Elluin lies with Slátra in the hutch when Kaan arrives at the Imperial Stronghold with his dragon. She finds him beautiful from the moment she first sees him, and he is stricken by her, too. When he returns later without his dragon, he asks what happened to Slátra’s eyes. He also asks when Elluin last ate and if she is living down there. Elluin does not bother answering. She is drained of energy and tired of losing the things she loves. She wishes only to take off her diadem and retrieve her dulled power so that she may wield enough to get Slátra home safely and seize back her throne.

Raeve wakes in a room she doesn’t recognize. When a flash of memory appears in her mind, showing her a hollow cavity behind the mirror on the room’s wall that contains a leather-bound book, Raeve is disturbed by it but checks behind the mirror anyway. She only manages to glimpse a hollow cavity behind the mirror that matches her memory before the door opens. She hurriedly backs away as a woman enters, introducing herself as Kaan’s sister. It is clear that she does not like Raeve, but Raeve is unsure why since she’s never met the woman before.