Auren reels from learning that Rip, her complicated ally from Fourth’s army, is actually King Ravinger. She confronts him about the deception, calling him a liar. Slade—Ravinger’s true name—counters that she also concealed her identity, hiding her fae heritage, her ribbons, and her power to turn people to gold by touching them. They argue, with Auren pointing out that he forced truths from her while keeping his own secrets.

Slade questions how her power works, deducing that she can’t control it. Auren explains she was glad to let Midas claim credit for her gold-touch because she feared what people would do to a girl with such power. Slade asks if she still needs to hide, but she accuses him of only wanting her to stop hiding so she can ruin Midas.

Overwhelmed, she again demands he leave. He agrees, but only if she explains why she was screaming earlier. He heard her begging to be let out. He steps close and gently strokes one of her ribbons, causing it and the others to relax. He tells her she should always keep them out. She whispers for him to leave, but he hears Midas coming and decides to stay.

Auren panics at Midas’s approach, realizing she’s lost any chance to escape. Slade refuses to leave, and his power lashes out as he transforms into King Ravinger, making Auren nauseated. Frightened, she stumbles into Midas’s bedroom and trips over a guard’s body. She finds multiple guards who look like dehydrated corpses, victims of Ravinger’s rot. When Auren says they didn’t deserve it, he uses his power to reverse the rot. Auren is shocked that they can recover if not left too long.

Midas bursts in, enraged to find Ravinger in his chambers. Ravinger, now confident in his king persona, feigns innocence. Midas demands to know what he did to the guards and notices the gilded cage room door and the golden statue of a woman inside. He realizes the guards witnessed Auren turn her stand-in to gold. Tension escalates, but Midas ultimately backs down, recognizing he can’t win against Ravinger.

After Ravinger leaves with a wink at Auren, Midas orders the guards taken away to be executed for witnessing Auren’s power. Auren pleads for their lives, but he refuses. She’s overcome with guilt, feeling responsible for their impending deaths.

Two maids arrive with food and prepare a bath for Auren. Midas offers her the chance to clean up, more calmly than she expected. When he mentions the cage, she threatens to stop turning things gold if he tries to force her back into it. Shocked by her defiance, Midas feigns remorse, apologizing and claiming he only acted out of worry. Auren recognizes he needs her compliant because his claim to the throne depends on her power, since only those with magic can rule in Orea. She realizes he never wanted her to see how much power she actually holds over him.

Deciding to play along to buy time for an escape plan, she agrees to the bath. As Midas washes her hair and talks about how much he missed her, Auren thinks about how his love was always for her power, not her. After the bath, he leads her to a new room across the hall with no bars. He lies down beside her, pulling her close. As he tells her he loves her, Auren remains rigid, believing his words are false. She allows herself one last moment to mourn the love she thought she had. She determines to harden her heart.

King Midas sits in Ranhold Castle’s courtyard, contemplating his plans. He needs Auren to create gold soon to solidify his rule, as people are growing restless and his supply of gold is running low. Watching sculptors work on ice carvings, one worker reminds him of his father, Silenus Midas, a village drunk who abused him. Midas recalls being an illegitimate son, abandoned by his mother and mocked by villagers. The day he became an adult, he got his father drunk and set fire to their shack, killing him.

His advisor, Odo, arrives with problems. Queen Malina has stopped all communication from Highbell and is wearing white in public instead of gold—a clear act of defiance. Midas also learns they’ve run out of gold to distribute in Ranhold. Finally, one of Midas’s royal “saddles” is pregnant with Midas’s baby. The mender believes she’s nearly three months along, meaning she was impregnated in Highbell. Midas is initially enraged, but alone, he begins to see opportunity. Years of trying to produce an heir with his infertile wife have failed, but now he’s apparently succeeded with a sex worker. He realizes a child could be powerful in solidifying his rule.

Auren wakes in her new room, having slept for three days. She resolves to forget Ravinger and focus on escaping Midas. In the dressing room, she finds a new wardrobe of purple gowns, all with restrictive boning. She uses her ribbons to snap the boning in one dress so she can breathe, then dresses and walks out of her room, surprising the six guards in the hall.

