Ruhn marvels that Bryce and the others manage not to kill Morven, then they immediately begin searching Avallen for answers. Bryce insists they start at the Avallen Archives before tackling the Cave of Princes, even as Flynn and Sathia admit their earth-based magic feels uneasy on Avallen, like the land is “rotted.” Inside the neglected, mostly empty archive, Bryce outlines their targets: any mention of the Starborn sword and knife, the mists, Pelias and Helena, and Avallen’s earliest history.

Sathia probes what Bryce’s possession of the prophesied knife means for the Fae, asking whether Bryce intends to unite them. Bryce coldly answers that the Fae do not deserve to be united, leaving Ruhn unsettled. The group splits up to comb the card catalog and shelves, while Ruhn notices Morven’s reaction to Lidia’s presence and feels an ongoing, charged awkwardness with Lidia as they work side by side.

Declan finds a stack of old maps that changes their focus: a First Wars-era map shows dozens of islands around Avallen, but a map from a hundred years later—and the modern map—shows only the single existing island. The group concludes the archipelago vanished rapidly, around the time the Asteri arrived. Bryce connects this to Silene’s memory of land “shriveling” when she hid monsters near the Prison, and to the Ocean Queen’s claim that islands withered in despair after the Asteri came, suggesting a pattern of corrupted, collapsing island strongholds.

Bryce privately warns Ruhn they have only a few days before Morven betrays them to the Asteri or mystics locate them, and she admits she has to check the caves “just in case,” implying she is not confident the archives will provide what she needs. After hours of searching, they find nothing more and head to an empty, sidelined dinner setup, realizing Morven’s court is dining elsewhere. Bryce and Hunt argue quietly when Bryce calls out Hunt’s guilt and shifting mood, and Baxian’s look urges Bryce to give Hunt time.

Over a subdued meal, Lidia speaks more like a person than an enemy, and Baxian thanks her for risking everything; Lidia says they are even if they can kill the Asteri. An older Fae woman shows them to their rooms, and Bryce notes the awkwardness when newly married Tharion and Sathia enter the same chamber. In Bryce and Hunt’s room, Bryce worries about their families and about finding anything useful on Avallen, while Hunt confesses fear of making choices that cost lives and admits he sometimes envied Shahar for dying before guilt could catch her.

Bryce reassures Hunt that she needs him—not the “Umbra Mortis”—and they reconnect physically. During sex, their powers surge and mingle so intensely that Bryce experiences a liminal, star-filled “between places” sensation, with Avallen seeming to thrum beneath their combined magic. Afterward they realize power has flowed both ways, and Bryce identifies the sensation as being “Made,” concluding her Made power from the Horn can transfer through their bond—another crucial mystery as they prepare to search the caves next.