Mildred is overwhelmed by this revelation. Vane solicitously serves her tea and reveals that he knows her history. Vane has only one portrait of his mother, Queen Kalista, but it has been destroyed by his father. He clumsily tries to kiss Mildred, but she shoves him away. He is baffled by her reaction, promising to “give [her] everything a female wants” (114) if she allows it. Mildred rejects the idea that physical comforts can give rise to love. Vane grows angry that she does not want to fall in love with him and help him break the wards. He taunts her about having a sexual relationship with “a male who’d rather die than admit he cares for you” (116), then vanishes.

Mildred spends the night wondering how Garran, Atakan, and her father will react to her disappearance. She fears that it will lead to war, for she knows that her father considers her a possession; if she were to be harmed, he would perceive this as a sign of his enemies’ disrespect of him. Vane’s magical shadows crowd her, and she realizes that he has already been using his abilities to spy on her at Cloud Castle. Vane returns at dawn and is amused by Mildred’s defiant attitude.

He explains the curse that afflicts the Unseelie lands, saying that because Atakan’s blood was used to bind the wards, the Seelie prince’s “heart” must be stolen in order to break them. He explains that the Unseelie fortress was built, in part, with the bodies of those who died in the first war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The Unseelie consider this an honor; their ghosts serve as guards. Vale denies spying on her with his shadows, but Mildred doesn’t believe him, and she does not get a definitive answer from him. He claims that he learned about Mildred and Atakan though gossip and nonmagical spies.

Vane reiterates his offer to give her anything she wants, and Mildred feels angry that she is once again a political pawn for a king.

Mildred dresses in the beautiful clothing that Vane provides and then goes to explore the castle, encountering a black cat on her way to the library. Cerwin, Vane’s closest friend, introduces himself, and the cat appears and shifts into a faerie woman named Daylia: Cerwin’s mate and the castle steward. Daylia gives Mildred a tall stack of “very steamy” books to read. As Mildred takes the books back to Vane’s bedroom, she hears the couple playfully debating whether Mildred is dangerous.

Vane doesn’t return for several days, and Mildred spends her time reading. Daylia periodically visits and lists Vane’s good qualities, but Mildred is otherwise left alone and given fine food. Mildred considers this time to be akin to a vacation. When she emerges from Vane’s rooms, the staff whispers about her potential to destroy the wards. She meets Vane in the gardens and finds him disheveled and bloody from fighting. He is holding a baby felynx. When Mildred cuddles the creature, it bonds to her. Vane claims that the felynx is now her responsibility. She tries to give it back to him, but he refuses.

Mildred dislikes how easily Vane makes her lose control of her emotions, as she has relied upon her control to survive in Atakan’s Cloud Castle. Daylia praises the baby felynx and urges Mildred to name the creature, claiming that is now “far too late” (136) to avoid connecting with the felynx. She names it “Meadow.”

Vane confides that when he was a child, he first learned how to fly when his father pushed him off a balcony. The experience increased his fear of heights, and he rarely flies these days. Mildred protests when Vane refuses to give her a separate bedroom, and she refuses to back down to his challenge about sharing a bed. The two flirtatiously banter, and Vane admits that he has experience with sex, but none with romance. Mildred notes her increasing sense of comfort around him.

Mildred wakes the next morning to find that Vane has gone; he doesn’t return for a week. When he comes back to the castle, she follows him to his study, where she overhears him talking to a woman about someone named Neerin, who is missing. (This matter is never clarified, but Neerin is implied to be an Unseelie soldier.) Two female fae emerge from the study and introduce themselves as Commander Felinka and High General Nia, a wedded couple. Mildred asks Vane to write to her sister Bernie, who is likely worried. Vane reports that Ethermore has kept her disappearance secret, so Bernie has no reason to worry. He refuses to let her write, but when he awkwardly praises her appearance, Mildred is flattered.

Mildred has a dream from Atakan’s point of view. As Atakan, she sees herself stab a female fae while her lover, a wolf shifter, watches. The dream-Atakan calls love “a cumbersome curse” (147). Mildred wakes, alarmed by the realism of the dream. She hears Vane snoring from where he has fallen asleep in the bath, and although she thinks it more practical to leave him be, she feels compelled to rouse him from the freezing water.

