The following day, Elowen notices that Cayden is absent and that his guards remain posted outside her suite. She overhears an argument in the hall: Cayden insists on joining the shopping trip despite Ryder’s protests that he and Cayden should go to a tavern instead. Saskia introduces herself to Finnian, and the group heads into Verendus.

While walking through the city, Elowen is overwhelmed with emotion at being able to exist openly as herself. The group visits the Lemon Drop Bakery, which offers extravagant pastries far beyond anything Aestilian produces. Elowen approaches Cayden, who stands apart, and notices a distant expression on his face when she teases him for not cultivating a sweet tooth as a child. She offers to share a pastry with him. He pays for her apple tart before she can and buys her an iris, which he tucks behind her ear. Outside, they share the tart, and Cayden jokingly gives her the title of “pastry advisor.”

Saskia enthusiastically selects gowns for Elowen while Finnian and Ryder grow impatient. When Elowen suggests heading to the tavern, both eagerly agree. At the counter, Elowen finds that Cayden has already paid for all the clothing she selected, including items she thought were too expensive. She protests, but Saskia says that arguing with him is pointless.

At the Tipsy Troll Tavern, the group does shots of whiskey and toasts to having a common enemy. When Saskia and Ryder press Cayden about when he intends to return to the border, Elowen quietly asks if they know about the dragon heist, and Cayden confirms they don’t. Finnian asks Elowen to dance and then suggests that she go to the bar, betting that she’ll have Cayden’s attention within five minutes.

At the bar, a man in armor harasses Elowen. Before she can react, Cayden intervenes and forces the man to leave. Finnian smirks from the dance floor, having won the bet. The evening ends when someone spills a drink on Elowen’s gown. When Cayden’s protective anger flares again, Elowen grows concerned that people will think they’re more than allies and decides that they should return to the castle.

After returning to the suite and sobering up in the kitchens, Elowen takes a bath to wash off the spilled ale. While bathing, an assailant grabs her and shoves her underwater. Unable to break free, she smashes a crystal pitcher over his head. When his hands close around her neck, she grabs a glass shard and stabs his arm repeatedly until he releases her.

Cayden slits the assassin’s throat and orders his forces to secure the area. His distress quickly transforms into rage as he promises brutal vengeance. He asks permission to touch Elowen, carefully helps her out of the tub, and keeps his eyes respectfully focused on hers as he wraps her in a robe and carries her to his own chambers.

Cayden takes Elowen to his bathing chamber and gives her a set of his clothes to change into. Over whiskey and tea, he asks how many assassins have targeted her before. She reveals that her father ordered a few attempts after she escaped from the dungeon, but they stopped when she turned 15. Cayden confirms Elowen’s suspicion that Saskia and Ryder were present and overheard their conversation the night they met.

When he asks why she wanted the stolen dragon book, Elowen confesses that she searches books for illustrations of her dragons, hoping for confirmation that they’re safe. She describes each of her five dragons, Sorin, Basilius, Venatrix, Calithea, and Delmira, by color and markings. Cayden swears that she will see them again.

They examine maps of Kallistar Prison and the Imirath castle. Cayden notes that they must time their prison visit for low tide. Elowen suggests leaving the next day and using the assassin investigation as a cover. She identifies a secret exit on the castle map leading to the dungeon. They agree to keep the dragon heist between themselves.

Finnian bursts in, relieved she’s safe. Ryder arrives with a report revealing that King Garrick has placed a large bounty on Elowen’s head and that the assassin was disguised as a servant. Cayden deduces that the man who spilled the drink at the tavern was an accomplice.

The next morning, Elowen meets with Ailliard and tells him about the assassin. He panics and insists that they return to Aestilian, but she refuses. When he criticizes her shared suite with Cayden as inappropriate, they argue heatedly about her choices and his failure to understand her trauma. She reminds herself that she’s the one who saved herself from the dungeon, not Ailliard, and storms out.

Feeling claustrophobic, Elowen runs down the hall and collides with Cayden, who leads her outside for fresh air. He gently wipes away the makeup she applied in an attempt to cover the bruises on her neck, and they share an intense moment before Finnian and Ailliard emerge to interrupt them. Elowen tells Finnian that she’ll be gone for several days with Cayden, claiming that they’ll be tracking those involved in the assassination attempt.

When Ailliard approaches Elowen, Cayden steps protectively between them and tells him that she’s “far more than a title” (128). Finnian de-escalates the situation and asks Cayden to keep her safe. After they leave, Cayden confirms that the investigation is already closed because the accomplice and assassin worked alone. He sent Ryder to the border to cover their absence, and he leads Elowen into the forest so that they can begin their journey to Kallistar.

