After returning from the Prison, Feyre finds Rhys, Cassian, Mor, and Azriel waiting in the town house. Rhys reports what he learned from the Bone Carver: Hybern used the Cauldron to bring Jurian back and is likely hunting both halves of the Book of Breathings to break the Wall. The group immediately treats Hybern’s theft of a missing piece of the Cauldron from a Night Court temple as an act of war, and Rhys decides they must begin planning both to recover the Book and to infiltrate Hybern.

As they discuss how to find the Book, Azriel offers to use his sources in the Summer Court and human lands, but Rhys refuses to let the information leave the room. Rhys then reveals the Bone Carver’s theory that Feyre, carrying traces of all seven High Lords’ powers, may be able to track magically hidden objects and perhaps handle the Book itself. Feyre resists the idea, but Rhys says they need to test her before risking a mission to the Summer Court.

Rhys proposes a brutal test: Feyre must enter the cottage of the Weaver, an ancient and dangerous creature, and identify an object the Weaver once stole from him. Mor and Azriel object, but Rhys leaves the choice to Feyre. Though drained and emotionally numb after the day’s revelations, Feyre agrees. Rhys then adds another responsibility, naming her a potential emissary to the human realm because they will need the mortal queens to bring them the human half of the Book of Breathings.

Rhys explains that the human world must be warned and prepared if Hybern breaks the Wall, and that Feyre’s former human identity makes her uniquely suited to speak to them. He proposes using Feyre’s family estate as neutral ground for a meeting with the queens. Cassian objects to involving Feyre’s family, but Mor argues that war is coming regardless and that using the estate may save lives. Feyre accepts the burden, deciding she will persuade Nesta and Elain to help, and the group settles on a plan: test Feyre with the Weaver first, then use her to pursue both halves of the Book and move against Hybern.

That night, Feyre dreams of the Bone Carver’s gruesome imagery and wakes at dawn to Rhys knocking at her door. He rushes her into fighting leathers and a belt of knives, explaining that time matters because Hybern’s agents may soon start hunting the Book as well. Feyre realizes Rhys pushed her reading lessons partly because he suspected she might need to read the Book or its translations, and Rhys admits that was one of his motives, though he insists she needed the skill regardless.

As Rhys straps the knives onto her legs, he explains the rules of the test. The Weaver is blind but lethally perceptive; Feyre must make no sound, touch nothing except the object Rhys wants back, and escape quickly. Rhys believes his magic on the object will let Feyre sense it and mask her presence if the Bone Carver was right about her powers. When Feyre accuses him of using her as a thief, Rhys bluntly confirms that he cannot retrieve the item himself because the Weaver knows him and the laws protecting her make the risk too great. He calls Feyre his salvation, underscoring how central she has become to his plans against Hybern.