A serious wound on Vane’s wing reveals that he is the one who has been crossing the wards into Seelie lands. The healing process is slow and painful. On impulse, Mildred holds his hand to offer him comfort. Mildred explains that she plans to do “whatever it takes” (151) to survive, but Vane points out that her previous plan to survive at Cloud Castle will no longer work. Mildred frets over her inability to plan for this unknown future.

She opines that helping Vane would mean “freeing a land of monsters” (151), but Vane counters that creatures should be permitted their freedom. He admits that he considers his father’s cruelty excessive, but he understands why his father sought revenge when his mother was killed. Vane and Mildred share a longing glance. Vane asks her to stay with him, and despite her confusion, Mildred falls asleep at his side.

Mildred wakes when Meadow brings her a dead rodent. Vane tells Mildred that she must remove the carcass herself, and she jokes that this matter does not help his plan to “[earn] her love” (154). When Vane dresses in finery, Mildred admires his looks. He is due to attend a festive gathering in the throne room. Once there, Mildred is annoyed to see Vane, Cerwin, and Daylia making merry with Lord Stone, a Seelie lord. The woman with them, Morona, implies that she has been Vane’s lover for decades. Mildred is impishly pleased when her presence disrupts the good cheer of most of the faeries—aside from Vane, who is amused.

Stone praises her “calculated boldness” as the reason why Mildred gained Atakan’s love. She denies that the Seelie prince is capable of love. Vane confirms that Stone is a long-term spy for the Unseelie. The group openly discusses Mildred’s lack of interest in Vane; only Daylia offers Mildred any support. Vane escorts Morona from the room, which rankles Mildred. She follows them, not bothering to stay hidden, and asks if Vane will really give her whatever she desires if she breaks the wards. He makes a magically unbreakable blood vow, promising that he will fulfill any one request of hers when she breaks the wards. When Vane asks how he can begin securing her affections, a flustered Mildred asks him to take her on a picnic the next day.

Daylia gleefully prepares food for the picnic, warning Mildred that Morona is dangerous and is “enamored” of Vane. She also reveals Vane’s belief that he will meet a “fated mate”; Mildred calls this “a dying phenomenon” (165), but Daylia is skeptical.

Daylia is irritated that Mildred is not more interested in breaking the curse and taking down the wards, and she is unmoved by Mildred’s protests at being denied control over her own fate. Daylia contends that royals have a responsibility to protect their people. She also advises Mildred to follow her heart, as “freedom often follows” (166). Daylia considers it unjust that all of Unseelie is being forced to pay for the cruelty of Vorx, Vane’s father.

Mildred is astonished by the lush world beyond the Unseelie castle. She sees mountains in the distance, along with flying creatures called pytherion, which protect Unseelie lands from attack. Legend holds that Unseelie royalty can shapeshift into pytherion. Vane explains that his father, Vorx, was obsessed with his mother, Kalista, but her affection for Vorx was “milder.” The late king was cruel to his wife, and although this fact was hidden from the young Vane, many staff members at the Unseelie palace knew about the abuse. When Kalista left, Vane was initially angry, but he grew more understanding when he learned of his father’s mistreatment of her. Although Vorx allegedly died in battle, his corpse made Vane fear murder.

Mildred asks to see Skeleton Mountain, the Unseelie military compound, and is shocked when Vane agrees. Vane and Mildred kiss tenderly, which makes Mildred feel that he is manipulating her. She wants to be kissed with the same ferocity that Atakan kissed her, although she feels uncomfortable admitting this. He kisses her more harshly, and she feels more comfortable with this “sweetness veiled in brutality” (177). Vane, pleased with her reaction, says that the challenge of gaining her affection is a “war” that he “intend[s] to win” (177).

Mildred worries that the interlude at the picnic has made her care for Vane too much. The next day, they go to Skeleton Mountain. Vane and Commander Kretys show her a fleet of pytherions training for battle. Mildred is shocked by the advancement of the Unseelie forces because she knows that if the wards were to fall, these troops would obliterate the Seelie and human alliance. She finds the beasts terrifying.

Feeling unsettled, she warns Vane that she is not the key to breaking the curse, as Atakan doesn’t love her. Vane disagrees, based on his spies’ intelligence. She fears that Vane is right, for if he is and she does fall in love with him, then he will release the pytherions throughout the Seelie lands. Suddenly, Cerwin interrupts them to report that Mildred’s parents, Julis and Agatha, have been murdered.