After a full day’s ride, Elowen and Cayden arrive at a fishing village and take a boat from an unlocked boathouse. As Cayden rows toward the fog-shrouded Kallistar Prison rising from the sea, Elowen realizes that he must be the legendary person who successfully infiltrated it before. He confirms that he used to take impossible jobs for crime lords, though he deflects when she asks if he was an assassin.

When Elowen steps onto the black sand beach at the prison’s base, she feels a sharp pull from her dragon bond, and her eyes flicker gold. She explains that the bond feels less empty, as if she’s being drawn somewhere. Cayden ties a rope between them, and they begin climbing the steep, slippery cliff face.

The climb proves difficult due to Elowen’s waning strength and the pulsing bond. Near the top, her wrist scrapes on sharp rock, the bond flares painfully, and she loses her grip. Cayden catches her and pulls her to safety.

Inside, Cayden explains that the prison was once used by the God of Water and that the water in his blood will guide them through the labyrinth. He pricks his finger, producing a blood droplet that moves along the floor and shows them the correct path. When guards approach, Cayden presses Elowen against the wall and uses his magical cloak to hide them in shadow. The close proximity creates a charged moment between them.

After the guards pass, they reach the highest level and find a heavy door with a sleeping guard. Elowen uses a pouch of magical sedative powder on him, Cayden picks the lock, and they enter a chamber containing only a stone pillar with an empty imprint of a key.

A riddle echoes in Elowen’s mind, revealing that Atarah blood is needed to forge the key. When she pricks her finger, her blood remains in the mold while Cayden’s is absorbed by the stone. Despite his warnings, she slices her arm to provide enough blood to fill the outline.

The pillar’s magic seizes her, and she experiences a vision, seeing each of her five dragons for the first time in years. Cayden warns her that the pillar bears an enchantment designed to make her bleed out and forcibly pulls her away. She collapses in his arms, overcome with grief. He comforts her, bandages her arm, and stokes her anger to give her strength. Her blood solidifies into a crimson metal key.

During their escape, they encounter six guards and a prisoner. Elowen and Cayden fight back-to-back, killing all six. The prisoner screams for help, alerting the prison, and Cayden kills him, later dumping the body in the ocean to suggest a prison break. They race to the exit as hundreds of footsteps echo through the corridors.

The tide has risen, swallowing the beach. Cayden ties Elowen to his front, rappels down the cliff to their boat, and rows them to safety.

At their campsite, Elowen trembles, haunted by the vision. Cayden wraps a blanket around her and urges her to talk. She confesses her guilt, fear, and grief over her separation from the dragons. Cayden comforts her and reveals that he’s been searching for the lost princess for years. She asks what Garrick did to him, and he reveals that his mother was executed on the king’s order when he was 11. She offers comfort, which he accepts before changing the subject.

They share things that make them happy to lighten the mood. When Elowen notices Cayden’s old shoulder injury and offers to use her healing abilities, the moment becomes charged, their faces inches apart. He tells her that she needs to walk away because he can’t. She respects the request and moves to her blankets, thanking him before falling asleep.

After riding through rain for several hours, they arrive back at the castle to find Finnian, Ryder, and Saskia waiting in their sitting room. The trio teases them, suspecting that the two were on a romantic getaway. When Elowen mentions the coast, Saskia gives her a suspicious, interested look.

A week later, Cayden is at the border, but he and Elowen have been exchanging letters that servants gossip about and that Elowen keeps and rereads. During an alliance meeting, Eagor questions how many of Aestilian’s citizens originally came from Vareveth, but Saskia defends Elowen and refocuses the discussion on the treaty. Eagor apologizes for the assassination attempt, and Elowen says that she would rather “focus on [her] people than the past” (156).

Eagor agrees to supply Aestilian with food and livestock for winter and announces a ball to celebrate the alliance, to which the king, queen, and crown prince of Galakin have been invited. After the meeting, Valia tells Elowen that there will be worthy suitors at the ball, subtly warning her away from Cayden.

In the hall, Saskia steers Elowen away and explains that her power, which comes from her dragons, her claim to the Imirath throne, and her unwed status, combined with Cayden’s influence makes her a political threat to Vareveth’s rulers. Eagor has ordered Cayden to stay away from her. When they enter Elowen’s suite, she finds a large bouquet of flowers in the colors of her dragons with a note bearing Cayden’s seal. Saskia reveals that Cayden refused Eagor’s order and laughed in his face.