Hunt and the others crawl out of the underground river onto a dark bank, soaked and freezing, guided by the light of Bryce’s star. Hunt confronts Bryce for making reckless unilateral choices after insisting they act together, and the argument escalates into a clash over fear, leadership, and the cost of fighting the Asteri. Hunt ultimately apologizes and promises to support her, but Bryce rejects “going along with it” and pushes forward into the tunnels anyway.

As they move through the misty caverns, Baxian asks how Bryce knew where to go. Bryce explains that these caves mirror the ones she traveled in the original Fae world: her star brightens to indicate the correct path, and it previously led her to the truth about Silene. Bryce admits she followed the same instinct here, believing the river would deliver them to another passage and another crucial truth, even as Tharion protests that Flynn and Declan are still captured and Bryce insists that reckoning will come later.

The narrative shifts to Ruhn the next morning at Avallen’s castle, where Flynn and Declan have not appeared and neither have Morven or Ruhn’s “Murder Twin” cousins. Lidia reads Ruhn’s worry immediately, and Ruhn concludes Morven has likely taken Flynn and Declan to the Cave of Princes—possibly as bait for Ruhn, and possibly to move against Bryce. Despite Lidia urging strategy over haste, Ruhn insists on rescuing his friends, and the two arm themselves and set out together.

Back in the caves, Hunt stays on high alert as Bryce leads them into a carved black-stone chamber. The triangular door seals behind them, making it clear Bryce is the only one who can open it. In the center lies a white marble sarcophagus topped with an armored Fae statue—Prince Pelias’s tomb—its hands clasped around a missing object, which Bryce identifies as where the Starsword rests when not in use.

Bryce, radiating cold fury, addresses Pelias as a monster and hints that “she” ultimately outwitted him. When Hunt and Tharion look for obvious answers in the wall carvings, Bryce reveals the chamber’s true purpose: the tunnels and carvings were not built by Pelias. By channeling starlight into the etched “rivers,” Bryce exposes a hidden, living starlight map that flows directly to the sarcophagus. Following the illuminated clue, Bryce shoves the coffin aside to uncover a concealed staircase, declaring the site was built by Helena.