Despite her complicated feelings toward her father and stepmother, Mildred grieves their deaths. They were killed on the way to a meeting with Garran to discuss Mildred’s disappearance. A sword with Ethermore’s crest was embedded in their carriage, indicating Garran’s role in the killing. Evincing worry about Mildred’s numb shock, Vane begs her to come with him to meet Stone.

Mildred and Vane visit Stone’s hideout in bustling Boneyard City. Cerwin is there and expresses genuine regret for Mildred’s loss. Morona appears as well, but Mildred is too grief-stricken to be bothered by the woman’s flirtatious antics toward Vane. Vane reveals his plan to hide pytherion eggs near Cloud Castle; the pytherions will be drawn to protect their hatchlings and will feel compelled to attack the castle. Mildred is horrified, for she knows that the wooden castle will burn when the pytherions attack with their fire-breathing power. Even so, she admits to a desire to seek vengeance for the deaths of her family. As she and Vane dance, he swears that Mildred will never have to return to Seelie.

Mildred asks if Vane seeks love for himself, independent of his need to gain her love to break the curse and shatter the wards. He admits that he genuinely desires her. The fae then discuss a military loss in which the soldiers were brutally slain with Atakan’s signature violence. Morona boldly inquires after Mildred’s sexual past with Atakan, and the gathered fae react gleefully to Mildred’s tale of poisoning Atakan when they were younger. The fae debate whether Atakan’s decision not to kill her for the offense means that he does truly love her. Morona approves of Mildred’s treachery, making Mildred feel uneasy, as she is unused to acceptance from others.

Mildred begs Vane to be allowed to write to her sister. When he agrees, she kisses him forcefully. He pauses their kiss and urges her to write her letter, promising that they can resume their caresses later: an idea that she finds appealing.

Mildred has another dream from Atakan’s perspective. In the dream, Atakan and Cordenya discuss the murder of Mildred’s father, Julis. Atakan implies that he was framed for the killing. Mildred wakes to overhear Vane and Cerwin discussing how they killed Julis and Agatha and then framed Atakan in order to disrupt the alliance between the Seelie and the humans; their ploy is also meant to distract the Seelie from the reality of the dissolving wards, which should fall within days.

Stone sees her and urges her to remain quiet, explaining that he isn’t actually a spy for Unseelie; he is a double agent who is secretly infiltrating Unseelie on behalf of Seelie. He urges her to pretend that she heard nothing of these plots, lest Vane kill her.

Now that she knows the truth of Vane’s scheme, Mildred finds it impossible to sleep. She hides her fury, feigning drunkenness after their night of celebrating. To maintain the ruse, she confesses that Atakan treated her like “an unwilling pet,” and she begs Vane not to force her to return to Atakan. When Vane indicates his interest in sex, Mildred thinks of Atakan. She cites an upset stomach, and Vane embraces her as they sleep.

Mildred has breakfast with Vane, Cerwin, and Daylia as they cheerfully discuss their plans to burn down Cloud Castle. Mildred asks to accompany them, but Vane refuses. She is particularly hurt when Daylia puts on a caring act toward her, as Mildren is sure that Daylia knows of Vane’s treachery. (The novel never clarifies Daylia’s role.) When Daylia reports the fracturing wards, Mildred feigns shock, but she worries that Vane sees through her act. She plans to seduce him so that she can join him on his trip, but he tells her to wait for his return.

After Vane leaves, Mildred searches the castle for evidence indicating the location of the fractured wards, hoping that she can flee through the gaps. She also shakes the featherbone, certain that Vane was lying when he claimed that it could not return her to Seelie. She laments that she will likely miss many major events in Bernie’s life. When Daylia confronts Mildred about her anxiety, Mildred blames her emotions on her family’s recent deaths. Daylia then asks Mildred about Stone, whom she mistrusts. Although Stone purportedly allied himself with Unseelie after Seelie killed his wife, Daylia suspects that Unseelie actually killed Stone’s wife. Mildred considers Stone to be her best possible ally for escape, so she reveals nothing about him. As the conversation continues, Daylia calls love “the most powerful magic of all,” and both women agree that “losing love changes people” (218).

Daylia believes that Mildred is too accustomed to protecting herself to trust anyone else. That evening, just as Mildred is preparing to flee with Meadow, she finds Atakan waiting for her, ready to take her back to Seelie.