throat.

Facing death, Nesta finally accepts the depth and constancy of her love for Cassian. She silently shows him forgiveness and love even as Briallyn commands him to kill. Cassian, still struggling against the Crown, interprets the order in the only way left to him and turns the knife toward his own heart rather than murder Nesta.

That choice breaks something open in Nesta. As the sun rises, she unleashes the full force of her Cauldron-born power in an immense eruption that shakes the world around them. Nesta throws herself on Briallyn, seizes her, and pours out all her fury and magic until Briallyn’s body transforms and then disintegrates completely, leaving only the golden Crown behind.