Bryce, left alone while the Autumn King remains shut in his study, prowls through the villa looking for any way to contact the outside world or escape. She raids the well-stocked kitchen and wine cellar, then checks hidden tech panels and entertainment systems, only to find everything either locked, dark, or deliberately disabled.

As Bryce searches the upper floors, she discovers a wing that appears to be the Autumn King’s private suite, locked tight. At the far end of the other wing, she finds Ruhn’s old room left like a time capsule of his rebellious youth, preserved from before he returned from Avallen with the Starsword. Bryce realizes she has never asked Ruhn about how he got out from under their father’s control.

In Ruhn’s desk, Bryce finds drug paraphernalia and a tub of silver nitrate burn balm—evidence of pain and damage tended in secret. Shaken and still restrained by gorsian shackles, Bryce silently prays she will survive long enough to tell Ruhn she is glad he escaped this place, but she recognizes the Autumn King’s patience will not last forever.

Elsewhere, Hunt reflects in awe on what Lidia has orchestrated: with help from Declan, Flynn, and Ophion, she has freed Irithys, Queen of the Fire Sprites, and turned that symbolic liberation into a massive strike meant to signal hope to the outcasts and the rebellion. Hunt understands that while the attack served the cause, the escape itself was driven by Lidia’s determination to save Ruhn.

Lidia drives Hunt, Ruhn, and Baxian toward the coast for an aerial extraction, but the road ends in an impassable olive grove. Badly injured, Hunt and Baxian force their wings to work, and Lidia orders them to carry Ruhn to a waiting “Depth Charger.” Knowing Mordoc will prioritize her capture, Lidia refuses to be carried; she shifts into her hind form, shares a last, tender nuzzle with Ruhn, then bolts into the trees to draw pursuit.

As Hunt and Baxian lift Ruhn into the air, Ruhn realizes Lidia is not coming with them. Mordoc leads a pack of dreadwolves straight after her, and an aerial legion also closes in on the fleeing males. Over the sea-facing side of the mountain, Ruhn sees the terrain drop away into a sheer cliff above the water—implying Lidia is racing toward a deadly precipice with the wolves at her heels.