When Scofield tells her she’s supposed to stay in her rooms, she asks if she’s a prisoner. He says no, so she announces she’s leaving. Two guards—Scofield and Lowe, who know the castle from serving Fifth Kingdom’s previous ruler—are assigned to escort her. She gives them one strict rule: never touch her, or Midas will have them killed.

She asks for a tour, starting with the kitchens. On the way, she asks a servant for a cleaning rag and slips it into her pocket. In the kitchens, staff stop and stare as she requests a piece of fruit, which she also pockets. She then asks to visit the library and greenhouse. Auren feels a thrill at these small acts of freedom, something she’s never been allowed. She uses memories of Midas’s controlling orders to stoke her resentment and keep focused on her escape plan.

Auren continues touring the castle grounds despite her guards’ complaints. She heads for a parapet on the castle wall. As she climbs the steep stairs, she reflects on Rip’s words about embracing her ribbons as strength. From the top, she has an unobstructed view of Ranhold City and climbs onto the wall itself, terrifying her guards. She sees the rotted lines in the snow where Ravinger walked and spots Fourth’s army tents on a distant hill.

Unexpectedly, she feels longing, realizing she misses the soldiers she met. A Ranhold captain angrily confronts her, ordering her to leave and making veiled threats about trespassers falling from the wall. Her temper flares at being ordered around, and she refuses to go. When he threatens to remove her himself, she dares him to touch her. She becomes tempted to hurt him. She pulls off her glove, ready to turn him to gold.

Just as she’s about to touch him, King Ravinger’s voice snaps her out of the trance. The unsettled captain quickly leaves. Ravinger teases Auren about her broken corset, then cryptically asks if anyone needs to release her from her cage or if she’ll do it herself. After he leaves, Auren realizes the person she accused of being a mindless murderer was the one who stopped her from becoming one. She’s shaken, wondering what she would have done if he hadn’t interrupted.

In her room, Auren reflects on the uncontrollable violence that surged within her on the wall. In a flashback to six weeks into her time at The Solitude, 15-year-old Auren is given a coin by a client. The innkeeper, Natia, insists she take it and reveals she’s been saving all of Auren’s tips in a pouch. She suggests she use the coins to buy passage on a ship to escape Zakir. Terrified, Auren refuses. Natia says fear is a weakness she must shove down and that strength will rise from conquering those weaknesses. Auren takes the pouch, and as she leaves, the skin on her fingertips pinches—the first sign of her gold-touch power manifesting.

Back in the present, Midas bursts into Auren’s room, furious she’s been touring the castle. When he mentions the cage, she shuts him down. He changes tactics, saying it’s too dangerous for her to wander around, reminding her she’s a danger to others and bringing up the woman she killed and a past incident in Carnith, where her powers first manifested and killed others. Auren recognizes his manipulation but is affected by the guilt. After a tense standoff, she compromises: She’ll keep guards with her but won’t be trapped in her room. Midas relents, saying they’ll talk tomorrow. Auren knows she needs to come up with an escape plan soon before he tightens his grip again.

Queen Malina meets with her advisors in Highbell Castle. She’s had all the gold furniture in the chamber painted white in defiance of Midas. The advisors argue against her decision to strip farming rights from House Bansgot, which refuses to pay taxes to her. She’s in a foul mood after learning her plan for Fourth Kingdom to attack Fifth failed and that Auren is still alive. She asserts that she, not Midas, rules Sixth Kingdom now and awards the farming rights to House Shurin, a loyal house.

A messenger named Gifford arrives from Fifth Kingdom with a letter from Midas. As Malina reads it, she becomes enraged and storms to her chambers, throwing the letter into the fire. Her royal saddle, Jeo, asks what’s wrong, and she coldly reminds him of his station. She reveals Midas has impregnated one of his saddles. When Jeo implies she must be the infertile one, she dismisses him.

Alone, Malina reflects on the letter’s true message. Midas ignored her political treason entirely. Instead, he instructed her to fake a pregnancy for six months and then present the child of his saddle as their legitimate heir. She understands the threat: comply or be useless to him as a wife. Malina resolves that if she cannot have children, neither will he. She vows to reclaim Highbell and ruin his hopes for an heir.