Nesta wakes in Cassian’s arms, content and calm after the night they shared. They linger together tenderly, then make love again as dawn breaks, deepening the sense that their bond has shifted into something openly intimate and comforting for both of them.

The moment ends abruptly when Cassian notices the time and scrambles to leave for an annual snowball fight with Rhysand and Azriel at a mountain cabin. Before going, Cassian mentions that he must inspect the Illyrian legions for several days afterward, then leaves without even a farewell kiss. His sudden departure leaves Nesta amused at first, but quickly unsettled and wanting more of him.

Over the next three days, Azriel replaces Cassian in training and remains distant, giving Nesta only vague assurances that Cassian will return soon. Nesta clings to the Symphonia Cassian gave her and becomes consumed by missing him, discovering that satisfying herself physically does not ease the emptiness. Worried by the intensity of her need, she asks Gwyn and Emerie to spend the night at the House of Wind with her.

The evening begins quietly in the private library, where Emerie teasingly guesses that Nesta’s mood is because Cassian is good in bed. When Gwyn arrives, the House reveals its affection for Nesta by providing food, books, and any object they request. The three friends turn the night into a gleefully absurd game, filling the room with bubbles, silent fireworks, a miniature pegasus, dancing frogs, and other magical nonsense that lets them laugh freely together.

The mood turns serious when Gwyn admits that she fears she may never be brave enough to reenter the outside world. Nesta confesses she feels the same, recognizing that her protected life in the House is not yet the same as truly facing the world again. Gwyn then shares memories of her dead twin sister, Catrin, and says that in the end love mattered more than old fights. Her words make Nesta think of Feyre and realize that past wounds between sisters do not have to define the future. The friends begin making wish bracelets, and Nesta wishes for all three of them to have the courage to return to the world when they are ready and always find their way back to one another, affirming Gwyn and Emerie as her chosen family.