During morning sword practice, Nesta, Gwyn, and Emerie struggle through drills while Cassian pushes them hard. Nesta's thoughts are colored by the intimacy she and Cassian shared the night before, but his focus quickly turns to training when he notices the women's breathing and mental stillness. When Gwyn asks how he recognized it, Cassian reveals that he knows the technique because he once fought beside the Valkyries.

The revelation shocks the women, and Cassian explains that he fought with the Valkyries in five battles before the Battle of Meinir Pass, where most of them died on a mission they knew was suicidal. Cassian says he tried to argue for helping them, but his Illyrian superiors beat him, chained him to a supply wagon, and left him unable to intervene before the slaughter. When Nesta jokes that their group should combine Illyrian and Valkyrie methods if they are to become Valkyries again, the idea lands with unusual force; Azriel watches closely, and Cassian decides Gwyn should bring him Merrill's material on Valkyrie techniques.

That evening at the River House, Cassian joins Feyre, Rhysand, Elain, Azriel, and Amren for dinner after coming to discuss Nesta's Made weapons. Feyre immediately says Nesta should be told the truth about the three magical blades, but Cassian asks to be the one to tell her when the moment is right. The conversation shifts to the Valkyries, and the group reflects that Nesta's fierceness, pride, and battle-readiness would have suited them well.

Elain then shares a story from their human life that reveals another side of Nesta. As a girl, Nesta used beauty, discipline, and expert dancing to outmaneuver a cruel heiress and bait a vain duke into proposing, proving both her strategic mind and her artistic gift. Feyre and Elain explain that their mother recognized that gift and weaponized it for social ambition, and Cassian leaves the meal realizing that fighting can channel Nesta's rage but cannot fully heal her unless she also finds joy, music, and art again.